Keep reading to discover the 5 types of influencers and how to work with them in 2022. We also show you some examples of all types of influencers on social media this next year.
Types of Influencers
1. Micro-Influencer
One of the types of Influencers is Micro-influencers. Whitney has a relatively modest following of thousands or tens of thousands of people. They create related content for their audience and communicate with them via social media platforms, blogs, other written publications, websites, and forums.
Because of the size of their following and the kind of content they create, they sometimes have high engagement rates. Having a smaller audience allows micro-influencers to bond with the people who follow them more regularly (as in comparison with a celebrity with millions of followers) via their channel.
This makes them interesting to work with for businesses looking to develop personal relationships among their target audience.
How to Work With a Micro-Influencer
Micro-influencers will be established on a variety of channels. So, once you’ve chosen the micro-influencer to partner with, you’ll be able to have them write a post about your service, share an online review, or publish an image on Instagram with one of your products. Because of the manageable size of their base of followers, they’ll be able to engage with your target audience on the content they share about your products and brand.
This way, they will answer any questions the audience members may have about your products, communicate their experience with your products. And direct audience members to your website or customer support team is essential.
Micro-Influencer Example
Sisters Hermon and Heroda are fashion micro-influencers with roughly 89K followers on Instagram.
In addition to sharing fashion looks and tips with their followers, they’re also disability advocates and sometimes share what it’s like being deaf.
In their ad, the duo shared a video in which they illustrate how being deaf may be considered a barrier in society and the way that can make you feel powerless.
They then introduce the brand, Molton Brown, and the way its latest perfume makes them feel “audacious, intense, and passionate.” In the caption, they continue to share how the brand’s collection resonated with them due to their life experiences.
It is a great instance of how influencers can effectively tie their own personal stories to a brand’s product, making the messaging even stronger.
2. Celebrity Influencer
Celebrity influencers are well-known people with massive followings — sometimes in the millions — who are known across many industries. They’re well known and, therefore, have the potential to be very successful in influencing your target audience.
Even if your target audience doesn’t overlap with all of your celebrity influencer’s followers, having them promote and/ or use your services or products is a strong type of social proof. Since celebrities are so well-known, they’re effective at reaching a number of audiences across various channels.
How to Work With a Celebrity Influencer
Since celebrities are so well-known, there are numerous methods to work with them. You might concentrate on social media, print or online ads, TV commercials, blogs, or other written publications.
You’ll be able to ask the celebrity to:
- Publish an image or video promoting your products.
- Share the benefits of utilizing your products.
- Offer coupons and discount codes to their viewers.
Celebrity Influencer Example
In the latest Instagram post, supermodel Winnie Harlow shared a post in which she rocks a Fendi back, with a brief copy that reads, “The first secret to success is believing in yourself.”
Fendi’s mission is all about turning goals into reality. Harlow has been vocal about her struggle with bullying as a toddler because of her look. However, that didn’t stop her from pursuing her dreams of becoming a supermodel.
She serves as a symbol of perseverance and confidence, which is in nice alignment with the brand. As a brand, you need to ensure that the influencers you work with align not only with the audience you want to reach but also with your values.
3. Blog Influencer
A blog influencer is somebody who writes for their established blog and has thousands, or millions, of subscribers and readers. Their reach and influence set them aside from different bloggers (meaning, they aren’t just writing for themselves or a very small group of people).
How to Work With a Blog Influencer
To collaborate with a blog influencer, you may write a guest post for their blog, ask to be mentioned in one of their posts, or sponsor a post about one of your products or services. If you sponsor a post on the influencer’s blog, you may also provide pictures of your products for them to share as well.
Blog Influencer Example
A popular lifestyle blog influencer is Hannah Bronfman of HBFIT.
Bronfman writes about health, beauty, fitness, and creating a life that makes you happy and feels good. Between her blog subscribers, social media following, ads, the book she wrote, and the app she created, Hannah has millions of audience members and followers who keep up with her life.
Her blog features a variety of products, gym, and spa reviews. She collaborated with Face Gym, a local facial studio, on a sponsored blog post about their services and facial treatments.
Bronfman included details about the unique studio, facial experience, why her audience members would love the services Face Gym offers, in addition to a coupon code for their first visit.
There are also pictures of Face Gym and the services they offer in Bronfman’s blog publish to give audience members a better idea of what to expect from the studio when it comes to services and atmosphere.
4. Social Media Influencer
Social media influencers are well-recognized on social platforms among other types of influencers. They appear on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter, and are followed by thousands or even millions of people.
These influencers share content about a wide range of topics such as health, workouts, cars, diet, outdoor activities, travel, fashion, art, beauty, and interior design.
How to Work With a Social Media Influencer
When you find a social media influencer with an established picture that works for your brand, posts content you feel enhances your products or services, and has followers who are also members of your target audience, you’ll be able to determine what kind of content you’re going to have them promote.
If the influencer is on Instagram, you may have them publish an image with your product and tag your social account. If they’re on Facebook, you’ll be able to ask them to share a live video of them opening your product. And if they’re on Twitter, you may have them write a short statement about your product and pair it with a picture of them holding it.
On YouTube, you might have the influencer share a video of them using your product while explaining the reasons why they love it.
On any social media platform, you may also have an influencer host a contest or giveaway with your products. You can also share coupon codes.
Social Media Influencer Example
Tabitha Brown is an actor and vegan influencer who gained popularity on TikTok and Instagram via her buoyant personality. Her 3.9M followers on Instagram include health-conscious people who enjoy studying Brown’s vegan recipes, lifestyle, and life advice.
Recently, Brown partnered with plant-based meal company Orro and posted a picture on Twitter of her pouring one of their products into a glass.
The post directs the audience to the website where they will learn more about the brand. And they can discover their line of products.
Because Brown is such a powerful figure within the plant-based, vegan community, she was an excellent partner for the brand. She even has a powerful community of non-vegan followers, who simply enjoy her personality and content. This allows Orro to potentially reach multiple personas.
5. Key Opinion Leader
Key opinion leaders (KOLs) are one of the types of influencers. They are high-level experts on a specialized topic within a particular field. For instance, a KOL might concentrate on makeup application, the Paleo lifestyle, or Bikram yoga.
If your business is looking to attract audience members in a very specialized field, a KOL is a superb option — on account of their expert knowledge on a certain topic, KOLs are trusted contributors in their industries and have a following of people who are also invested in those subjects.
How to Work With a KOL
KOLS, like micro and celebrity influencers, are present on many channels. Some channels are social media, blogs, other written publications (like academic journals), and ads. Therefore, your business has many choices for how you decide to work with a KOL.
You may need them to review one of your products on YouTube, mention you in their column, write a blog post about your brand, share a post about your product on Instagram. Or they will pose with your product for a print or digital advertisement.
KOL Example
Kandee Johnson is a makeup influencer with over 3.9 subscribers on youtube and over 1.8 million followers on Instagram.
She’s a makeup artist professional! Her professional knowledge of makeup applications makes her a key opinion leader within the makeup and cosmetic industry. Kandee shares thousands of makeup tutorials, makeup ideas and tricks, and product reviews on YouTube and Instagram.
She has shared sponsored content for BoxyCharm — a subscription service that gives customers a box of several new beauty products every month — promoting their service, as well as her favorite products within the box, among her millions of followers and fans.
BoxyCharm’s target audience consists of lovers of beauty products, cosmetics, and makeup which works with Kandee’s huge base of followers. They had Kandee share a post with one of their boxes. She describes the products inside she was most excited about and tags them in her post.
Now that we’ve covered the several types of influencers your business can work with. Let’s review how to discover these influencers so they can begin helping you reach your target audience.