Smaller influencers may drive stronger trust, study suggests
New research challenges the widely-held notion that influencer popularity and large follower counts are key to impactful social media partnerships. The study indicates that social media users often trust endorsements from influencers with fewer followers more than those from famous influencers with a larger following.
Why? Experts suggest that audiences view influencers with smaller followers as more authentic and relatable. Their endorsements, therefore, appear more credible, leading to increased trust from their audience. Plus, the intimate community usually found around smaller influencers often results in higher engagement rates.
Interesting results from a study at Italy’s LUISS Guido Carli University show that the use of high-arousal language, emojis and exclamation points can significantly increase user engagement.
Micro influencers’ authenticity boosts consumer trust
Posts containing these elements, especially high-arousal words, performed particularly well.
Notably, a 10% increase in the use of high-arousal language reflected differently on macro and micro influencers. The former saw an 8.4% decrease in engagement, whereas the latter experienced a 5.4% increase in engagement with the same intensification in language.
This pattern reflects consumer behavior, with micro influencers being seen as more ‘mundane’ and thus more trustworthy due to their enthusiasm for a product. The large payouts for promotions by macro influencers make their followers skeptical and cautious. This doesn’t mean that the macro influencers are necessarily less genuine, but the perception exists.
Similar patterns of engagement were observed on other platforms like TikTok, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. In each case, authenticity, sincerity and relatability had more impact on engagement rates than any professional or polished persona.
The study concludes that influencers can build trust by offering valuable, informative content and by being honest, even disclosing a product’s shortcomings if necessary. Influencers that demonstrate vulnerability, subtly place products, listen and respond to their followers’ feedback maintain trust and create a relatable brand image.
