What is a mega-influencer?

What is a mega-influencer?

Global celebrities often fall into the mega-influencer category due to their work in the movies, TV, or sporting arena. However, did you know that many modern-day mega-influencers started life as nano-influencers?

These self-made social media stars organically generated follower growth by posting exciting, relevant, and engaging content, and eventually wound up with over 1,000,000 followers!

Now, while becoming an influencer of this scale holds many benefits for both the content creator and for brands they choose to partner with, there are pros and cons to partnering with a mega-influencer.

What are the benefits of working with a mega-influencer?

Similar to collaborating with a macro-influencer, one social media post from a mega-influencer can send a brand into orbit. If the content hits the right note, a mega-influencer can instantly make a brand’s marketing campaign go viral.

Because of their massive audience, successful collaborations with mega-influencers can often surpass the reach of years of brand marketing in just a few hours. However, there are some downsides for brands when pairing with influencers of this scale.

What are the cons of working with mega-influencers?

While the benefits of a successful collaboration with a mega-influencer can generate tremendous results for a brand, there is a reason why only 7% of marketers we surveyed work with mega-influencers…

This could be because mega-influencers can be:

• Incredibly expensive to hire, with exceptionally high-level demands
• Hard to book due to limited availability
• Detrimental to a brands image if they become involved in a negative news story

Additionally, it is almost impossible for a mega-influencer to provide follower engagement levels required to appear authentic. And while providing access to over 1 million followers, some mega-influencers may also be unsuitable for a brand’s image and potential target market.

Learn more about the different types of influencers, and how you can find the right influencers for your brand here.