How to Find a Micro-Influencer Collaboration

Are you a marketer looking to partner with influencers and reach more audiences? In the age of social media, working with micro-influencers can be an incredibly effective strategy to meet your influencer marketing KPIs, but it’s also daunting trying to identify the right person for the job. Fortunately, there are certain steps that marketers can take to identify and collaborate with credible micro-influencers who will make an impact on their audience. The key is finding someone whose content resonates well with both brands and followers. Collaborations are not just important for larger and more established influencers but also for micro-influencers looking to build up their brands. Follow along as we share what kinds of partnerships micro-influencers can take part in and how to find them. Here’s how to find a micro-influencer collaboration:

What kinds of collaborations are micro-influencers ideal for?

Being an influencer opens the doors to many opportunities, like brand collaborations. Marketers offer a variety of collaborations for influencers of all follower tiers. Micro-influencers are those with following counts between the 10k and 50K range across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and more. 

Brands benefit from working with micro-influencers and are actively looking to form collaborations because they are a cost-efficient method of social media marketing and share a genuine love for their products in a way that truly resonates with their target audience. Micro-influencers typically have tight-knit and loyal communities who are likely to engage with their posts. 

Micro-influencers ideally work with brands that share the same values they do as a personal brand and products that they truly enjoy. 

Micro-influencers have many options for collaborations with brands, including:

• Gifting campaigns in which they receive free product in exchange for a post on social media or a blog.
• Sponsored social media posts.
• User-generated content.
• Brand ambassadorships.
• Account takeovers.
• Event hosting.
• Giveaways.

How to find a micro-influencer collaboration as a brand or influencer

     1. Identify partners who resonate with your audience

Identify brands or influencers within your niche or industry who would resonate with your online community. Who are the brands that the micro-influencer’s followers already know and love? What would the creator recommend to the audience if they had the chance?

     2. Research potential partnerships

Whether you are a brand or agency rep or an influencer, it is always important to do your research before seeking collaborations. For example, if you are a beauty influencer who enjoys sharing makeup and skincare products, research beauty brands who work with micro-influencers and take note of the kinds of posts that they are creating. This gives you insights into the potential collaborations available. 

Here are some methods to get you started in your search:

• Visit an influencer marketplace with a search feature. Our Marketplace has both Casting Calls and creator listings, helping both brands and influencers find their next collaborations.
• Visit brand websites to see whether there is already an influencer or brand ambassador program in place. As a brand, you can also visit the contact page on a creator’s website, or send them a direct message on social media.

     3. Check out micro-influencer feeds and hashtags

Use hashtags to find content posted by micro-influencers to find potential collaborations. Many influencers use hashtags that identify themselves as micro-influencers. For example, on TikTok, #microinfluencer has more than 2.5 billion video views as of October 2023. On Instagram, the #microinfluencer hashtag has almost 3 million posts. As an influencer, you can see what brands are collaborating with fellow micro-creators.

     4. Join the Creator Marketplace

Through the Creator Marketplace, micro-influencers are given the opportunity to post their services and respond to brands’ Casting Calls directly. Creators can respond to the job listings with either a video or text pitch that details why they would be an ideal partner for the campaign. Brands can list questions for the creators to answer in their pitches, or they can use the search function to find micro-influencers by category, platform, follower count, location and more.

     5. Use IZEA Flex to manage your micro-influencer campaign

IZEA Flex is a comprehensive platform for managing influencer marketing campaigns. IZEA Flex provides tools for building and sending out campaign offers, generating campaign outlines with AI tools, tracking performance metrics, paying influencers and much more. This allows brands to quickly connect with the right influencers and streamline their campaigns.

Collaborations are great for micro-influencers and brands both as they can boost brand awareness, conversions, and engagement rates.  Micro-influencers are able to make money from their work while brands get a better return on investment.