A micro-influencer is a social media influencer with about 5,000-30,000 real, engaged followers. Social media has become such an integral part of business and these micro-influencers are a much more affordable, and often more effective, alternative to celebrity marketing or traditional advertising. The question is, how do you determine the validity of a micro-influencer and establish a partnership?

Measure Engagement

The influencer should be actively engaging with their followers. Look through their comments – are they responding back to users? The most effective micro-influencers are regularly engaging with their followers in a way that builds trust and shows their genuine personality. A loyal online community of 10,000 followers will have a much stronger conversion rate than an unengaged following of 1 million.

Be wary of accounts with “big” followings – followers and likes are easily faked on platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Browsing the comments section is the easiest way to determine the authenticity of a micro-influencer, and it also allows you to get an idea of their personality.

Request a Media Kit

There are thousands of fitness, foodie, wellness and other influencers out there and finding the right one for your brand or product depends on who their niche audience is. Established, trustworthy micro-influencers will have a media kit available that details their audience’s demographics, such as gender, age, location and perhaps even income – study these to ensure you’re investing in an audience that aligns with your goals.

Establish Clear Goals with A Contract

Is your goal to sell a product? Drive website views? Increase the brand’s social media following? Make sure your goal is clearly communicated to the micro-influencer so it can be translated in the appropriate call to action in their content.

Creating a contract with specific expectations for posts and platforms will make the partnership much more transparent. Are they only active on Instagram or do they run a blog as well? Be sure to understand how the different aspects of each platform can work in your favor. Consider these questions while drafting a contract: