A massive 84.8% of marketers believe that influencer marketing is effective, as revealed by our latest Influencer Marketing Benchmark report. What’s more, nearly 60% plan to spend more on influencer marketing in 2024, with a quarter planning to dedicate over 40% of their whole budget to it.
One of the biggest challenges brands face with influencer marketing is how to choose the right influencers for their marketing campaigns. One of the biggest challenges, however, is selecting the right influencers—only 37% of brands find this process easy.
Our findings also highlight a clear shift towards micro and nano-influencers, with 43% of marketers increasing their use and 24.9% reallocating budgets to these smaller-scale influencers.
So how do you navigate this landscape and choose the right influencers for your brand?
What makes it challenging is that there are so many different types of influencers, as this article will explore. From vloggers to virtual influencers to travel to tech, here are the types of influencers to consider for your next campaign.
4 Types of Influencers by Follower Count
Influencers are popping up all over the place. It makes sense considering influencer marketing ROI is one of the highest among traditional digital marketing channels. But what's the difference between types of influencers? Which influencer is best for your marketing campaign? How do you find the right influencers?
Keep reading to get all of your questions answered. We're going to cover 20 types of influencers:
- Nano influencers (1K–10K followers)
- Micro influencers (10K–100K followers)
- Macro influencers (100K–1M followers)
- Mega or celebrity influencers (1M+ followers)
Let's get started!
1. Nano Influencers (1K–10K followers)
Alexis Baker, paid partnership with Winc.
Nano influencers have from 1K–10K followers on their social media channels. They typically have a very engaged social media following and great engagement rates.
Nano influencers are typically very vocal advocates of the brands and products they love and their followers appreciate their authentic recommendations and commentary. They have a very close relationship with their followers and take the time to engage with their followers to cultivate those relationships.
As they’re a more cost-effective option, they’re a great choice for small- to mid-size businesses with a limited marketing budget. Whether you’re looking to get started with influencer marketing or want to test your offering with a new niche, these types of influencers allow you to start small.
Pros and Cons of Working With Nano Influencers
- Higher engagement and conversion rates: While they may not have the massive reach of macro or celebrity influencers, their followers are often more engaged and loyal. Plus, given their high engagement and trust levels, nano influencers often drive higher conversion rates. Their followers are more likely to act on their recommendations, leading to better ROI for your marketing campaigns.
- Cost-effective: Compared to mega influencers, the costs involved in working with smaller influencers are lower. Some might even be willing to collaborate in exchange for free products. If you agree upon a fixed rate, you can expect to spend anything between $20 and $1,250 per post.
- Limited reach: The most obvious downside is their limited reach. With a smaller following, nano influencers can’t offer the same level of exposure as their more famous counterparts. This means you'll need to collaborate with multiple nano influencers to achieve the reach you might get from a single macro influencer.
- Management challenges: Coordinating multiple nano influencers can be time-consuming and complex. Each influencer has their own way of working, and managing these relationships requires careful planning and communication.
Are Nano Influencers Right for Your Brand?
If you’re a local business working on a tight budget, nano influencers will be the correct choice for your influencer marketing campaign.
Niche will play a key role. Nano influencers tend to thrive in specific niches. Look for nano influencers who frequently post about topics related to your industry. Their expertise and genuine interest will make their endorsements more credible and impactful.
If your influencer marketing campaign targets a specific geographical market, also check that the influencers’ followers are primarily from that area.
The scale of your campaign should align with the capabilities of nano influencers. While they may not have the resources to produce high-budget content, their strength lies in creating relatable, authentic posts that engage their audience. So, nano influencers are the best fit for smaller campaigns that involve a series of social media posts, stories, or even a small event promotion.
2. Micro Influencers (10K–100K followers)
Shelby Ditch, paid partnership with Walmart.
Micro influencers have between 10K–100K followers. Even though they have a pretty large following, micro influencers are still viewed as relatable to their followers and tend to have an engaged audience. At this level, influencers tend to specialize in a particular niche. They also typically have high engagement rates and a targeted audience. This makes it easier for brands to create specialized sponsorships with these influencers.
While they tend to have the same close relationship with their followers as that enjoyed by nano influencers, micro influencers are more specialized so their audience is primed to hear marketing messages within that niche.
Pros And Cons of Working With Micro Influencers
- Flexibility and customization: Micro influencers are often more willing to work closely with brands to create customized content. This flexibility can result in more authentic and creative campaigns that resonate well with their audience.
- Higher engagement and trust: Like nano influencers, they often have more engaged audiences. Not only are their followers more interactive, but also trustworthy of their recommendations. Micro influencers usually have more personal and authentic relationships with their followers so it’s like interacting with a friend.
- Scalability struggles: Scaling campaigns with micro influencers can be challenging. As they have limited reach, you might need to collaborate with dozens of micro influencers, complicating coordination and consistency.
We have a detailed Pros and Cons of Micro-Influencer Marketing Guide that dives more into the benefits and drawbacks.
Are Micro Influencers Right For Your Brand?
Micro influencers are a good fit for brands that want to use influencer marketing to improve brand credibility. As they often have a closer, more personal connection with their audience, their followers view them as authentic voices which translates into higher credibility.
Plus, as micro influencers often focus on specific niches, they’re ideal for targeting particular demographics.
Also let the size of your campaign guide you. Micro influencers are particularly suitable for mid-sized campaigns.
3. Macro Influencers (100K–1M followers)
Lily Pebbles, paid partnership with Wild.
Macro influencers have between 100K–1M followers and tend toward a broader appeal than micro influencers. Macro influencers are typically internet-made celebrities and might be social media stars, bloggers, vloggers, or podcasters.
Macro influencers not only have a large audience but it's likely that they've developed that audience over months or years of nurturing relationships while growing followers. Because of their larger follower numbers, they will probably have a relatively low engagement rate.
Pros And Cons of Working With Macro Influencers
- Wider reach: Their extensive reach is one of their major advantages. With hundreds of thousands of followers, your brand's message can be disseminated to a large and diverse audience quickly.
- High-quality content: Macro influencers are seasoned content creators. They have a professional approach to content creation, ensuring that posts, videos, and stories are aesthetically pleasing and engaging.
- Higher costs: Given their extensive reach and influence, they often command higher fees for partnerships which can strain the budgets of smaller or emerging brands.
Are Macro Influencers Right For Your Brand?
For influencer marketing campaigns that focus on generating brand awareness with the primary goal of getting your brand in front of as many eyes as possible, consider macro influencers. Macro influencers can deliver that reach effectively, but you’ll need a big budget.
They’re also a right fit for your brand if you target larger, more diverse audiences. Due to their large followings, macro influencers can introduce your brand to a more extensive and varied audience. This is beneficial if your product or service appeals to a broad demographic.
Combine their wider reach with their content creation skills and they’re particularly suitable for large-scale, high-impact campaigns. Think of product launches or major events that aim to make a significant splash.
4. Mega Influencers (1M+ followers)
Shraddha Kapoor and Hershey India.
Mega influencers and celebrities have more than 1 million followers. Since they themselves are typically celebrities, you'll have to have a healthy marketing budget to afford them. It's important to understand that the audiences attracted by mega influencers are going to be very broad.
If you're working on a brand awareness campaign and have a large budget, mega influencers can get your products in front of as many eyes as possible which is great if your brand has appeal across segments.
Pros And Cons of Working With Mega Influencers
- Massive reach: With followers often numbering in the millions, your brand message can be broadcast to a vast audience in a single post, significantly increasing brand visibility and awareness.
- Credibility: Mega influencers have built a strong rapport with their followers over time. Their endorsements carry weight and are often perceived as more trustworthy than traditional advertisements.
- High costs: Due to their extensive reach and influence, these individuals command high fees for promotional activities. Depending on the channel, you can expect to pay $25,000+ per post.
- Contractual complexities: Working with mega influencers often involves intricate contracts and negotiations which can be time-consuming and complex.
Are Mega Influencers Right For Your Brand?
Needless to say, few (if any) small brands will be able to afford a mega influencer (and neither will it make sense for their campaign goals). If you’re willing to allocate a sizable percentage of your marketing budget to a campaign, you can consider going this route.
Mega influencers are best if your main goal is to maximize global brand awareness. As their followers come from multiple regions and span across various demographics, they’re a good match for brands looking to break into new markets. That said, this will mean that you first need to evaluate whether your message and product appeal to this broad audience or if a more targeted approach would be effective.
For example, luxury brands that elevate their market position will likely find more benefit from working with a mega influencer. If you’re looking to leverage the powerful impact of celebrity endorsement, explore collaborations with mega influencers.
16 Types of Influencers Based on Content or Niche
Sometimes you need an influencer in a specific niche. Here, we're going to share 16 types of influencers based on their niches that you can use for your next marketing campaign.
5. Gaming Influencers
Gaming influencers typically fall into one of these sub-niches:
- Game reviews
- Tutorials
- Game walk-throughs
- Montages
- Challenges
- Team matchups
- Game type (action, FPS, MMO, strategy, etc.)
Gaming influencers usually live stream their games on platforms like Twitch and YouTube and can garner millions of followers who are looking to improve their own gameplay or learn more about gaming.
While they often promote video games and game-related products and brands, gaming influencers represent such a targeted niche that vehicle, clothing, shoes, and snack and beverage brands are likely to get great results with a gaming influencer partnership.
For example, Fuze Tea used gaming influencers on Twitch to grow their brand identity among gamers. With the help of Upfluence, one of the top gaming influencer marketing platforms, they attracted nearly 50,000 unique viewers on Twitch.
Examples of the top gaming influencers on YouTube that you can check out include:
- VanossGaming
- Markiplier
- Ali-A
- theRadBrad
- DanTDM
6. Sports and Fitness Influencers
Like gaming influencers, fitness influencers can cover tons of different niches such as:
- Yoga
- Running
- Weightlifting
- CrossFit
- Healthy lifestyle
- Weight loss
Fitness and sports influencers are typically a source of motivation for their followers. They tend to endorse sports brands, food and drink brands that relate to the health and wellness industry, specific eating and workout programs, and more.
According to Statista’s insights about health and fitness influencers’ target audiences, their followers typically have a high annual household income and value success. About 20% of their followers are also early adopters of new products, opening the door for brand collaborations.
7. Bloggers/Vloggers
Bloggers and vloggers are typically macro and mega influencers, thanks to their large follower counts. They create high-quality content that keeps their followers engaged and sets them apart as authorities in their niches. In addition to the audience that follows their YouTube channel or blog, they're likely to have a large audience on other social media platforms, too.
Bloggers and vloggers have SEO on their side which can usually result in high-quality backlinks and get a fair amount of referral traffic through sponsored blog posts and videos. These types of influencers can help you build brand awareness, drive website traffic, and improve your sales.
Examples of top-performing vloggers who you can check out include:
- Joey Graceffa
- Nyma Tang
- Rachel Aust
- Tyler Oakley
- Casey Neistat
8. Photography Influencers
Photography influencers who fall into the mega through micro influencer categories tend to be picked up by big-name camera companies to promote their cameras, lenses, and other accessories. These influencers are some of the best content creators around.
Their influence stems from their ability to inspire, educate, and engage their followers through their unique, visual storytelling skills. They have a keen eye for detail, composition, and lighting, which sets their digital content apart.
9. Travel Influencers
Travel influencers offer more than just a huge dose of FOMO. Many travel influencers offer travel tips, tricks, and hacks, as well as reviews on travel-related brands and recommended itineraries complete with places to eat.
In fact, a survey completed in 2024 reveals that 60% believe that influencers are a useful information source on travel topics. Travel, like gaming and fitness, can be broken down into several niches like gear, places to visit, how-tos, and more.
10. Beauty Influencers
Beauty and skincare products are one of the top three product categories sold by content creators in the US. What’s more, a 2023 survey also reveals that over 80% of female Gen Z consumers have bought items in this category because of an influencer’s recommendation.
These beauty influencers share beauty tips, product reviews, how-tos, and more, and can easily increase your beauty brand's awareness and increase sales.
From professional makeup artists to makeup enthusiasts, the only foundation you need to become a beauty influencer is the one you use to create an even complexion.
@patriciabright The water out if the ? is not for me! My skin is so sensitive! @Avene UKI and @Garnier ♬ original sound - patriciabright
11. Fashion Influencers
Fashion influencers focus on things like clothing, jewelry, shoes, watches, and other accessories, giving them a broad range of products to promote. They typically offer product reviews, promote products, work directly with fashion lines, share post-shopping trip "haul" videos, and offer styling tips.
12. Parenting Influencers
Parenting influencers share tips and tricks for new parents, review products, and share their own stories about being parents—both successes and failures. They’ve become an integral part of the modern parenting landscape.
Whether it’s through education or entertainment, they build communities and offer invaluable support to parents worldwide. Plus, parenting influencers can promote products across a very large range of industries.
13. Food Influencers
Food influencers create content centered around food, cooking, and dining experiences. From restaurant reviews to recipes to trends to tips, they find various ways to create visual content in which food is the star of the post.
Some come from a professional background and might be a chef, baker, or food critic. Others are simply food lovers or advocates for healthy eating turning to social media to share what they’ve been up to in their own kitchen, for example.
A popular subcategory of food influencers include vegan influencers.
14. Lifestyle Influencers
Unlike food or fashion influencers who focus on a specific subject, lifestyle influencers share a holistic view of their lives. As such, they cover a broad range of topics and their content often is a mix of:
- Travel highlights
- Food and cultural experiences
- Fashion and beauty advice
- Wellness routines and practices
- Design ideas
- Relationship stories
They captivate their followers with personal stories from their everyday lives and unique take on various aspects of living.
15. Pet Influencers
Pet content on the internet has evolved from funny cat memes and cute dog GIFs to social media posts that attract hundreds of thousands of likes. It was only a matter of time before pets would claw their way into our social media feeds as legitimate influencers with their own official accounts.
Their social media accounts are managed by their human owners who typically share:
- Cute or funny photos with playful captions
- Videos of their daily routines
- Recent adventures to a new environment
- Informative posts about pet care
They can also evolve from being merely human companions to brand collaborators. From pet food to accessories to even clothing, pet influencers can be used for a variety of endorsements and sponsored content.
16. Tech Influencers
Tech influencers have established credibility in the technology sector and possess deep knowledge of gadgets, software, and technological trends. Their opinions are highly valued by their followers, often swaying purchasing decisions and shaping public perception of new products and technologies.
Tech influencers build their reputation over time by consistently providing honest, unbiased opinions. Their followers trust them to give genuine recommendations, making them powerful advocates for brands selling products with high price tags and complex features.
17. Education Influencers
Education influencers are experts and thought leaders who create content about educational trends and niche-specific fields, like a language. You can basically think of them as an online teacher.
They concentrate on providing value by sharing their deep understanding and insights of their niche. It’s this deep level of expertise that attracts audiences. It also makes them more credible. In addition to social media posts, they also focus on creating well-researched, valuable, and actionable content such as eBooks and video tutorials.
18. Comedy/Entertainment Influencers
Comedy/entertainment influencers deserve to be taken seriously. A Statista survey reveals that comedy is the most popular influencer genre among US consumers.
Like lifestyle influencers, they can cover various topics. Humor is the golden thread that runs through their digital content.
Whether it’s through a meme, skit, or stand-up routine, comedy and entertainment influencers offer their humorous takes on current events, society or everyday life. Their content often plays a key role in shaping pop culture.
19. Virtual Influencers
Virtual influencers are digital characters created using computer graphics (in other words, they’re not real people). These computer-generated characters are given unique personalities (even birthdays) and are designed to engage with audiences in a lifelike manner.
In addition to sharing content and interacting with followers, they can also endorse products offering new opportunities for brands to connect with their audiences. In fact, according to our The State of Influencer Marketing 2024: Benchmark Report, as much as 60% of respondents have used a virtual influencer.
Like pet influencers, they’re managed by a representative. For example, Lu, one of the most famous virtual influencers, was created by Brazil’s biggest retailer, Magalu, as their site’s in-store voice. Ogilvy São Paulo collaborated with the retailer to turn her into a virtual influencer.
20. B2B Influencers
B2B influencers aren’t as well-known as most of the other types of influencers mentioned earlier. However, influencer marketing is one the B2B marketing trends you want to watch going forward.
Unlike fashion and lifestyle influencers who mostly post on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, you’ll typically find B2B influencers on LinkedIn and X. Here, they’re regarded as thought leaders and industry experts in their fields and actively participate in industry discussions.
Their opinions are trusted by their peers which means that they can impact businesses’ purchasing decisions within a specific industry. In fact, according to a survey about the most important qualities for B2B influencers, trustworthiness tops the list.
Fake Influencers: How to Identify and Steer Clear of Them
Fake influencers are everywhere. These are accounts that pay for more followers and engagement so they look like they're influential.
While some of them are easy to spot, others take a bit more discernment. When you're looking for the right influencers for your brand, the following are a few metrics you can look at to make sure that an account is actually as good as they seem:
- Engagement rate
- Comments (look for quality comments)
- How the account reacts to comments
- Who's following them
- Who they're following
Be wary of engagement spikes when analyzing an influencer’s engagement rate. Jackie Blake, Managing Director at Reflect and Head of Influencer Marketing at The River Group, stresses:
“Sudden spikes in likes or comments, followed by a drop, can be suspicious. Consistent engagement is more trustworthy.”
When it comes to analyzing the influencer’s followers, Jackie warns against accounts with:
- No profile pictures
- Generic names
- Few posts
- Few followers of their own
To help you with audience demographics, she suggests that you use a tool like HypeAuditor.
For example, at Pranamat ECO, a family-owned company that produces premium massage mats, they combine tech with manual efforts to spot fake influencers. Using Captiv8, they filter influencers based on various factors, including the percentage of fake or mass followers.
Next, they manually review their profiles, checking who’s engaging with their content, and assessing the quality of the comments.
Tamara Foresti, Head of Influencer Marketing at Pranamat ECO, shares:
“Influencers with high engagement but mostly low-value comments, such as emojis or interactions from other influencers, are ones we avoid.”
It might sound like hard work, but as Tamara explains:
“We handpick influencers for every partnership because our product is high-value, and working with influencers is a significant investment, both financially and in terms of our team’s time.”
You can also look at their previous brand partnerships before you approach them. Vanessa Franz, CEO and founder or Privy Reviews, adds:
“Genuine influencers have real influence and can provide examples of successful brand collaborations."
Her go-to method for spotting fake influencers—checking if they’ve worked with other brands and assessing the success of those campaigns.
Finding Influencers for Your Brand
When everyone can be an influencer, it can get complicated to find the right influencers to represent your brand. Here are some factors other than influencer rates to think about during your influencer search.
Audience Match
Once you find an influencer with the follower count you're looking for, take a look at who those followers are.
Do they match your target audience?
If they don't, the influencer will probably have a harder time sharing your brand message.
If they do, great!
Before you go signing them up, though, check out the engagement and read some of the comments and responses to make sure that the engagement is what you'd like to see for your brand.
You can also take a more direct approach and ask your target audience who inspires them. Liv Gascoine, co-founder of The Content Cloud Network, suggests that you hold focus groups. You can, for example, use their cloud of creators and consumers and gather first-hand feedback to guide your brand’s influencer selection.
Authenticity, Passion, and Knowledge
Does the influencer you're considering speak knowledgeably about your industry? Does their audience engage with their content—even their sponsored content? Does the influencer create their own content in their promotional messages?
The right influencer for your brand is one who comes across as a relatable person sharing information about their favorite products instead of a salesperson. It helps immensely if they also have a passion for the niche.
Peter Nettesheim, Media Director at Influencer Hero, an all-in-one influencer marketing platform explains:
“When looking for the right influencers to work with, focus on those who authentically align with your brand’s value and message. Look for influencers whose content resonates with your target audience. The best influencers to work with are those whose content naturally aligns with your brand.”
Goal Match
Your goal has a lot to do with the type of influencer you'll want to choose. For example, if you're looking to increase your brand awareness, macro influencers with larger fan bases are probably going to be the most beneficial to you. If you want to increase conversions, however, nano or micro influencers might be your best bet thanks to their typically high engagement rates.
Platform
The platform an influencer uses is important, too. If your audience loves stunning imagery, you'll probably want to find an Instagram influencer. If your audience goes crazy for video content, a YouTube influencer might be a better option. If you're a B2B business targeting other businesses, find a LinkedIn influencer to partner with.
Wrapping Up
As you can see, there are several different types of influencers you can use to promote your brand, products, and services. Depending on your niche, brand personality, and budget, you're sure to find the perfect influencer for you.
One of the challenges is to separate the fake influencers from the ones with real influence. While engagement matters, consistent growth and high-quality comments are better than quick follower growth and thousands of emoji replies.
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