As the macro-influencer trend with millions of subscribers begins to falter, all eyes are now on nano-influencers. Their speech, if it reaches fewer people, seems to affect them more.
The word influencer “sounds a bit like ‘shaman’ or ‘hypnotist’,” quipped Benjamin Simmenauer, professor of brand strategy at the French Fashion Institute in Paris. It defines as well a personality with world fame as Kylie Jenner, the youngest of the Kardashian clan and youngest billionaire in history, who totals 197 million subscribers at 22, as Christophe Fromager, whose eponymous profession brings together 4,500 internet users. in its community of cheese enthusiasts. We can also mention virtual influencers like singer Miku Hatsune or even pets whose notoriety ensures their proud owners have quiet days.
Social networks, mainly through Instagram and Youtube, indeed allow everyone to become an influencer. Marketing agencies and advertisers quickly understood the value of using these personalities capable of reaching thousands of followers in a single post by exploiting this bond of “trust” that exists between them and their community.
Lena Mahfouf, or Lenasituations on instagram, started posting her fashion and beauty tips on Instagram in 2013 when she was still a college student. Today, it has become her profession and her fame is such that she can no longer walk the streets of the capital without being recognized there. “It has become the hunt… Frankly, y’all, they should work at the FBI!” Even with the mask, glasses, a hood, I am recognized…, she laughs, golden cup in hand. Sometimes it’s the parents who take the picture of me with their son or daughter, they look at me and they don’t get it. They are in mode: But who is it? But Madam, who are you?
Here is the answer: Léna Mahfouf, 23, influencer. The videos in the “diary of my life” – completely self-taught – frequently exceed 4 million views. She now sits at the head of a small media empire that allows her to earn a living through partnerships with brands, from Dior to Jennyfer for whom she has notably designed a clothing line.
However, the trend seems to be running out of steam on the side of the most important windows and the popularity of these influencers is sometimes the victim of too many and too aggressive product placements. Specialized firms are now turning to nano influencers. The “nano-influencer” speaks to less than 10,000 subscribers, but since he exercises his talent in a very specific field and with an audience of insiders, enjoys a considerable potential for influence.
The current consumer and Internet user is in search of authenticity at all levels, and the nano-influencer offers a significant human aspect on a network with too often artificial content. “The future of marketing is the personalization of the customer experience and authenticity, but between targeted advertising and mass influence, it is difficult to find a place on the current digital planet” comments Louise Le Maux, at the head of the Match2Link start-up, which proposes to introduce artificial intelligence and data from personality questionnaires in the process of connecting nano-influencers and brands. “On social networks, Internet users can quickly find themselves drowned in a mass of information. He needs benchmarks and to be able to identify with “real” people who defend products out of conviction and no longer just out of commercialism. The idea of Match2Link is to play the cupid between the influencer and the companies in our pool to form the ideal couple! ”, Jokes Louise Le Maux.
The future of influence could therefore be in the hands of these influencers on a human scale, closer to their followers and with whom they can easily maintain exchanges or obtain feedback. This is a considerable added value for brands which, not content with benefiting from showcases with a highly targeted sphere of influence, benefit from much more accessible remuneration conditions for these consumers who have become relays of influence.
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