Milli-Influencers: The Perfect Balance of Reach & Authenticity

The credibility and trust of customers are at the heart of the success of every brand. The understanding of this has made influencer marketing one of the most effective and important branches of marketing today, with brands constantly looking for ways to reach new audiences through trusted voices.

In come the influencers themselves, social media content creators who have grown a trusting audience over time around a shared interest. This audience trusts them and looks forward to their recommendations on new products or services to try.

In this artifice, we’ll be looking at milli-influencers, a major type of content creators, and explore how they can benefit your brand and how you can make the most out of collaboration with them.

Understanding Milli-Influencers

Milli-influencers is a term used to describe content creators who have a following ranging between 500k to 1M. While they haven’t reached celebrity status yet, these creators are considered to be “mini-celebrities”, as they are well-known in specific communities. This considerably large following positions them as some of the most important voices in the digital world, and exactly because of this, milli-influencers have been popular targets for brands as part of their influencer marketing efforts.

Now, almost all influencer types target a specific niche. It’s true in the case of milli-influencers too. However, because these creators have a significantly large audience, they often tend to be trendsetters and opinion leaders in their field. They have a significant impact on the opinion of their subscribers, as well as their behavior and purchasing decisions, and as such can be a powerful help to brands looking to improve their standing.

Benefits of Partnering With Milli-Influencers

Milli-influencers are some of the most influential creators on social media platforms, and as such, can be great for brands looking to achieve their marketing goals through influencers. Below are some of the most important benefits of milli-influencers you may want to consider.

High Reach

Let’s start with one of the most important benefits of milli-influencers, their reach. Because of their considerably large audience size, milli-influencers can reach hundreds of thousands of people with a single post, which makes them incredibly effective for companies looking to improve their brand awareness. An important point to mention is that their reach is often not impacted by the limits of social media algorithms as they’ve long established themselves, so millie-influencers appear in the feeds of a significant chunk of their followers. Additionally, although still relatively niche, milli-influencers tend to diversify their interests (e.g. address health and fitness instead of just fitness), and are able to reach more people based on their preferences and location.

High Engagement Rates

Next up is the engagement rate, another critical social media metric to consider. Now, when compared to smaller influencers, milli-influencers may have a seemingly lower reach, but this can be deceiving. Milli-influencers, while boasting a large audience, typically still represent a certain niche and have a more or less targeted audience. This audience has considerable levels of trust toward the creator, engages with their content, and is looking to try their recommendations.

Professionalism

When working with milli-influencers, one thing you can expect to receive is a professional approach to collaboration at every stage of the process. And here’s why: they have very likely been in the industry for several years, judging by the size of their audience. During that time, through collaborations with different brands, they’ve honed their partnership skills, developed a deep understanding of their audience and what works for it, as well as mastered content creation. They have set terms and conditions they expect the brands to adhere to, which significantly eases the collaboration as you’ll know what’s expected of you right from the beginning to ensure that everything is running smoothly.

Connection with the followers

As mid-range creators, milli-influencers still have a significantly strong connection and a more personal relationship with their followers. These creators haven’t yet reached celebrity status and their audience consists mainly of the followers they assembled through years of dedicated work. They are more authentic than larger creators, have a relatable persona, are more likely to share day-to-day life with their audience and maintain a trusting and friendly relationship with them, which also makes their endorsements and brand collaborations seem more honest and authentic.

Brand exclusivity

When your brand is endorsed by a milli-influencer, it becomes “exclusive” in a way, as these creators are seen as trusted and important people in their niche, and their opinion bears weight. Brands associated with milli-influencers seem trustworthy and high-quality and are positioned better in the market in comparison to their competitors.

Lower risk

One of the biggest issues when it comes to brand-influencer collaborations is the level of risk. Will the collaboration be effective? Will you be able to get back what you’ve spent on the collaboration? How it will affect the brand image? These are valid questions many companies ask themselves as they look for partnerships with creators.

When working with milli-influencers, brands are facing significantly lower risks, because milli-influencers are respected people in their field with a large audience and considerable experience. They have a deep understanding of how their niche operates and how they can make the brand as appealing as possible to their audience.

Payment Rates

When it comes to payments, opinions on the affordability of milli-influencers can vary. Here is the influencer rate sheet to check their pricing. It’s safe to say that they will be harder to afford for brands that are just starting and have a small marketing budget. However, when compared to larger creators who have several million followers, milli-influencers are significantly more affordable and a lot more flexible in terms of their pricing and cooperation options. The final cost will depend on the type of cooperation and the platform of your choice, but if you are looking to reach wide audiences at a relatively affordable rate, milli-influencers may just be the right option.

This is by far not an exhaustive list as the benefits brands can get from collaborating with milli-influencers are many. However, these are some of the most critical ones and can give you an idea of what a collaboration with them can yield.

Successful Brand Collaborations With Milli-Influencers

Over years, there has been a significant number of effective collaborations between milli-influencers and brands in different industries, some more effective than others. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Gymshark X Jessica Olie

Yoga teacher and fitness enthusiast Jessica Olie has been a Gymshark ambassador for many years now and is a prime example of how the right brand collaboration can help both parties grow.

In addition to wearing only Gymshark gear in her photos and workout videos, Jessica regularly represents new collections of the brand, showcasing the new items she’s been gifted. Very often she showcases the new collection several hours or days before the collection has launched. This is done to build hype around the launch, as well as to give her followers some time to choose which pieces they’d like to purchase. To further incentivize her followers to purchase, often some discounts or other benefits are available for followers using her code or link.

This is a prime example of long-time collaboration that can benefit both parties, since when the partnership started, both sides had significantly smaller audiences, and then helped each other grow.

Vici Collection x Amber Massey

Mom and fashion influencer Amber Massey knows a thing or two about brand collaborations, as she’s been working with fashion brands that match her aesthetics and personal style for some time now. As part of her collaboration with Vici Collection, she announced the launch of a new collection, promoted several pieces, as well as shared a discount code to further incentivize her followers to make a purchase.

Chewy x Watson & Kiko

Fun (and cute) fact: influencers aren’t always human. Sometimes they are dogs, like Watson and Kiko, who started their social media journey in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

Since then, the pair has amassed 1 million followers, partially through their cuteness and partially through brand collaborations. Unsurprisingly, the partnerships usually revolve around dog products, such as in the case of a collab with Chewy, a brand of dog treats the owner of Watson and Kiko has long been partners with, promoting the brand among fellow dog owners.

Tips For Brands Partnering With Milli-Influencers

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that collaborating with milli-influencers can work wonders for your brand recognition and overall position in the market. However, these benefits can be achieved only if you approach the partnership strategically, invest in it, and be ready to put in the effort.

If you are considering a potential collaboration with milli-influencers, there are a few tips and strategies that can make the partnership significantly more effective and smooth.

Prioritize Genuine Relationships

While your partnership with the influencer is a business one, having a trusting and friendly relationship with them can benefit your campaign significantly in several ways, including a more authentic and genuine outcome. Take your time to research and understand the creator, look into their previous work, understand their values, and get to know them personally as much as you can.

Invest in Long-Term Partnerships

Carrying on with the idea of genuine relationships, you’ll benefit greatly also from forming long-term partnerships with some of the milli-influencers you work with. This is a strategy adopted by many brands that came to see its effectiveness: when the creator works with a certain brand over a long period of time, the promotions and the partnership look significantly more authentic, bringing in better results in the long run.

Leverage Their Diverse Audience

As we’ve mentioned before, milli-influencers have a more diverse audience as a response to their wider set of interests. However, because these interests are usually somehow related to each other and don’t include drastically different industries (e.g. skincare and cartography), this less niche audience is likely to benefit your brand rather than the opposite. With a strategically-developed campaign that’s niche but not too laser-focused, you can attract the attention of people who were slightly outside of the circle of your target audience but can still become interested in your offering.

Have Clear Goals And Expectations

What is it that you are looking to achieve with your campaign? This question should be the starting point of your collaboration. The milli-influencer you’ll work with is likely to have a set of expectations from the collaboration, and so should you. If you have time, prepare a campaign brief including the details of the campaign you envision, including what are you looking to promote, what are the timelines, how many pieces of content should be posted, and other essential pieces of information you’ve determined and your partner needs to know. If you don’t have a campaign brief yet, you can go with a detailed description of what are you looking for.

Allow For Flexibility

Having clear goals is important, but with that said, flexibility is too. Listen to the creator and be open to suggestions from them: these are people who’ve been in the field for some time, and they are likely to have a few working ideas you may want to consider. Be flexible in terms of the logistics too. Creators have their rules too, which you’ll need to consider to make the partnership happen.

Monitor And Measure

Next, you need to monitor the campaign when it’s running and measure the performance to understand what’s working and what doesn’t. This includes tracking metrics such as reach, engagement rates, CTR, ROI and the KPIs that you’ve determined in the beginning. The data you access can help you tweak the future collaboration with that milli-influencer, as well as different creators.

Have An Influencer Contract

Lastly, to protect the interests of your brand and the creator, you need to have an influencer contract. The contract will clarify the expectations, deliverables, timelines, ownership rights, and payment terms of the collaborations, as well as the grounds for termination. This will make sure that both you and the creator are on the same page about the collaboration and will minimize the risk of misunderstanding, miscommunication, and any legal issues.

Following these tips can help your partnership run smoother and maximize its impact on your marketing efforts.

FAQ

Who are milli-influencers?

Milli-influencers are social media creators with an audience ranging between 500k to 1M followers. Due to their large audience size, milli-influencers are considered to be some of the most important voices in the digital world, as they are often considered to be thought leaders and trendsetters in their niche.

How can brands benefit from working with milli-influencers?

Working with milli-influencers can have significant upsides for brands. Some of the more important benefits of milli-influencer collaborations are their significantly large reach, high engagement rates, professionalism, and experience. Brands working with milli-influencers can position themselves as “exclusive” and trustworthy, all while improving brand awareness.

How much does working with milli-influencers cost?

There is no set price for working with milli-influencers, as the final range will depend on a variety of factors, including campaign type, post numbers, platforms, content format, and more. However, on average, you can expect to pay around $5,000-$10,000 per post for sponsored posts.

Conclusion

Milli-influencers have gained significant attention in recent years, as brands have started to recognize the potential they have to improve brand awareness, as well as drive engagement and conversions. As mid- to large-size creators, they are a perfect balance of reach and authenticity, bringing together the best of both worlds: brands can reach hundreds of thousands of people, while still remaining relatable and authentic.

As people continue to look for more authentic content on social media, milli-influencers continue to be a powerful tool brands can utilize to reach new audiences through a voice they’ll trust. This will lead to higher levels of trust and credibility, which will then translate into better performance metrics.