The Different Types of Influencers and Which Is the Best for Your Brand

In the past, the only way for brands to reach consumers was through traditional advertising methods like television commercials, magazine ads, and radio spots. However, in the digital age, brands can now also reach consumers through social media platforms, and this modality has been soaring for a few years now, after the appearance of digital influencers, who changed the way brands communicate with their customers.

Social media platforms are essentially online communities where people can connect with each other and share content. And because social media platforms became so popular, they provide brands with a powerful way to reach a large number of consumers; but in order to reach those communities through social media, brands need to engage with social media influencers.

Social media influencers are people who have a large following on social media and who are respected by their followers. And because social media influencers have such a large following, they are able to influence the opinions and behaviors of their followers. This is why they are so powerful for brands. To better leverage this growing marketing strategy, it’s helpful to understand the different types of social media influencers that a brand can work with, since each type of influencer has a different impact on a brand's marketing strategy. The most common types of social media influencers are micro-influencers, macro-influencers, and celebrity influencers, but there are many more depending on how they are categorized. Let’s discuss some of them and their impacts over a brand’s strategy.

Small Influencers

Small influencers have few followers but they reach a certain audience in a relevant way. Small influencers are often considered to be more credible than other types of social media influencers due to the fact that they are closely connected with them, and because they have a relatively small following, they are often more affordable for brands to work with.

We suggest to brands the use of the ‘stealth’ strategy in which the influencer publicizes the brand’s product or service without the audience even noticing the marketing content mixed up with the influencer’s own content.

Examples of small influencers include local public figures such as actors and local bloggers.

Brand Synergy

Brand synergy influencers are those who have high engagement, a good amount of followers and are focused on a specific topic. These influencers have the power to influence new trends of a sector and to create huge communities that orbit around a common topic. This category is mostly used to create audience awareness of a local brand and to become closely coupled with the influencers theirselves, who are now the ‘face’ of the brand.

Examples of brand synergy influencers include bloggers who work with fashion, technical writers and other professionals.

Cause Leader

Cause leader influencers are those who represent a social cause, these influencers’ images are tightly coupled with their opinions and actions and they attract an audience that relates to the cause. These influencers are a good way to express a brand’s vision, ideal for highlighting the company's values or even to give an opinion on a matter that impacts the brand.

Examples of cause leader influencers include LGBTQ+ people, nature related organizations, and religion evangelists, among many others.

Internal Audience

Some of the most important influencers for a business are the employees themselves, the teams that works directly for a brand, their friends and family who know the product well and know how to promote (or disservice) it like no one else. This is why it’s so important in a marketing strategy to be aware of the internal and external opinions that may affect or influence the brand’s audience opinion.

Traditional Media

Traditional media influencers are journalists who, in addition to communicating with data and information relevant to the public, convey security and credibility to brands. When loaded with good information, these can have a huge impact on their audience, which believes his opinion is heavily investigated, thought through and data oriented.

Examples include anchors, TV reporters and writers.

The Expert

Someone who is an expert on a particular subject knows a lot about it. These influencers are cited as a reference on a particular subject due to their experience or studies on a matter, providing greater credibility in a marketing campaign.

Examples include university professors, published scientists, academic researchers, highly experienced professionals.

Celebrities

Celebrities are public figures that use that popularity to connect with their audiences on social media. They have a large following, and, like the cause leader, they carry a huge impact on the audience’ s perception of a brand. Before working together, the brand must have their values aligned with the celebrity who will represent them socially. Strategically, to use a celebrity in a marketing campaign is one of the easiest ways to get a brand to be known; this makes a good use case for product launches, brand valorization and visibility but it comes at a cost. Celebrities are on the expensive side when it comes to investing in an influencer marketing campaign.

Examples include actors, musicians and athletes.

Interested? Find out 5 Steps to Become a Great Influencer

There are many different types of influencers a brand can collaborate with, it just needs to find the correct fit based on niche, values and goals. Moreover, Hypzz makes it easy for brands to find an influencer and for influencers to find the best brands.

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