Influence4You ran a study with 4400 micro and middle influencers (3k to 100k followers), in 61 countries, to get to know them better, know their motivations and their working methods.
The trend has changed: now it’s not about who has the most followers but about who has the best engagement rate. Micro influencers, considered more authentic and close to their followers, are the new intermediaries to reach a niche audience.
The sectors that are most represented by micro influencers are lifestyle (79%), fashion (65%), beauty (58%), and tourism (61%). The popularity of these differents topics reveal the growing trend of consumers in search of tips and inspiration.
Can the micro influencer status be transformed in a business?
The study reveals that only 18% of the British micro influencer respondents have created a company for their activity, meanwhile 36% did so in Italy, 35% in Spain and 22% in France. 50% of the influencers with over 50K followers turned their influence activity into a business. The variation between the different company statuses are linked to the legal obligations of the country.
On a global scale, we can see that brands would rather work with middle influencers than micro influencers for paid collaborations. Indeed, influencers with over 50K followers say that they carry out at least 3 collaborations monthly (55% of them carry out paid collaborations regularly).
Regarding micro influencers, 77% of them declare earning less than €1000 a year via these collaborations. It’s actually harder for a micro influencer to make a living out of collaborations.
Paid collaborations are twice as important in Anglo-Saxon countries than elsewhere, with 57% of Anglo-Saxon micro influencers confirming having participated in paid collaborations compared to only 32% of French, and 33% of Italian.
Why do micro influencers continue to work with brands?
Our study shows that micro influencers cannot make a living out of their activity ; so we wonder why they keep on working with brands?
In 2019, influence marketing is a growing market. 65% of British micro influencers took part in more collaborations than the previous year, whereas only 11% of them did less collaborations. 67% of Spanish influencers were involved in more collaborations this year and 72% of German influencers also confirm an increase.
It’s interesting to highlight that gifting is an easy way for a brand to get influencers to try their products or services. In Germany, Spain and France, this method is very common. 60% of French micro influencers declare receiving gifts very often, compared to 71% of Portuguese influencers, 70% of Italian influencers and 70% of American influencers.
French, German and British are actually the most transparent with their followers when it comes to advertising.
94% of French influencers clearly indicate to their audience that their post is an ad, whilst 95% of British influencers do this and 97% of German influencers.
The recent barometer released by the ARPP (French “Autorité de Régulation Professionnelle de la Publicité” : Regulatory body of professional advertisement) on influencers’ transparency indicates that if we are already successfully seeing influencers becoming more transparent, there is still room to teach them other good practices.
« If micro influencers keep on collaborating with brands in a transparent way, it’s because it allows them to share common values or promote products that are in accordance with their ethic. We entered the era of respectful/green consumption and the brands are perfectly aware that influencers are indispensable to reach their final target. Micro influencers are also aware of their power. With influence marketing, companies are able to achieve the attention they were seeking from advertising, thanks to influencers’ engagement rate. » explains Stéphane Bouillet, Influence4You CEO.
Find the full study in detail via the slideshare below:
Methodology :
4,446 influenceurs from our platform influence4you.com responded to this study.
Date of the study : from 01/09/2019 to 01/10/2019.
Contact : https://www.influence4you.com
Bonus : Do you want to know who is the top influencer in China? And in France? Do you know how to successfully carry out a collaboration in Brazil? Find out a few insights thanks to our international team in this video!
