Dove Direct Print & Marketing Blog - “Nanoinfluencers Rising in Social Media Marketing”

Welcome to the Dove Direct Print and Marketing Blog. Today's post, "Nanoinfluencers Rising in Social Media Marketing" speaks to the increasing trend in social media marketing, whereas overly expensive "Influencers" are now experiencing formidable competition from a group labeled "Nanoinfluencers." Heavy-weight Influencers have been influential in the digital world for years now and are typically made up of iconic personalities, including those lower tier online personal brands that have amassed huge numbers of followers. Typically, the status of these influencers is based on the number of followers they have amassed, and typically range in number from one million plus acolytes and upward.

In between the influencers and nanoinfluencers are the microinfluencers, whose numbers contain smaller social media followers spanning from a tens of thousands and capping out in the low hundreds of thousands. Influencers and microinfluencers have both dominated the social media landscape for a number of years. By contrast, the nanoinfluencers are described as folks whose social media followers range somewhere in the neighborhood of a 1,000 to say 10,000 or less. Move over Beethoven, as the "nanos" have arrived.

The term "nano" is the shortened version of the term nanoinfluencers dubbed upon the group by brands to designate their position in the scheme of the influencer categories. Nanos, as they are called, present brands with low-hanging fruit so to speak when it comes to gaining access to them. It's been reported that this group of influencers are easily accessible, very approachable, and offer opportunities for brands to illicit their endorsement services for pennies on the dollar.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing as a marketing category has actually grown to the point of having marketing agencies crop up with their sole purpose of focusing on influencer marketing strategies and activities. Instagram users are becoming more aware of nanoinfluencers participation behind brand endorsements with hashtags such as #promotion, #ad____, or #sponsored. Obviously, a self described influencer agency stated we are "a full-service influencer marketing agency." Obviously's chief executive, Mae Karwowski, recently stated that nanoinfluencers represent to a large extent, an untapped and cost effective opportunity.

It's important to understand that nanoifluencers generally represent a much smaller niche market than those of influencers or microinfluencers. However, niche marketing techniques are in high gear, as the online world offers a range of small niche market groups for brands to tap into.

Influencer Marketing Costs

Naturally, and similar to the size of a media outlet's audience reach, influencer pricing is also based on audience reach and size. For example, Media Post reported in March 2018, that MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" (9 p.m.) was selling a single 30-second spot for $8,442.

In addition, to gain more insight relating to audience numbers, TV By the Numbers, stated: "In total viewers, though, MSBNC rose above Fox News, as the Tuesday, Thursday, and Wednesday night editions of "Rachel Maddow Show" landed the week's top 3 spots with a range between 3.89 – 3.57 million viewers. "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" placed fourth with 3.34 million, followed by Fox News "Hannity" in firth place with 3.26 million.

In estimating the average cost per audience viewer impression during the Rachel Maddow show using the 3.89 million viewers benchmark would be $461 per viewer at $8,442 per 30 second spot. As you can probably imagine, online advertising numbers can also be as high as other mediums when compared to reaching full viewership saturation. Similarly, in the case of influencers, these influencer marketing costs also range by the number of followers for a given influencer well into the thousands of dollars.

That said, keep in mind that the television rate examples were based on national reach and not local affiliate spot costs. In some cases however, and this is not a soup to nuts comparison, however, Luka Sabbat who has amassed a 1.4 million Instagram base was recently offered a $60k payment for a single Instagram post, three Instagram stories and for being photographed during fashion week while wearing Snap Spectacles, the brand that offered the contract. That said, Mr. Sabbat is being sued by a PR firm who alleges that Mr. Sabbat failed to fulfill the terms of the contract.

Without getting into scrutinizing detail, the cost for a :30 second spot on the Rachel Maddow Show will drop precipitously as local affiliate stations reach much smaller audiences, similar to that of nanoinfluencers. For now, the majority of nanoinfluencers are not yet focused on money per se, but are instead happy with free products as fair renumeration for their endorsement posts. Besides, most of the nanos are currently employed and are working jobs outside of the marketing industry.

Look for Nanoinfluencers to Grow

There are a rising number of accounts associated with nanoinfluencers that for the most part, are interested in and accept the renumeration prospects brands are offering in their marketing contracts. Currently the beauty of the nanos is similar to having a friend promote a product, which avoids intrusive brand advertising. How many times have you become interested in a product or service as a result of a social media friend sharing a great product experience? Nanoinfluencers are similar in that their friends are mostly on board as they trust their nano friends.

However, as the nano market grows exponentially, there could be regulations or some sort of backlash by the nanofollowers. Currently, there are a number of specific terms in most nanoinfluencer contracts that state for example; brands supply certain keywords that must be used, and they require those keywords to be mimicked in the posts, the number of posts, and how long a post must remain visible in some cases for weeks at a time, and specific hashtags that must be used. Further, as most nanoinfluencers are currently absorbed with in-kind advertising, which means in essence they would receive some kind of special discount or a free product from the brand in exchange for their endorsement services, the cost of nano influencer marketing is minimal… for now.

Nanoinfluencer Accountability

At this point, the jury is out when it comes to determining the effectiveness of investing in nanoinfluencers. With such small niche audience segments, it is difficult to parse out a single nanoinfluencer marketing initiative, whereas brands who are focused on campaign response data are grappling with ROI analyses. This accountability process is even more difficult when brands are running a slew of campaign entries across a wide variety of mediums, and most importantly that of the nanoinfluencer effect.

In the event that nanoinfluencer marketing really takes off, you can bet that various new forms of technologies and cross data technological measurement platforms will emerge. For now, it would make sense to put a toe in the nanoinfluencer marketing water, get your feet wet and sample the effects. There is great value in WOM, (Word of Mouth) advertising, as WOM remains the most influential marketing tool around. At the end of the day, for now, Nanoinfluencer marketing is the next best thing to WOM.

The Net-Net

Influencer marketing, similar to product endorsements generated by iconic personalities is the online version of product endorsements. Since niche market segments have sprung into vogue over the past 12 years, nanoinfluencers represent many of those splintered niches, which are comprised of loyal and trusted online fans. It would appear that brands and marketers should take a deeper look into nanoinfluencers as they are rapidly growing in prominence within the social media marketing universe. Thanks for reading "Nanoinfluencers Rising in Social Media Marketing."

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