Unboxed Persuasion: The Micro-Influencer Marketing Effect

British micro-influencer Saint Browning appears on screen, breaking down her outfit of the day, sporting a vintage blazer and a Déhanche belt, and jets out the door to walk around her bohemian neighborhood in SoHo, London, while giving style tips.

“If you can own a Birkin and treat it the way it’s meant to be used, you’re iconic,” she says to her 200,000 TikTok followers.

While it might be quite impossible for someone to own a Birkin bag, due to its hefty price tag, the way in which Browning looks at the camera while flicking her hair might make you think that it’s actually an attainable object. That’s because an influencer like her might actually receive one in the mail.

Although this may sound far-fetched to some, there’s an actual business model behind this TikTok: make a video, feature products and styling tips, and receive free items. For Browning, curating a niche online community has become the worshiping ground for her style-conscious followers. Her authentic delivery and accessory expertise has attracted a loyal following of people who trust her. Thanks to brand gifting, Browning isn’t the only one benefiting from new additions to her wardrobe; the brands that recognize the magnitude of her online influence are, too.

Macro-influencers, generally defined as creators with audiences between 100,000 and 1 million followers, are losing traction and, consequently, their viability as a primary marketing strategy. According to Forbes, micro-influencers with 10,000 to 100,000 followers are seeing up to 60% more engagement than macro-influencers. In light of this, brands are reevaluating what it means to be an esteemed figure, recognizing the value of relatable brand advocates. To tap into this authentic feedback, brands are negotiating gifting and incentive deals with micro-influencers in hopes of receiving product reviews that feel organic rather than promotional.

This shift toward genuine, relatable content creators stems from Gen Z’s hunger for online human connection. Having grown up alongside the internet, this generation has developed the ability to filter out superficiality in the media, influencing their willingness to trust what they see. For SMU marketing student Tori Mawn, social media has evolved in ways she never expected.

“It’s been a turbulent time growing up on the internet,” she says. “In the early 2000s, everything was very filtered and polished, and everyone used Photoshop. Then we had Covid, the new wave of genuine and no-filters. Now, I think we’re just trying to be more aware on social media and take everything with a grain of salt.”

Amid apprehension about what is seen on social media, micro-influencers’ focus on engaging with their communities rather than seeking widespread attention leads their audiences to perceive them as authoritative figures.

“I think micro-influencers feel more approachable,” she says. “A lot of them I’m seeing on my feed are based in my same area, or other places I have ties to, so that also makes them feel a lot more relatable because they’re going to the same places as me.”

From a psychological standpoint, users' resonance with micro-influencers stems from the in-group, out-group theory, which suggests that people are more likely to trust those they perceive as part of their in–group. According to the Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, the ability to relate to influencers plays a vital role in shaping brand perception and consumer behavior.

For SMU senior Mylei Henderson, sharing common interests and being in the same age group as wellness influencer Brett Chody, with over 100,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok, has played a crucial role in building trust in her recommendations.

“For me, one of my main hobbies is running, so there’s a micro-influencer named Brett Chody I like to follow who talks a lot about the clothing she likes to wear and the supplements she takes to fuel herself for long runs,” Henderson says. “Overall, I feel like our interests align, and she doesn’t seem like the kind of person that would promote products or items that she doesn’t stand behind.”

In observing the influence micro-influencers have on purchasing decisions, many brands have begun to base their marketing strategies on ambassador partnership programs. For the beauty brand Glossier, each partnership receives a personalized landing page on its main website, linking to testimonials for its favorite products and instructions for applying them. This strategy showcases the versatility of Glossier’s products while showing consumers that they can achieve the same looks as their favorite micro-influencers.

To better understand how micro-influencer marketing has contributed to brand success, it’s essential to examine the metrics involved. Beth Hutson, the executive producer and publicist for Elevated Content Co., a PR and production agency located in Fort Worth, Texas, specializing in entertainment and lifestyle brands, directs micro-influencer marketing campaigns to boost engagement, conversion, and positive sentiment for brands.

In a recent campaign for SMU alumni-owned athleticwear brand tasc Performance, Hutson organized a micro-influencer event for the brand's new store opening in Dallas-Fort Worth to gain local publicity. During the event, micro-influencers had the opportunity to mingle with executives while being photographed in their favorite items from the brand. Despite this being their first brick-and-mortar location in North Texas, the athleticwear brand quickly gained traction on social media.

“It was one of the most successful grand openings in the nation, as far as attendance, revenue, and impressions, which helped build their foundational business,” Hutson says. “A lot of those customers they found from the micro-influencer campaign are still customers today.”

While experts like Hutson highlight the brand side of micro-influencer campaigns, it’s equally important to consider the other part of the equation, the micro-influencers themselves. To understand how micro-influencers monetize their content, its essential to be familiar with affiliate marketing platforms. Through like LTK and ShopMy, micro-influencers provide shoppable links to products in their posts via paid sponsorships, gifting programs, and even organic endorsements. This system rewards their authentic appeal and engagement rates, while allowing brands to track the conversions driven by each creator.

SMU alumna and micro-influencer Caroline McNaughten, with 10,000 fashion and lifestyle-inspired followers on Instagram and TikTok, shared the various types of outreach integral to forming brand partnerships. For most of her sponsored content, McNaughten is an avid user of creator-led commerce platforms like LTK and ShopMy. For this process, brands first reach out to her on the platform, where she then posts links to her favorite products and is compensated based on conversion rates, determined by the number of click-throughs and purchases. Additionally, brands may also reach out via direct message on Instagram or TikTok to add her to their in-house gifting lists.

By curating her own personal affiliate marketing pages featuring links to her favorite clothing and products, McNaughten has gained a deeper understanding of what her audience is looking for.

“It’s interesting because I get to see the metrics of what people like on my page,” she says. “Therefore, I get to edit my curation based on that, and I’ve noticed that people like the niche items you can’t really find online, which you’d otherwise have to dig for. One thing that comes to mind is this leather bag I found walking down the street in Positano, and when I posted a story, everyone was asking me where it was from.”

The access to this level of insight is precisely why brands are incorporating micro-influencers into their marketing strategies. By scouting partnerships with those who align with their target market, brands can improve return on investment by increasing engagement rates and reducing ad spend. While brands rely on micro-influencers for this reason, it’s hard not to feel uncertain about where the digital landscape is heading.

According to public relations professor Erika Wilson, the marketing field has already undergone tremendous evolution during her time working in the industry and as a professor.

“What I’m noticing is marketing has changed in the scope of, first, we used to be one-way communicating, we were giving you the information,” Wilson says. “Now, it’s definitely a two-way conversation where we are looking more to see what the expectations are, and consumers are looking for that as well.”

Although this two-way conversation is effective for the time being, concerns remain about whether the oversaturation of micro-influencers will erode the authority of their claims. SMU business student Catalina Lauren says she’s already noticed her favorite micro-influencers promoting the same products.

“Sometimes when I see the same product marketed by different micro-influencers, it starts to feel overwhelming, and very ingenuine, pushing me away from the product,” she says.

These growing skepticisms toward micro-influencer marketing reflect users’ ability to detect when a product promotion seems inauthentic. Often, these partnerships are built on the perks of incentives, rather than the micro-influencer’s likelihood of using the product. Wilson has noticed several instances of this, most notably in the reality television stars she follows.

“Sometimes, they might showcase something they’re trying to sell because they want to bring in more income for themselves, and it might not be something they actually use,” Wilson says. “I know I’ve seen different housewives promoting a wine, and they wouldn’t drink it. So, I think that’s a dilemma, because it’s deceptive.”

Social media users like Wilson and Lauren provide a living example of this generational shift toward seeking transparency online. Beyond purchasing habits, the appeal to micro-influencers reveals a broader need for emotional connections that social media has stripped users of. Although micro-influencing has not yet perfected its model, it may be the first step in the right direction toward promoting realness in online spaces.

“Nowadays, it’s hard to know if anything is authentic,” Lauren says. “But finding a creator who feels real reminds me that connection online is still possible.”