By now, you’ve probably heard about the hype surrounding influencer marketing. Influencers — internet creators who have amassed a trusting following and are paid to promote products to their loyal fanbase — have become an essential part of any brand’s marketing strategy, and the jewelry industry is no exception. So how do you navigate this new era of partnership marketing? Our take: think smaller. In this article, we’ll walk through the benefits of working with micro-influencers, how to find the right fit for your brand, and how to maintain a fruitful relationship with these new (tiny) marketing powerhouses.
Understanding Influencer Types
Influencers come in all shapes and sizes, and they’re generally categorized by their genre and audience volume. Here are the different ways to categorize influencers based on their following size:
- Mega-influencers: 1M+ followers
- Macro-influencers: 100K-1M followers
- Micro-influencers: 10K-100K followers
- Nano-influencers: 1K-10K followers
Of course, the larger the following, the more a product post will be seen. But there are lots of other factors that tend to accompany an audience volume — for example, the creator’s pay rate, their content production value, and their willingness to work with new brands. For instance, a mega-influencer might have incredible content production value with really well made videos for TikTok, but they might charge a hefty posting fee, and they might be overloaded with brand partnerships already. These things are all important to consider when deciding which types of influencers to partner with.
The Role of Influencer Marketing in Brand Strategies
Influencers are an integral part of many brand marketing strategies for a number of reasons. First, and maybe most importantly, is that influencers give a sense of authenticity and reliability that traditional marketing efforts lack. Influencer content tends to be engaging and they have an audience that follows them for a reason — when they endorse a product or service, their followers naturally trust their opinion more than a paid advertisement that feels impersonal.
Speaking of an engaged audience, influencers’ followers tend to stick to a specific targeted audience that can be hard to attain with other marketing efforts. With an engaged, dedicated audience, it’s much easier for brand’s to reach their desired demographic. For example, if you’re trying to reach millennials with disposable incomes, looking for an influencer who already has a fanbase of this dedicated group will be so much more fruitful than traditional marketing efforts.
Depending on the influencer following, type, and individual creator’s policies, it’s likely that partnering with an influencer will be more cost-effective than traditional advertising mediums. This, coupled with the certainty that it will reach an appropriate audience means your dollars are being put to something you know will reach your intended audience.
Finally, content marketing is a great way to put your jewelry on display so your potential shoppers can see what your pieces look like styled. With influencer video and image content, an influencer can demonstrate the details of a piece and model how it looks when styled well.
The Power of Micro-Influencers in the Jewelry Industry
So compared to other influencer types, why do we think micro-influencers are a great marketing option in the jewelry industry? While every influencer is different, micro-influencers tend to have a few qualities that might give your jewelry brand an advantage:
- Higher engagement rates: With a smaller audience, micro-influencers can dedicate time to their engagement. They can reply to comments, both written and in videos, which creates more audience engagement as well. Finding an influencer with a high engagement rate is key to success for your brand.
- Niche audiences and specialized content: Micro-influencers tend to specialize their content to set themselves apart from the competition. The internet is saturated with content, and to gain a following of 10-100K, an influencer needs to hone in on a narrow niche in order to stand out. This means that a partnership with a niche influencer can help you reach a specific audience a lot easier — your dollars are going toward reaching your potential customers.
- Perceived authenticity and trust: With an audience of 100K or smaller, a micro-influencer is likely making a living doing something else in addition to influencer marketing. Followers innately understand this compared to watching mega-influencers whose full time jobs are to promote products. This inherently makes a micro-influencer more authentic and trustworthy in their followers’ eyes — they will likely only partner with select brands and are dedicated to more than their influencing career.
Finding the Right Micro-Influencers for Your Jewelry Brand
While you can find an influencer for any genre — books, music, make-up, fitness, you name it — finding a jewelry influencer for jewelry can look a number of different ways. Instead of looking for micro-influencers who only promote jewelry, you might want to zoom out a little and focus on your target demographic. Who are they listening to? Whose opinion do they value?
Defining your target audience and brand values
As with any marketing strategy, it’s key to define your target audience and your brand values before you search for an influencer. Take some time to get specific on your vision — who exactly are you trying to reach, and what do you want to convey? This will help you weed out a lot of potential influencers — the internet has no shortage of them!
Researching potential influencers
Once you’ve got an idea of your target audience and brand values, start your search on social media platforms. Go on TikTok or Instagram and search for relevant hashtags to find influencers who are reaching your demographic and demonstrating the values of your brand. When searching for hashtags, use phrases that pertain to your brand and audience rather than broadly “jewelry”. Chances are the influencers that align with your brand will be easier to find the more specific you get.
For example, if you know your audience is young women who are about to get engaged, you can narrow in on certain elements that this group might gravitate towards — an influencer whose content caters to wedding planning or engagement might be a great fit.
Evaluating influencer fit
Once you’ve explored the content from different influencers who are reaching your target demographic, it’s time to evaluate whether or not they’ll be an appropriate influencer for your specific branding purposes. First, examine their content and their aesthetic. Does their image align with your brand’s? Pay attention to their use of colors, angles, light, pace, and imagery. You wouldn’t want to partner with an influencer who posts bright, maximalist, eccentric fashion trends if your jewelry brand is all about the classic, simple, minimalist pieces, for instance.
The next consideration is their data — how is their engagement on their posts? Beyond their following, you want to make sure an influencer partner has a highly engaged audience. This will likely look like lots of reposts and comments on many platforms, and it should work in both directions. Successful influencers will respond to their comments and make an effort to establish a sense of community on their account.
Another way to gain valuable intel is to take a look at their previous brand collaborations. Take note of the types of brands they’ve worked with and posted about before — what do they value in products, and how has their audience responded? This should give you some good insight into whether your partnership will be successful.
Building and Sustaining Fruitful Partnerships with Micro-Influencers
Finding an influencer is just the first step; committing to the success of this partnership will help you to see the rewards of your collaboration. Once you’ve fostered a mutual agreement between your brand and a micro-influencer, it’s important to set clear parameters and expectations. Make it clear to the micro-influencer what your goals are, so they can cater their content to help achieve these goals. These can be mutually beneficial — for example, you might have an initial payment for the content they produce, but maybe they’ll earn extra commission for each piece of jewelry purchased. Also, be sure to offer fair compensation, whether you discuss monetary terms or product gifting.
Since you’re essentially working with a tiny marketing agency, it’s important to also provide creative freedom within your brand guidelines. While you likely have a message and some verbiage in mind for their content, keep in mind that they have success reaching their audience and ultimately know what their followers want to see.
Be sure that your lines of communication are open and ongoing. While you monitor a campaign, feel free to give them updates of what you’re seeing from sales, and make sure the micro-influencers know they can come to you with any questions. They’re like a representative for your brand, so their audience might have questions about the product or how it's made that the influencer might not already know off the top of their head. Keeping a strong relationship with open communication is a great way to get ahead of any mishaps.
A micro-influencer partnership can change the game for your jewelry brand. To make sure you’ve got a product that you both feel great about, you need a manufacturing partner you can trust. MJJ Brilliant has been creating beautiful pieces for brands for over forty years. Our commitment to quality is unmatched, and our team is excited to help turn your dream styles into a reality. Get in touch with us today to get started on leveling up your jewelry business.
