The short answer: A micro-influencer is a creator with roughly 10,000 to 100,000 followers, although the top half of that range often prices like mid-tier, so Augmentum Media treats 10,000 to 50,000 as the core band. Micro creators are the backbone of most DTC programmes because they combine a personal audience with real reach. On verified campaigns, seeded micro and nano programmes delivered impressions at £2.49 per thousand for Lululemon and £3.27 for Fussy, against £16.34 on a well-run mid-tier paid campaign.
As of September 2026. Figures attributed to Augmentum Media come from published case studies. External definitions and rate cards are linked to their source.
What is a micro-influencer?
A micro-influencer is a social media creator whose audience is big enough to matter commercially and small enough that followers still treat them as a person rather than a media channel. In practice that means a fitness coach, a nutritionist, a run-club organiser or a busy parent posting about what they actually use, with an audience in the tens of thousands.
That second half of the definition is the reason the tier exists. A recommendation from someone an audience feels it knows persuades differently from a sponsored post by a celebrity, and the micro tier is roughly where that feeling starts to thin out. Augmentum Media builds most programmes for health and wellness DTC brands in this band because it is where trust and reach overlap.
How many followers does a micro-influencer have?
There is no official threshold. The common convention, used by Brandwatch among others, puts micro creators at 10,000 to 100,000 followers. The full ladder looks like this:
Tier | Typical followers | How they are usually paid |
|---|---|---|
Nano | 1,000 to 10,000 | Product only |
Micro, core band | 10,000 to 50,000 | Product, commission, sometimes a small fee |
Micro, upper band | 50,000 to 100,000 | Increasingly a fee, often priced like mid-tier |
Mid-tier | 100,000 to 500,000 | Negotiated fee |
Macro and mega | 500,000+ | Fee, usually through an agent |
The upper band is where budgets go wrong. A creator at 90,000 followers is technically micro, but many will quote mid-tier fees, and a brand that plans for micro economics can end up paying mid-tier prices for micro-sized reach. Augmentum Media works to a band of roughly 3,000 to 50,000 followers with a hard ceiling around 100,000 to 150,000 on seeded programmes. The full tier ladder is in our guide to types of influencers, and the smallest tier has its own guide to nano influencers.
Why do brands use micro-influencers?
Four reasons, and only one of them is the engagement rate that most guides lead with.
Cheap reach. Micro creators usually accept product rather than a fee, so the cost of reaching a thousand people is a fraction of paid creators. Our influencer CPM benchmarks set out the full comparison.
Content volume. Hundreds of creators produce hundreds of pieces of content, and that content is the raw material for paid ads.
Spread risk. One creator in a hundred going quiet or off-brand barely registers. One creator in three does.
They find your sellers. Micro creators who like the product often want to earn from it, which is how an affiliate channel gets built.
Engagement rate is the reason usually given, and it is the weakest of the four. Smaller accounts always post higher engagement rates for structural reasons, so the metric flatters the tier without telling you what it costs to reach anyone. Augmentum Media compares tiers on cost per thousand impressions and cost per customer instead, which is the argument made in full in micro vs macro influencers.
How much do micro-influencers cost?
Two answers, depending on how you work with them.
If you pay a fee: published UK rate cards compiled by Awin put micro creators at roughly £76 to £380 per Instagram post. That is a fivefold spread inside one tier, and it is an opening price rather than a settled one. Our guide to UK influencer pricing covers what gets negotiated.
If you seed: the cost is product, packaging, postage and the time to run it. That is the model behind the lowest verified CPMs published anywhere in this series:
Programme | Model | CPM | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|
Nano and micro, seeded, no fees | £2.49 | 7.1M+ impressions, 1,300+ creatives | |
Micro, seeded into affiliate | £3.27 | 19M+ impressions, 11,000+ creatives | |
Nano and micro, seeded into affiliate | EUR 4.46 | 7M+ impressions, 4,301 content pieces | |
Mid-tier, paid, for comparison | £16.34 | 6 creators averaging 235,000 followers |
On verified campaign data, seeded micro and nano programmes reached a thousand people for roughly a fifth to a seventh of what a well-negotiated mid-tier paid campaign cost, and the paid campaign beat its own target by 18 percent.
Augmentum Media reports every programme on this basis, because a fee on its own tells you nothing about what the audience cost.
Should you start with micro or nano influencers?
Usually both, in one programme, with the split set by your product cost. The logic is simple: every send costs roughly the same in product and postage, but a micro creator reaches more people per send than a nano creator. So the more expensive your product is to send, the more you should weight towards micro.
Low product cost (snacks, sachets, a single supplement pot): weight towards nano, where volume and authenticity are cheap.
Higher product cost (activewear, devices, bundles): weight towards micro, so each send reaches more people.
Either way, keep a floor around 3,000 followers, below which a send rarely pays back.
Augmentum Media sets that split per brand from the product cost and the target CPM, rather than from a preference for one tier.
How do you find and recruit micro-influencers?
Search where your customers already are, not in a creator marketplace. Start with people who tag you, buy from you or follow competitors, then widen to hashtags and location tags in your category. Judge each creator on three things: whether their audience looks like your customer, whether their comments are real conversations, and whether ads are the exception on their feed rather than the pattern.
The recruitment numbers on the Lululemon programme show what a working version looks like: more than 500 on-brand profiles discovered a month, a campaign opt-in rate above 60 percent, and content live within two weeks of a creator agreeing. Augmentum Media ran that sourcing on the programme. The method is in how to find influencers, and the message that gets a reply is in influencer outreach.
How do you run a micro-influencer programme at scale?
The difference between ten micro creators and three hundred is process, not budget. Three verified programmes show what scale looks like:
Programme | What scale looked like |
|---|---|
Fussy | 250 to 300 creators seeded every month for 20+ months, growing to 1,750+ affiliates and 11,500+ new customers at a 5.12x ROAS |
2,700+ influencers seeded, 4,500+ content pieces, 7M+ impressions | |
Scaled from roughly 100 to 250+ Instagram posts a month, 30 to 35 affiliates onboarded monthly, 1,000+ ad-ready creatives in 9 months |
All three follow the same loop: seed every month, move the creators who perform onto affiliate terms, and put paid media behind the best content. Around 15 to 25 percent of seeded creators typically convert into affiliates, which is the number Augmentum Media plans volume around. The full model is in our influencer marketing strategy guide, and running the best creators ads from their own handle is covered in influencer ads.
When are micro-influencers the wrong choice?
Three situations, and in each one a bigger creator is worth the higher CPM.
A fixed launch date. Seeding has no posting obligation, so you cannot guarantee a wave of content on a Tuesday. A paid mid-tier creator can.
You need a recognisable face. Some retail buyers and press moments want a name. Micro creators do not provide one.
A very niche professional audience. In some categories the credible voices are few and large, and there is no micro layer to recruit from.
When you do pay, negotiate hard and judge on CPM. The Fabletics campaign Augmentum Media ran shows what the paid route costs when it goes well: six creators averaging 235,000 followers in Q4, fees negotiated 30 to 40 percent below opening quotes, at a £16.34 CPM that beat target by 18 percent.
How do you measure a micro-influencer programme?
Four numbers, and follower count is not one of them:
Cost per thousand impressions, including product and postage.
Cost per new customer, including fees and commission. Fussy ran below £13.96 including fees.
Seed-to-affiliate rate, against the 15 to 25 percent norm.
Usable creatives produced, because that is the supply for your paid ads.
Augmentum Media reports every programme on those four. The wider set of metrics is in influencer marketing KPIs, and turning them into one return figure is in influencer marketing ROI.
Frequently asked questions
What is a micro-influencer?
A micro-influencer is a social media creator with a mid-sized, engaged audience, conventionally between 10,000 and 100,000 followers. Their audience usually still treats them as a person rather than a channel, which is why brands use them for trusted recommendations at a low cost per thousand people reached.
How many followers do you need to be a micro-influencer?
The common convention is 10,000 to 100,000 followers, used by Brandwatch among others. There is no official threshold. Commercially, the 50,000 to 100,000 end often prices like mid-tier, so many brands, including Augmentum Media, treat 10,000 to 50,000 as the core micro band.
Is 100k followers a micro-influencer?
Not in practice. 100,000 followers is where most definitions end the micro band, and creators at that size usually quote mid-tier fees. A brand that budgets for micro economics and then recruits at 100,000 followers ends up paying mid-tier fees for micro-sized reach per creator.
How much do micro-influencers charge?
Published UK rate cards compiled by Awin put micro creators at roughly £76 to £380 per Instagram post, and many accept product with no fee at all. Those are opening prices. The more useful figure is cost per thousand impressions: seeded micro programmes have delivered £2.49 to £3.27, against £16.34 on a mid-tier paid campaign.
How much do micro-influencers earn?
Earnings vary widely and most micro creators combine several sources: occasional paid posts, gifted product, and affiliate commission on the sales their links and codes drive. For brands, the relevant point is that affiliate commission lets a micro creator earn in proportion to what they sell, which aligns their incentive with yours.
Why do brands use micro-influencers?
Because they deliver trusted reach cheaply and at volume. A brand can work with hundreds of micro creators for the cost of a handful of large ones, which spreads risk, produces far more content for ads, and surfaces the creators who genuinely sell. Verified seeded micro programmes have reached audiences at £2.49 to £3.27 per thousand impressions.
Are micro-influencers better than macro-influencers?
For DTC brands selling a repeat-purchase product, usually yes, measured on cost per thousand people reached and cost per customer. Macro creators are better when you need a recognisable face on a fixed launch date. Our micro vs macro comparison covers the trade-off in full.
What is the difference between micro and nano influencers?
Nano creators have roughly 1,000 to 10,000 followers and micro creators 10,000 to 100,000. Nano creators are cheaper and more numerous; micro creators reach more people per send. Most programmes use both, with a practical floor around 3,000 followers, below which the cost of shipping product rarely pays back.
How do I find micro-influencers for my brand?
Start with people already tagging or buying from you, then search hashtags and location tags in your category, and judge creators on comment quality and audience fit rather than follower count. On one programme this method surfaced more than 500 on-brand profiles a month with a campaign opt-in rate above 60 percent.
How many micro-influencers should I work with?
Work backwards from the number of active affiliates you want. If 15 to 25 percent of seeded creators become affiliates, then 200 seeded creators should produce roughly 30 to 50. Continuous programmes seeding 250 to 300 creators a month have reached more than 1,750 affiliates over 20 months.
Can I use micro-influencer content in my ads?
Yes, if you agree usage rights before the content is made. Micro content is often the best creative a brand owns because it looks native to the feed. One programme produced more than 1,000 ad-ready creatives in nine months from its creator base.
What are examples of brands using micro-influencers?
Lululemon ran a nano and micro seeding programme that produced more than $1.6M in earned media value in six months with no influencer fees. Fussy built a micro programme that grew to more than 1,750 affiliates and 11,500 new customers. Both used large numbers of smaller creators rather than a few big names.
Let's talk
If you are planning a micro-influencer programme and want the numbers checked against your product cost and margin, let's talk. Augmentum Media runs seeding, affiliate and paid amplification programmes for health and wellness DTC brands, and the creator discovery guide covers how we find the right people.