These days many brands are adding influencers to their promotion mix. In Essentials of Marketing, we define influencers as “trusted or well-known figures who can sway attitudes or purchase decisions among a particular target market–to promote a brand.” In plain English, it is those people on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and other social media (mostly on social media) who are paid to promote a brand. The influencer space is getting nuanced and more interesting as it attracts a growing share of the promotion budget.

One interesting aspect of the influencer space is the different categories: nano-influencers have less than 10,000 social media followers, micro-influencers have 10,000-100,000 followers, macro influencers with 100,000 to 1 million followers, and mega or celebrity influencers with more than 1 million followers. Recently, many brands are moving toward smaller influencers. A bit like we see with other forms of media. This article, “Nano vs. Micro-Influencer Marketing: What’s the Difference?” lays out some of the pros and cons of using the smaller two groups. I feel like they identified many pros and cons, including some that were new to me. I though they missed one of the more obvious pros, that nano- and micro-influencers likely have a more homogeneous and targeted set of followers. If you have more cash than I do, and really want a deep dive, you can buy this report from Statista, “Influencers with a modest reach make a mighty impact.”

You might find this article a useful assignment for your students or a source of some additional details when you cover advertising, earned media, pass-along or social media in Chapters 13, 15 and 16.