Introducing: the micro influencer. They are regular people, like you and me, with a slightly above average following on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook, possibly even a blog. Their posts usually correlate to a particular niche, or passion – beauty, fashion, travel, tech, business and all the fun things in between. This article is going to highlight 3 big companies that are using micro influencers successfully to drive awareness and increase conversion to their brand.

Big name brands like Google and Chrysler are increasingly utilizing micro influencers as part of their marketing campaigns. Why? It’s because these everyday men and women publish genuine content about the things they love and are interested in. Their fans are highly engaged, and view them as credible voices of reason and recommendation. In a world where viewers have grown tired of the same advertisements and celebrity endorsements, micro influencers stand out with the kind of authenticity and credibility that brands (and their audiences) are craving. What’s really astonishing is the value that these campaigns drive. Engagement rates are on average 60% higher with micro influencers, versus their macro and celebrity counterparts.

Let’s take a look at some of the bigger brands today, and how they’re utilizing micro influencers to grow their revenue:

Google

Google partnered with Kelsey MacDermaid and Becky Wright (the voices behind the @TheSorryGirls) to help promote the new Google PixelBook. TheSorryGirls have continued to gain fame with their DIY account, and leveraged the drawing capability of the laptop within the photo. The duo ran a promotional laptop giveaway with Google in November 2017 with the photo below. Contest rules were described in the caption, instructing users to comment below and say what they would do with the laptop. This post really got their engaged audience’s creative juices flowing – the results were outstanding! To date, the Instagram post has generated 11,137 likes and 7,916 comments for an out of this world engagement rate of 59.4%

Spotify

Spotify has partnered with numerous micro influencers in the past couple of years. More specifically, to uniquely and successfully promote their “Discover Weekly” algorithm. In the beginning, it was purely an organic search that allowed them to see their fans’ tweets about the product in a hilarious and relatable light. They decided to launch a campaign using “testimonials” from real life, everyday people.

They have also started to partner with local bands and artists to help promote their music. The thinking is that if the band likes it and uses it, why wouldn’t their fans?

Chrysler

Chrysler teamed up with superdad Alan Lawrence, the influencer behind @ThatDadBlog. Lawrence posts about his life as a husband and father of six (yes, six!) children. He utilizes Instagram to share his posts that are equal parts hilarious, cute, and SO relatable. He has paired up with Chrysler in a few posts. The one below mentions testing out their newest van, the Pacifica, where he talks about the spaciousness and comfortability in a way that’s comical yet really hits home for big families! “We’ve teamed up with Chrysler for the next couple of days to put their new Pacifica to the test with our big family. Today I got a kick out of seeing people’s reactions as all eight of us piled out of the minivan along with three sleds, one tube and loads of hot chocolate. @chrysler #sponsored.” He follows it up with a video about his children opting to stay in Pacifica van rather than coming inside for dinner. In his daughter’s words, “Dad, we have heated seats and lots of games in here…enjoy dinner without us!” The video boasts over 30,000 views, with a combined like count of over 2000.

Needless to say, these are just a few examples of success between micro influencers and large brands. We only profiled three big companies using micro influencers successfully in this article, but trust us, there’s so many more out there (probably within your very own social feeds). When it comes to social influence bigger isn’t always better, and the results speak for themselves!