You’ve probably heard it a million times already, but authenticity and relatability is EVERYTHING. Social justice movements continue to surge on social media platforms and more people are speaking up about matters that align with their own values. It’s taking a lot more than just simple traditional marketing to speak to your audience.
According to the Consumer Culture Report by 5W Public Relations, 83% of people feel that it is crucial that the brands that they choose to support are in alignment with their values. In this new world of social, more consumers are going to be testing these boundaries with businesses through DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) marketing. You’re going to need to prioritize building trust within your brand’s community. One of the most effective ways to tackle this is through nano & micro-influencers.
Nano & Micro-influencers for DEI Marketing
Listen, being the biggest and the most popular doesn’t matter as much as it used to. Studies find that 92% of customers trust a micro-influencer more than a traditional ad or an endorsement from celebrities. Because these types of influencers are known to have smaller scale platforms (typically under 100,000 followers), the demand to work with them is much less compared to macro-influencers (over 100,000 followers).
Nano & micro-influencers focus on a specific niche or area of interest and are generally recognized as an industry expert or topic specialist. Most importantly, they normally agree to collaborate only if the product/brand meets their values and the needs of their audience.
After putting two and two together, let’s be real: More brands need to take more intentional actions towards implementing DEI efforts within their influencer marketing strategies and beyond.
Want your brand to make its mark on society? Here’s how you need to go about incorporating the power of nano & micro-influencers into your DEI initiatives.
Be Small & Focused
Like we discussed before, nano & micro-influencers have a niche. Their niche typically trusts them to speak about certain topics and gives their audience a sense of belonging. Look for influencers who would interest your ideal customer. We have been tackling this for B2B especially, so take a look at how to locate B2B influences and afford them here.
Think about your audience and search for compatible nano/micro-influencers who look like they are already a part of your existing target. This will prove to be beneficial in terms of trust and build your brand’s credibility.
“97% of influencers — said that their audiences react positively to the DEI-related content that they share, leading to steady or increased engagement on this content.”
Never Forget Authenticity
According to the Morning Consult study, 88% of people say it’s important for influencers to be authentic and genuinely care about their interests.
Nano & micro-influencers already have a story to tell. Figure out how they can tie in THEIR story with YOUR brand’s story to create a cohesive thought for your DEI promotional campaign.
Try to link up with influencers who are able to reflect their “real-self” successfully on social media. This will allow your brand to utilize this for better positioning in the minds of your customers.
Be Intentional About Making Strides Towards DEI
Before you go and reach out to a nano/micro-influencer, BE INTENTIONAL!
Don’t just throw out a campaign advocating for diversity, equity, or inclusion just because everyone else is doing it. DEI is not a trend.
DEI is not a trend. How will your brand take steps towards diversity, equity and inclusion? Share on XConsumers and influencers want brands they love to show support towards things that they deeply value. It’s crucial that brands are consistently doing it regardless of what everyone else is doing. Nano/micro-influencers build a platform through advocating about things that matter to them. So if your brand is looking for a one-off opportunity, they’ll easily notice that and likely call you out on it.
If you want to take a more intentional direction with your DEI initiatives, then make your marketing more inclusive by diversifying your persona types.
Figure out EXACTLY who you’re looking for within this landscape. Besides looking at sectors of diversity such as gender, age, ethnicity, or disability status, look at how your desired influencer interacts with their audience, how they speak, and how they usually develop content for their following.
Example by MAVRCK of how to organize your list of nano/micro-influencers by their specific focuses.
2022 Goals: Grow Your DEI Efforts with Influencers
If you want to get the most out of your upcoming marketing strategies in 2022, it’ll be in your best interest to start focusing your efforts towards thoroughly understanding your brand values and how you can properly recruit people to represent them. By doing this, you can start curating content that directly taps into the values of your audience while also growing your DEI efforts.