The Insane Opportunities of Micro-Influencer Marketing for Small Businesses

In this episode of the Talk About Digital Podcast, host Mark A Preston dives into the world of influencer marketing and uncovers how small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) can leverage this powerful tool to attract new customers and grow their brand—without breaking the bank. Whether you’re a small business owner who’s never ventured into influencer marketing or you're looking for ways to optimise your strategy, this episode is packed with valuable insights that will transform how you approach influencer partnerships.

Mark begins by challenging the common misconception that influencer marketing is only for big brands with huge budgets. He explains why working with high-profile influencers isn’t always the most effective route for small businesses and highlights the immense potential of micro-influencers. These influencers, with smaller but highly engaged audiences, offer better alignment with local businesses and are more likely to help you build meaningful connections with your target audience.

Key Insights for Small Business Owners:

• Understanding Micro-Influencers: Learn how micro-influencers, who already have your ideal customer base, can be the secret to fast-tracking your growth. Mark explains why this targeted approach yields better results than partnering with major celebrities and high-profile figures.
• Budget-Friendly Influencer Marketing: Think influencer marketing is expensive? Think again. Mark discusses how to collaborate with local influencers in ways that won’t cost your business a fortune but will deliver substantial value, such as offering free products or services in exchange for content creation.
• Finding the Right Influencers: Not sure where to start? Mark shares actionable tips for finding the right influencers to work with, including how to use powerful tools like SparkToro to identify individuals who are already reaching your target audience.
• Building Strong Partnerships: This episode explores how to approach potential influencers and create partnerships that benefit both parties. Mark explains how a well-crafted influencer collaboration can amplify your brand’s reach and establish credibility within your community.

What Will You Gain by Listening?

• Boost Customer Growth: Discover how to harness influencer marketing as an effective, low-cost strategy for attracting new customers and increasing sales.
• Practical, Actionable Advice: Mark offers step-by-step guidance on how to research, approach, and collaborate with the right influencers, making this episode a must-listen for SMEs looking to dip their toes into influencer marketing without getting overwhelmed.
• Increase Brand Awareness: Whether you're a restaurant owner, retail shop, or service provider, you'll walk away with a clear understanding of how local influencers can help you build brand recognition and get your business in front of the right people.

Mark wraps up the episode with his signature "TAD Takeaway"—a golden nugget of advice you can implement right away. This week’s TAD Takeaway is all about using SparkToro to find micro-influencers who have already built your ideal audienc

Connect with the Host - Mark A Preston:

Website: https://www.markapreston.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markprestonseo/
X: https://x.com/MarkPreston1969
Mark's Latest Book: Customer Growth Unlocked

This podcast is produced by Voice It Podcast Agency
https://voiceitpodcastagency.co.uk

Transcript

[00:00:00] Mark A Preston: Welcome to Talk About Digital, the podcast for small and medium sized businesses looking to grow new customers through impactful, low cost digital marketing strategies. Have you invested in digital marketing with zero positive impact? If this sounds like you, then this is the place for you. Each week we provide actionable steps to move your business forward with our TAD Takeaway, helping you to harness your biggest asset, yourself, to achieve big impact with minimal investment.

[00:00:36] Stay tuned as we dive into the world of digital marketing, offering insights and advice that will transform your business. Let's get started. Welcome to this week's episode of the Talk About Digital podcast. And this week I want to talk to you about the wonderful world of influencer marketing and how working with the right influencers can really benefit your small business and help your brand to grow and get known.

[00:01:08] And not only that, It will help you to build new customers and sales. So let's dive in. But before we start getting into the ins and outs of the right type of influencers, I just want to take a step back and get you to understand the right perception. Now, historically, when people say influencer marketing, they immediately think, Oh no, it's going to cost me a fortune working with these famous people online.

[00:01:42] And, um, in reality, these big brands who are paying these famous people and people that's been on TV and these high profile celebrities actually are receiving less value and impact from these people. What they're doing and what they're sharing, then the micro influences out there. Now I'll give you just a scenario is I know a gentleman that used to be on TV, used to be on a well known show and it built a massive follower base and brands.

[00:02:20] was throwing gifts at him. They were throwing expensive coats and trainers and jeans and everything you could think of to get him to record a little video and post it on his socials wearing these things. The problem with that is 90 percent of his followers were female. They followed him because they liked him and there's a total disconnection there straight away because it's the wrong audience match.

[00:02:50] So working with high profile influencers isn't really the best thing. Now we've got the perception of influencers. out of the way. Now, what does a micro influencer look like? Well, in reality, they're not actually the people that go around shouting, look here, I'm an influencer. Just think of it. Take a step back and think, I understand my audience and the customers I want to generate.

[00:03:25] Now, who out there already has The following of my audience. So what you're trying to do, you're trying to piggyback on somebody else's audience. So who are the people out there that have already put the time and effort in to build your ideal audience? Now, those people are the people that you want to connect with.

[00:03:51] Those are the people. Like micro influencers in effect, you know, because they're already influencing their audience, which is the same audiences you want to build and they're gaining traction. It's a total perfect match for you as a small business. In reality, The reason you want to connect with those people is because it's going to help you to accelerate your own audience.

[00:04:25] It's going to get you known in their audience rather than you printing the slog work. You're fast tracking your way forward. Now, in that scenario, you may be thinking, What is the value? of working with a macro influencer. Well, just imagine that you are a restaurant owner and as a restaurant owner, you invite a local influencer into your restaurant and you offer them a free meal or agree a contract on monetary terms to come in and enjoy.

[00:05:05] A free meal in return for them to take videos in your restaurant, post a video on their social of how well they liked that meal and just think of the impact that will generate. Imagine, Your local audience that you would love to get into your restaurant. You know, there's somebody here that people actually follow and they are influencers.

[00:05:32] The reason they're called influencers, because they do influence people's decisions. And imagine if you can be part of that as a brand. You may be sitting there thinking, I've never tried it. Where on earth? Earth, do I start with micro influences? Where do I find them? What do I do? And it's all in the actual research.

[00:05:57] It's all in the connection. It's all in looking at these people, looking at the interaction, looking at the interactivity, looking at who their follower is. And I want to give you, as always, this week's TAD Takeaway. Your golden nugget piece of actionable advice. Now, you can spend hours and hours trawling through social media to find these people and look at the numbers, but that's not really going to give you true value.

[00:06:36] So what I suggest instead is signing up and creating a free account at sparktoro. com, which is one of the very best audience research tools I have personally used myself. And type in a keyword or a phrase that relates to your business. Now go through the information that it outputs and what you'll find is you'll find those people who already have built the audience you're looking for and you will find that the audience are interacting with them.

[00:07:15] And who shares that content. Now, the best way to contact them is to go to their social media account and message them on the platform that they're best known for. And that is this week's TAD Takeaway. Next week, I will invite a real life. influencer onto the podcast, a real life influencer that will give us the insights.

[00:07:43] I want to get the information from the inside out. So what does it actually take to work with? a macro influencer and what value can they bring to your business? And with that, thank you for listening. As always, keep pushing forward. Thank you for tuning into the talk about digital podcast. Remember every small step.

[00:08:05] Step you take brings you closer to your business goals. If you found today's episode helpful, subscribe to our podcast and sign up to your free 12 week TAD customer growth course@www.talk about digital.co uk to receive even more customer generating tips and in size. Until next time, keep harnessing your strengths and making actionable, impactful moves in your digital marketing journey.

[00:08:35] See you soon.