Macro influencers: what they stand for and when cooperation is worthwhile

Macro influencers usually range between 100,000 and 1 million followers. Although they are not celebrities like mega influencers with several million followers, they have significantly more reach than micro or nano influencers. Their great strength lies in creating high visibility in their specific niche, for example in the areas of lifestyle, tech or nutrition. Compared to other influencers, you can classify them like this:

• Nano influencers have between 1,000 and 10,000 followers and have very personal communities with high engagement rates.
• Micro influencers have between 10,000 and 100,000 followers, specialize in niches and bring strong trust from their communities.
• Macro influencers with 100,000 to 1 million followers offer professional reach, are established creators, but still close to their followers.
• Mega influencers with over 1 million followers are usually stars and celebrities with a very high reach.

Depending on the platform, the definition may vary slightly. On YouTube creators with 100,000 subscribers are already considered macro influencers, on Instagram the limits are often slightly higher. On Twitch, a streamer with 50,000 followers and a high average concurrent viewership can achieve a similar reach as a macro influencer on other platforms.

Macro influencers are characterized by certain characteristics:

• High reach: Posts reach hundreds of thousands of people. You can therefore optimally increase your reach in cooperation with macro influencers.
• Broader target group: Unlike micro influencers, they appeal to a larger and more diverse target group, but often still have a fixed niche.
• Professional content setup: You can usually expect professional production and equipment.
• Agency representation and management: Some macro influencers are professionally represented by agencies. This means you can expect more structured but also more formal negotiations.

In influencer marketing, we often hear that macro influencers are only suitable for reach, but hardly for performance campaigns. However, in over 10,000 campaigns we have found that they can also deliver very good performance. However, it is important that the community is committed and that your product fits the influencer and their target group.

We can show you this experience specifically in our collaboration with Felix von der Laden, one of the most successful macro influencers in Germany, for the Magic Holz brand. Here we generated 52,000 euros in sales with a single YouTube placement, proving that macros not only provide reach, but can also impress in terms of performance. You can see the whole story and more about the cooperation with Felix in the video interview with him.

You are currently viewing placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.

More information

Unlock contentAccept required service and unlock content

If you work with macro influencers, it will advance your brand, especially when it comes to visibility and brand building. With a single post you can reach hundreds of thousands of people in a short time and get a quick brand boost. So if you want to generate attention quickly, for example with product launches, campaign starts or time-critical campaigns, this route makes a lot of sense. While with micro influencers you need many individual collaborations to achieve similar reach, a macro influencer can do this with a single integration.

Also particularly important for you: Macro influencers routinely work with brands, know how briefings work, implement content professionally and meet deadlines. So you often have less effort than smaller, inexperienced creators and a lower risk of misunderstandings.

Macro influencers are particularly useful in these scenarios:

• Launch a new brand: You need recognition quickly and want to be perceived as a reputable brand.
• Rebranding: You are repositioning your brand and want to reach a large audience.
• Internationalization: You want to enter new markets and need visibility there.
• Awareness campaigns: Your goal is primarily brand awareness. Our cooperation with Felix from the store for Magic Holz shows that macro influencers are also strong in conversion, but the focus is often on awareness.

Like all types of influencers, macro influencers have common advantages, strengths and challenges. You should consider these points before collaborating.

• Higher costs: Macro influencers charge significantly higher fees than micro or nano influencers. Depending on the platform, reach and niche, the costs can quickly rise into the five-figure range. If you are a smaller brand and have a limited budget, this can be a hurdle. Therefore, be sure to calculate the return on investment.
• Lower engagement rate than micro influencers: As the number of followers increases, the engagement rate often decreases. Micro influencers average 3 to 6 percent or more, macro influencers tend to be 1 to 3 percent. This doesn't necessarily mean worse performance, but you shouldn't expect the same engagement rates.
• Waste loss: The broader target group may result in wastage; some of the reach may not be relevant to your brand. The more specialized your product is, the more worthwhile it is to cooperate with smaller influencers who exactly fit your niche.
• Less personal community connection: The relationship with the community is often less personal with macro influencers. For example, in contrast to micro or nano influencers, they can respond to comments or DMs less often. The mass is simply larger. For followers, this can make recommendations appear less authentic.

If you are planning an influencer marketing campaign, there is no fundamental right and wrong when it comes to asking about macro or micro influencers. What is much more important is that you define which type suits your campaign goals and strategy. Take a look at different points.

Macro influencers are clearly ahead when it comes to reach and awareness campaigns. Because of their higher number of followers, they reach more people than smaller accounts.

In terms of costs, micro influencers are significantly cheaper. With the budget you spend on one macro influencer, you can often book several micro influencers and test different niches. This makes micro influencers particularly exciting for brands with smaller budgets.

When it comes to engagement, micro influencers tend to have higher rates. Your community is more active, comments more and interacts more with the content.

The conversion potential depends heavily on the community. Micro influencers often bring you higher conversion rates per follower because their recommendations seem more authentic. However, macro influencers can generate more sales overall due to their absolute reach in an active community, as our example with Felix von der Laden shows.

Instead of deciding, you can also combine both ways: macro influencers for reach and brand building, micro influencers for conversions and community building.

Do you want quick reach and want to establish or strengthen your brand? Then macro influencers are the ideal choice. Their campaign implementation is professional, they are authentic and credible and make your brand visible in a short time. However, take into account the higher costs and an average lower engagement rate than with smaller influencers. It can therefore make all the more sense to combine macro influencers for reach with micro influencers for performance and community building.

Would you like to build a data-driven influencer strategy for your brand? Arrange a free conversation with AdSpecialist now!