Influencer marketing is now a $21B industry — meaning there are countless social media influencers for brands to work with.
But how do you choose the right influencers for your campaign? We've got you covered.
From follower size to industry, we're breaking down 14 categories of social media influencers to help you make a decision.
Table of Contents
5 Types of Social Media Influencers by Follower Count
Influencers are commonly categorized into four different tiers based on their social media follower count.
Here are the benefits to working with each type:
#1: Nano Social Media Influencers
What is a Nano Influencer?
A nano influencer is someone who has 1K-5K followers, like Toronto food influencers @MesseEats.
When to Work with Nano Influencers?
Nano influencers are best for small to medium-sized businesses with limited marketing budgets.
What are the Benefits of Working with Nano Influencers?
Many small brands prefer working with nano influencers because they:
Are more cost-effective than Mid or Macro social media influencers
Have an engaged following — typically have higher engagement rates than Mid or Macro influencers
Seen as more trustworthy and personalized by their followers
Often focus on one specific niche
#2: Micro Social Media Influencers
What is a Micro Influencer?
A micro influencer is someone who has 5K-25K followers, like @teelythefoodie.
When to Work with Micro Influencers?
Any brand or business can benefit from working with micro influencers — especially if you want to reach new engaged audiences.
What are the Benefits of Working with Micro Influencers?
Working with micro influencers are a great option because they:
Are cost-effective
Often have authority in their niche
Have a deep understanding of their target audience and its needs
Have a clear understanding when it comes to campaign briefs and expectations
Drive great brand awareness for your campaigns
ICYMI: Later's influencer marketing platform is trusted by marketers and enterprise brands to source and manage micro influencer campaigns. Book a demo today!
#3: Mid Social Media Influencers
What is a Mid Influencer?
A mid influencer is someone who has between 25K-100K followers, like Kay Brown AKA @kayyorkcity (who you can hear on our podcast, Beyond Influence).
When to Work with Mid Influencers?
Mid influencers are ideal influencer marketing partners for brands and businesses looking to reach large audiences, as they have the potential to generate significant exposure and conversions for their products or services.
What are the Benefits to Working with Mid Influencers?
Mid influencers may be a perfect match for you as they:
Often have engaged audiences on more than one social platform
Typically have a website, email list, or podcast to leverage
Are seen as a trusted, authoritative voice within their community
Share high-quality content and understand what works well for their audience
Generate and drive high clicks and conversions
#4: Macro Social Media Influencers
What is a Macro Influencer?
A macro influencer is someone with 100-500K+ followers, like fitness and food creator @deannawoo.
When to Work with Macro Influencers?
The goal of working with macro influencers is typically tied to both awareness and sales.
Macro influencers are best used for campaigns with big budgets. Unlike working with Nano or Micro influencers, you’ll likely only work with one or two macro influencers as opposed to a handful or more.
What are the Benefits to Working with Macro Influencers?
Macro influencers are the way to go for many brands as they are:
Able to reach large audiences
Great for major product launches or seasonal campaigns like Black Friday, Boxing Day, etc.
Typically have well-established credibility
Capable of creating professional high-quality content
#5: Mega Influencers
What is a Mega Influencer?
A mega influencer is someone with 500K+ to millions of followers, like celebrities, athletes, or top creators. Think of household names like @kimkardashian or @charlidamelio.
When to Work with Mega Influencers?
Mega influencers are best for brands and businesses looking to increase their brand awareness at scale. Partnering with some of the largest-following influencers on social allows you to maximize reach and visibility in a short time, putting brands in front of millions of people. The downside? This comes at a high price tag. For this reason, mega influencers are usually reserved for brands with large budgets to run mega campaigns.
What are the Benefits to Working with Mega Influencers?
Mega influencers are ideal for brands looking to:
Reach large audiences in a short amount of time
Gain instant credibility by association with high-profile figures
Generate virality and buzz
Tap into mainstream media exposure (campaigns with mega influencers can get picked up by news outlets and spark user-generated content)
PRO TIP: Find & vet the right influencers for your next social media campaign with Later's Influencer Network. Book a demo to get started!
10 Types of Social Media Influencers by Industry and Niche
Beyond follower size, influencers can also be categorized by industry and niche.
Here are the most popular types of influencers you’ll most likely work with:
Food Influencers
Health and Wellness Influencers
Fashion Influencers
Lifestyle Influencers
Memes and Pop-culture Coverage Influencers
Travel Influencers
Family Influencers
Gaming Influencers
Animal Influencers
Beauty Influencers
#1: Food Influencers
“Phone eats first,” is especially true for foodie influencers.
These influencers share everything from their best game-day recipes to holiday favorites to grocery budgeting tips.
And there are so many creative ways to work with them.
Take Folgers Coffee’s recent partnership with Meredith Hayden (aka @wishbonekitchen) for example:
As Meredith's content typically includes breakfast recipes, Folgers is a natural (and on-brand) integration on her feed.
Not sure where to start? We have the The Ultimate Guide to Food & Beverage Influencer Marketing to help your appetite. Plus with Later, you can find food & beverage influencers that serve up winning content. Book a demo today!
#2: Health and Wellness Influencers
The health and wellness industry is booming — especially on social media.
In fact, 47.6% of people use social media as their main source of health information.
Health and wellness influencers span a number of topics including, nutrition, fitness, exercise, sleep, stress, mental health, and social connections.
#3: Fashion Influencers
Fashion influencer marketing involves creating content focused on all things, you guessed it, fashion.
There are fashion influencers who share different outfits every day, those who share the latest fashion trends, and others who share realistic hauls.
Fashion influencers span a wide range of fashion-centric topics but one thing is for sure: their followers look to them for inspiration, relatability, tips, and the like.
Streamline creator discovery and management and find fashion & beauty influencers that fit your brand. Schedule a call to learn more.
#4: Lifestyle Influencers
Lifestyle influencers make up a large chunk of the influencers you see online.
Because they aren't pigeon holed to one type of niche, their content typically documents their daily lives — from a weekend trip to their morning skincare routine.
Chrissy Rutherford is a perfect example of a lifestyle influencer. She talks about fashion, living abroad, mental health, travel, and her day-to-day.
Lifestyle influencers are versatile, making them a great fit for most brand partnerships.
#5: Memes and Pop-culture Coverage Influencers
While meme and pop culture influencers are not new, they’ve taken off in recent years. In fact, there's good reasons as to why you should be incorporating pop culture into your social strategy.
These types of influencers focus on humor and entertainment with a TV, movie, and celebrity lens.
Influencers like Alexandra Nikolajev (@lexniko) and Amanda Hirsch (@notskinnybutnotfat) often partner with lifestyle and entertainment brands.
Because these influencers typically attract a younger demographic, they’re great for brands who are looking to reach a Gen Z and Millennial audience. We've got the low down on how to use pop culture to effectively connect with your audience.
#6: Travel Influencers
Travel influencers are changing how we, as a society, travel. Travel influencers create high-quality content regarding all things travel.
There are travel influencers who highlight their favorite trips and destinations, and others who share their favorite travel strategies, deals, and products. If you're a travel brand, you might be interested in the top travel influencers on our radar.
#7: Family Influencers
Family influencers are influencers who focus on family life, parenthood, and family dynamics.
Mommy influencers are a sub-category — which is a massive influencer niche on its own.
Many family influencers diversify their content across various platforms, whether it's vlogging on YouTube or posting on Instagram and TikTok. We interviewed Zack Goytowski, Love is Blind alum, on the Beyond Influence Podcast about being a husband, father, and content creator.
They share a wide range of content including educational materials, parenting experiences, and their favorite brands or toys.
#8: Gaming Influencers
Gaming influencers are influencers who are dedicated to video game content — often posting on Twitch, YouTube, and TikTok.
Their followers can typically expect live-streams, game reviews, their thoughts about upcoming releases, and more. We chatted with Marcel Cunningham, also known as BasicallyIDoWrk, on how to grow as a video game streamer if you're curious gaming influencers do.
In fact, 89.5% of video game sales happen in the digital world, making video game influencers extremely lucrative.
Collaborating with gaming influencers can also lead to creative campaigns audiences love. Later and Chobani worked with creators on Twitch to promote an exclusive game that got 7 million total impressions.
#9: Animal Influencers
Arguably the cutest influencers of them all: animal influencers.
Animal influencers span from owners posting on behalf of their pets to influencers sharing the ins and outs of their furry companions’ lives.
Animal influencers share everything from daily vlogs, product reviews, training tips, grooming, and pet food. Not convinced? Later explored the world of pet influencing and how this space is booming for creators like Lindsay Van Bramer and her dog, Beth, also known as PardonThyFrench.
#10: Beauty Influencers
The beauty industry is one to watch — it’s predicted to grow to $716.3B by 2025.
Beauty influencers create and share content related to makeup, skincare, haircare, and other beauty-related topics.
These influencers are seen as experts in the space and often have the trust and confidence from their audience.
As a brand, onboarding beauty influencers is the best way to showcase your products in a true, authentic way. Audiences love to see how products work and are applied in real-life situations.
We’ve hand-picked the top beauty influencers Gen Z's are obsessed with to put on your radar so you can find the perfect creators for your brand. Book a call, now!
