Nano influencers are basically everyday people with up to 5,000 followers. In recent times, more brands have started to partner with this tier of influencers because they can effectively convert consumers to customers. Also, a crowd of nano influencers can be engaged per campaign since they are also the lowest in cost comparing across the various tiers.
Determining the payment rate for an influencer is a lot more complicated than buying coffee from Starbucks. Content creation is usually intangible and it’s therefore harder to put a price tag on it. Moreover, there isn’t exactly a manual to guide brands on how much they should pay influencers. Earlier this year, Klear surveyed over 2,500 influencers and results showed that nano influencers typically charge $100, $114 and $43 for an Instagram post, video and story respectively. This brings about a question - how do influencers determine their pay rates? Is there an explanation behind why they charge brands a certain amount? How do they then justify it? Read on for our take on this topic.
Types of incentives
Contrary to popular beliefs, not all influencers are propelled by cash incentives. That said, 65% of influencers expect to be rewarded for their efforts according to SmallBizGenius.
Nano influencers are cost-friendly mainly because
1) They have the least number of followers in comparison to the other influencer-types
2) Being an influencer is a source of sideline income for them
3) They have been raving about their favorite brands long before partnering with them.
Beneath the title of nano influencers, they are essentially brand evangelists. Hence, they are not as motivated by monetary compensation. Instead, providing some form of incentive they deem valuable to convey your appreciation would suffice.
The following are some ways brands can incentivize nano influencers:
1) Brand-related advantages
Since nano influencers are avid fans of your brand, it makes complete sense for you to provide them with items related to your brand. This could be anything from the actual products/ free trials/ samples (PR packages) to gift cards or even merchandise - anything with your brand name, really. Doing so not only makes them feel special but also encourages them to feature your product on their platform, benefiting your brand as well.
Furnishing them with special discounts from time to time would also stimulate them to purchase your products/ services and do an unpaid review, generating additional sales and awareness for your brand.
2) Intangible rewards
Apart from physical benefits, brands can gift nano influencers with something far more valuable and exclusive - an unforgettable positive experience. By default, anything that can’t be bought with money is deemed as invaluable, similar to the saying “health is wealth”. Brands can go about doing this by inviting nano influencers to a factory tour for an insight into how products are manufactured, or an exclusive event e.g. an overseas trip to welcome the launch of a new product.
This is a common practice for brands in the FMCG industry, particularly beauty brands. One brand that constantly organizes exclusive events is Sephora. For larger-scale events like the recent Sephoria House of Beauty held in America, influencers have been flown in from abroad. As a result, Sephora enjoys higher brand awareness from a larger pool of influencers globally, via postings on social media platforms they’re on.
3) Exclusive promo codes
Brands can incentivize nano influencers with the provision of promo codes exclusively for their personal use. Ideally, these codes are not time-sensitive and will remain accessible to the influencers as long as they continue to achieve any targets set by brands. Influencers would generally be induced to fulfill their deliverables for a somewhat lifetime access to discounted products/ services from their favorite brands - this is especially true for high-end brands.
4) Unexpected gifts
Follow your nano influencers closely and stay updated with their happenings. Perhaps their birthday is coming soon or they just returned from a week-long stay in the hospital - catch them by surprise by sending over a small token of appreciation i.e. a bouquet. It doesn’t always have to be directly related to your brand or product offerings. More often than not, the influencer would be genuinely moved knowing that they share more than a transactional relationship with your brand. Who knows? They may even share about it online, generating more awareness for your brand.
In conclusion, there is no fixed method of incentivizing nano influencers. If we could leave you with one suggestion, that would be to incentivize nano influencers according to the amount of effort required to churn out the branded content. Unlike influencers of other tiers, most nano influencers are fans of the brands they rave about. Brands can use it to their advantage and devise a reward system that would be mutually beneficial.
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