Does Follower Count Still Matter?
Hannah Boykin, a TikTok creator, recently posted a video detailing the brands she’s worked with as a micro influencer under 3k. The brand names were impressive: Parade, Merit Beauty, Saie Beauty, Mejuri. At around 1000 followers on Tiktok and 3000 on Instagram, partnering with these reputable names is an impressive feat. It appears we’ve aged out of only valuing creators with more than 100k followers and recognize those with a more modest but engaged following. Don’t get us wrong, we still love and count our lucky stars when we interact with icons like Emma Chamberlin. But brands are finally starting to understand the power of the intimacy a creator shares with their followers, regardless of the number. This comprehension has resulted in more partnerships and visibility opportunities for budding influencers. We searched for a common theme amongst the micro influencers who have secured such illustrious brand deals and chatted with content creator Claire Liz on how she navigates this terrain.
When did you first start your Instagram?
I have had my account since Instagram first launched but didn't start posting on it consistently until the pandemic. During quarantine I started posting my outfits. I had modeled previously and was sharing those pictures so it was a bit of a natural progression. During quarantine I thought to myself, if there's a time to do it, it's now when no one will judge me. I always thought my classmates would judge me but they couldn't now because I wasn't seeing them in person. I would post, like once a week, some sort of outfit photo. I was really obsessed with the idea of curating an aesthetic instagram feed so throughout the summer of that year I started curating my feed, started playing around with photos. I was not trying to be an influencer, I was just having fun.
So your Instagram came about naturally. What marked the transition from amateur to pursuing through a professional lens?
Going into my senior year of college I saw an ad for Riddle and Bloom which is an influencer agency recruiting influencers for their Amazon student program . I interviewed for it and I ended up getting accepted and I feel like that is what made it real for me because I was getting paid for things and getting gift cards to shop on Amazon. I was able to meet creators in the space that were my size and that was super cool because before that exposure I only knew other creators with like 500k. For the Amazon student program, one of the requirements was filming a Tiktok once a week. So I started posting on Tiktok and was getting a lot of growth from it. And suddenly my TikTok started growing faster when I was documenting the behind the scenes of growing my Insta account and documenting how to get brand deals, etc.
So people were gravitating towards you for your advice and authentic perspective in the industry. How did this then turn into securing brand deals?
My first brand deal was for Pandora, through an influencer platform. Basically for college students there are only a few agencies that will work with college influencers, so I randomly joined one. They had these various campaign postings that we could apply for. All of the brand deals I initially secured were through this platform. As I started to find other influencer platforms I relied on those as well.
Do you still solely rely on these platforms or also reach out to brands yourself?
If I am already a consumer of a certain product, I definitely make content about the brand to use as statistics: like doing a TikTok try on haul with the brands products. I also really try to engage with the brand by liking their posts and commenting on ones that I genuinely like (brands can sense inauthenticity). I’ll then go to their website and look for their PR email or even go to their Instagram dm and ask for their influencer content email. At this point, I have links to pitches (TikTok try on hauls) where I can deliver quantifiable statistics on how their brand resonates with my followers. If I do not have content specific to a brand I am reaching out to, I'll often link similar work I have done to show how our future partnership could materialize and perform. For example, I did a series with Mac and it was an in store shopping experience. I then reached out to a different company sharing the video and said ‘I could do something like this with you guys’.
Have you found any difficulty securing deals as a creator with under 100k followers?
With the whole micro influencer culture surging post quarantine, brands have really embraced creators with a smaller amount of followers as long as you have credible analytics to represent it. So when I provide statistics (impressions, views) I often don't even need to mention how many followers I have, just the type of engagement I receive.
What if you’re still working your way up to higher engagement?
This is where TikTok has become super helpful, being consistent and frequent with posting. On Instagram it is a bit harder because you don't want to be posting a ton because the algorithm does not reward you as much. But on TikTok, it’s pretty linear: the more you post the more people see your content, the analytics automatically go up. That's what I would really recommend. I started posting on TikTok 3x a day every month without fail for 8 months and then started seeing results.
What is a small step budding creators can start with to work with brands?
Well, if you have already secured the brand deal, usually if you ask for an affiliate discount code in addition to the agreed upon content, the brand will usually give one to you. You can simply reach out to a brand and say "Hey, I very much embody your brand ethos and wear/post your product a lot, can I share a discount code with my followers?" Look in brands’ tagged photos to see if sponsored content includes that. A lot of times the brand will pay you from that commission. But don't forget to negotiate for a base rate and then use the commission as an added benefit.
What are the best ways followers can support growing influencers?
Commenting on posts!! I try to respond to as many dm's as possible. I also offer coaching sessions to help you create more in depth strategy and build a media kit.
