It’s Easier Than You Think: 5 Tips To Becoming a Micro-Influencer

What is a micro-influencer? The definition varies based on who you ask, but typically this is defined as an influencer with more than 3,000 followers and anywhere up to 50K followers. Nano-influencers with 10K or fewer followers, also fall under this category.

I’m sharing 5 tips I’ve learned on becoming a micro-influencer. For anyone interested in the life of an influencer, this is for you!

Your name is your brand

Despite your content, your posts, or anything else, your audience will build around YOU as a brand. Resist the urge to choose a cheeky pun, and be sure to make your name front and center in your IG handle. You want people to remember YOUR NAME, not “thatcutegirl,” which could be anyone at all.

Community over competition 

When you’re starting out, a lot of your engagement and connections are going to come from other micro-influencers and small bloggers on Instagram. They are not your competition! Engage with their content, and make real connections with them. Those connections will serve you in the long run and you’ll learn a lot from interacting with other people trying to do what you’re doing.

Pick a niche and stick to it

As a new micro-influencer, you want followers to know clearly WHY they like your page and want to follow you. Is it because you post great OOTDs daily? Is it because you do very genuine try-on videos in Stories? It’s important that followers know why they should keep tuning in to your content and commit to following you — it might start to feel repetitive to you at times, but it won’t seem that way to your followers.

Jump onto Stories often

As a content creator in general, video is going to be your best friend. Stories are the best way to show followers who you are as a real person, away from your perfectly curated feed. This personal touch is what will make people feel like they’re friends with you, and having them coming back to your feed over and over.

There is no shortcut to growth

Despite what anyone might tell you, there is no shortcut to growth. Gaining followers will only come when you achieve the right combination of: consistency, quality, and exposure. 

• Consistency means showing up on your platform regularly, and on a cadence that your followers come to know and rely on. If you typically post to your feed on weekdays and Story on the weekends, your followers will get used to those behaviors quickly and expect them of you consistently. 
• Quality content adds value to your followers’ lives. Pay attention to what your audience responds to most, and allow those insights to guide your content creation process. In short, give the people what they want! 
• Exposure comes from a number of places, and this is the piece most out of your control. The number of people that a post reaches will be a result of the hashtags you use, the time of day that you post, and the quality of the post itself. Again, trial and error will be your best friend here, until you determine the hashtags that give you the most reach and the post times that capture your audience at the right time.

Overall, being a micro-influencer is no joke! It requires the work and dedication of a real job, but if it’s something that you are passionate about, pursuing it should only feel like work ~sometimes~. 

The last bit of advice I have is, don’t worry yourself sick over the algorithm! Instagram is going to do what it does, all you can do is equip yourself to do well no matter what changes the app makes. If you focus on the pieces you can control, (all the things on this list), then you’ll see success over time!