How Nano Niches are Driving Higher Engagement Rates

A common misconception among social media users and brands is that the more followers an influencer has, the more effective they are. This is often attributed to mega influencers with large followings, enabling brands to reach millions of followers.

However, this is not true. In fact, it's now emerging that smaller, nano-influencers are more effective at teaching target audiences than mega-influencers. In this article, we reveal why nano-influencers are driving higher engagement, resulting in better outcomes.

What is a Nano Influencer?

A nano influencer refers to an influencer with 1000-10,000 followers. Despite their small numbers, they are considered impactful because they often cater to a specific niche market. Their audience also consists of people interested in that niche marketing, leading to a higher engagement rate. This works great in an era when niching down and hyper-targeting are the new viral.

Nano influencers genuinely connect with their target audience, making them appear more authentic. They share content that their audience can easily relate to, such as family photos, memes, funny cat videos, and more. This means their audience trusts them and finds them approachable, compared to mega-influencers.

Due to their small reach, nano influencers usually charge less for their services. Reports indicate they can charge between $10 and $100 per Instagram influencer post. This makes them a perfect choice for brands looking to connect with a highly engaged audience at an affordable price.

Why Brands Should Work With Nano Influencers

If you are wondering if working with nano influencers is worth it, here are some key benefits you need to know:

Higher Engagement

Studies show that nano-influencers have an engagement rate of 3.65%, which is twice that of macro-influencers. For instance, a weight loss nano-influencer can have audiences asking for advice, expressing gratitude, or simply sharing their progress. Such an interaction level reflects the brand's more profound connection with its audience. 

Unlike mega-influencers who often receive likes and generic comments, nano-influencers have genuine conversations. This interaction level indicates that these small influencers have a deeper connection with their audience, something that larger influencers may struggle to achieve. They can help you in leveraging user-generated content.

Additionally, nano-influencers not only connect with their audience but also do so on a personal level. When followers DM them, they are likely to respond. When asked questions, they respond. They even participate in the discussion happening in their comment sections.

For instance, when a nano influencer recommends a beauty product, they can follow up with their audience to find out if the product worked. This interaction level can help their audience trust them. They also appear genuine and authentic, making them even more powerful.

Target Reach

In most cases, nano influencers specialize in a specific niche. This means they understand their audience well and the content that resonates with them. Brands working with such influencers benefit vastly because they can target an influencer in their niche, helping them be visible to an audience genuinely interested in their products.

For instance, if the nano influencer is in the workout niche, a brand that sells treadmills can partner with the influencer to reach a target audience. Since the influencer’s audience is already interested in working out, they will likely show genuine interest in the treadmill. That means the nano influencer in the workout niche could deliver more sales than when the brand uses a musician influencer with millions of followers.

Additionally, since the workout influencer has already been sharing essential tips, such as building muscles, their audience trusts them. Therefore, when they tell them that the treadmill can help develop their hamstrings and quads, the audience will likely trust them. This is why influencers with small followings are delivering excellent results.

Higher Level of Influence and Trust

When social media users follow mega influencers like Ronaldo, they don't see them as real people and feel that those influencers lose touch with reality. On the other hand, the people who follow nano influencers see them as real people and, therefore, take their opinions seriously.

Social media influencers resonate with the content created by nano influencers. For instance, if a nano influencer in the cooking niche shares a recipe for fries made with an air fryer, their followers are likely to view that as a genuine review or recommendation rather than an ad. That means their followers see the recommendation as relevant and authentic, leading to higher trust.

Affordability

As noted earlier, nano influencers are usually more affordable than macro or mega influencers. Some nano-influencers can review your brand after receiving complimentary products. Compare this to mega-influencers, who charge as much as $10,000 per post.

Therefore, if your brand is on a budget and wants to remain within the budget, the mega influencer can be a good choice to enable them to do that. Additionally, due to their affordability, brands can partner with multiple nano-influencers, taking their brands to the next level.

Creativity and Flexibility

Larger influencers often have an image to protect, and as a result, many do not have the freedom to create any content. On the other hand, nano influencers have the freedom to create any kind of content. This level of authenticity can result in content that resonates with their audience, resulting in higher engagement. 

Therefore, nano-influences can be a good choice for brands looking to create personal and genuine posts, as their content feels more authentic and helps them stand out from the crowd. 

High Conversion Rate

We have already noted that the content created by nano influencers feels authentic and personal. This can result in a higher conversion rate as their audience trusts and acts on their recommendations. A nano influencer's dedicated and engaged audience is a reason why they have a higher conversion rate than mega influencers.

Easy to Communicate and Collaborate 

If we assume that your brand is working with Rihanna, would it be easy to communicate with them or tell them what kind of content you expect? Before you reach them, you should go through several intermediaries. On the other hand, a nano influencer may be working alone, meaning there are no intermediaries. This makes communication and collaboration on projects quicker, as there is no time for the back-and-forth that is often associated with larger influencers or agencies.

Potential for Long-term Partnerships

In most cases, nano-influencers work with a limited number of brands. That means you can use them to work on multiple campaigns, resulting in consistent messaging and deeper connections with audiences. In the future, nano influencers can become brand ambassadors, resulting in improved brand loyalty and effective marketing efforts. 

In Conclusion

From the benefits above, it's clear that while their audience may be smaller, nano-influencers can offer your brand quality interactions, resulting in higher engagement and conversion rates for the brand. Therefore, if you don’t have the budget for working with a mega influencer, you don’t have to worry. You can work with a nano influencer, and they may even deliver better results.