What Is a Nano-Influencer? Everything You Need To Know
The influencer market was worth a reported $16.4 billion in 2022 and is predicted to reach over $20 billion by the end of 2024. Therefore, there are a lot of opportunities for new influencers to tap into the industry and start earning money from social media. Luckily, you do not have to have millions of followers to make a good income as an influencer in 2024. Nano-influencers are content creators who have less than 10k followers and get paid by brands to promote their products or services.
In this guide, we will take a deep dive into exactly what nano-influencers are and how they make money. We will also discuss whether or not nano-influencing is a lucrative side hustle to start in 2024.
What is a Nano-Influencer?
A nano influencer is a content creator with between 100 and 10k followers. Nano influencers present themselves as everyday social media users who post relatable content to a small but close-knit audience.
Nano influencers stand out from other types of influencers because the content that they post is not professional. Instead, the majority of content that they post is personal such as photos of friends, pets, or videos about their everyday life.
Since their content is personal, Nano influencers attract followers who are genuinely interested in their lives. This means that nano-influencer promotions can be very effective as they appear natural, non-pushy, and relatable to other social media users.
Nano Influencers create content in a variety of niches from fashion to cleaning. As more and more brands discover the effectiveness of nano infleuncers, it is possible to become a content creator in almost any industry.
Nano-influencer criteria
A social media user might be defined as a nano influencer if:
They have less than 10k followers
The majority of their content is non-promotional, personal, and amateur
They sometimes promote products or services in a way that is natural and genuine. Nano influencers do not use professional tools to create their content and most content isn’t scripted.
What are the requirements of a nano-influencer?
Nano influencers work with brands to promote products and services in a way that does not seem scripted. The influencers are typically required to create several posts that feature the products, without seeming too promotional or pushy.
Nano influencers are usually given a brief set of requirements from the brands that they work with. In return for creating the content, Nano influencers receive cash payments, free products or both.
Nano Influencers are required to build a good relationship with their audience so that their sales tactics are effective. This means posting consistently, maintaining a good personal image and fitting into a clear niche.
Brands look for nano influencers who are trusted by their followers. Most creators will regularly engage with their followers in comments or through polls to track what their audience are interested in and what type of content resonates the best.
How Do Nano-Influencers Make Money?
Nano Influencers earn money by promoting products to their followers. There are three main ways that nano influencers might monetize their content: brand partnerships, affiliate marketing, ad revenue (if they create content on YouTube), and membership sites.
Brand partnerships
Brand partnerships refer to a formal agreement between an influencer and a brand through which influencers are required to post specific promotional content.
Creators are usually paid per post or on given a rolling contract that pays out at regular periods.
Brand partnerships are the most lucrative and stable way for nano-influencers to make money. This method of monetization ensures that influencers always earn money from the content that they create and makes it easy to predict how much they will bring in from their side hustle each month.
Also read: Side hustles that pay well
Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing involves promoting products with an affiliate link and earning a commission of each sale that is made. Affiliate marketing is the easiest way to monetize your content as a nano influencer because there are plenty of reputable affiliate marketing programs for beginners.
Once you sign up to a program, simply find links for the products that you want to promote and start putting them on your social media platforms.
One of the best platforms for beginner affiliate marketing is Pinterest. Creators can put links directly on their pins which makes it easy for their followers to find the products that are being promoted.
Ad revenue
Some nano-influencers might earn money from ad revenue if they create content on platforms that support ads.
Ad revenue is a type of passive income that can become very lucrative over time. Most Ad networks per ‘per click’ or ‘per view’. This means that the bigger your audience, the more money you can make.
The most popular platform for earning money through ads is YouTube. However, Facebook is also a good platform for creators who are interested in this monetization strategy.
Content subscription sites
Subscription sites are a type of social platform that is hidden behind a paywall. Users must pay creators to view their content and receive an exclusive insight into their lives.
Subscription sites can be very rewarding for nano-influencers because there is no limit to how much you can charge for your content.
Most influencers will charge a monthly fee and some will charge on a per-content basis.
The most popular subscription sites are OnlyFans, Fansly and Patreon. The sites have built a reputation as being used primarily by adult content creators. However, it is possible to make money by offering other types of content such as exclusive vlogs, helpful content and behind the scenes content.
How Much Money Do Nano-Influencers Make?
After reviewing several sources across the web, we found that nano-influencers charge on average between $10 and $100 per post however, some nano-influencers can charge up to $350 per post.
The amount of money that you can make as a nano-influencer depends on the type of monetization method that you choose to use, the niche or industry that you create content for, the type of brands that you work with and the type of content that you create.
For example, nano-influencers who secure brand partnerships and create video content will probably earn more money than influencers who promote affiliate links using photo content. However, there is technically no limit to how much you could make from affiliate marketing and this method can be more lucrative with experience and the right products.
Nano-influencer earnings are also influenced by the platforms that they create content for. In 2024, TikTok is the highest-paying social media platform followed by YouTube and Facebook.
As you can see from the statistics above, becoming a nano-influencer is a very profitable side hustle to consider. If you are able to charge the higher rates, it would not be unreasonable to start earning $1000+ per month from your social media account.
Is Nano-Influencing a Legit Side Hustle?
Nano Influencing is a legitimate side hustle to start in 2024. It is estimated that over 91% of paid influencers are nano-influencers, which means that nano-influencers make up over 90% of the $20 billion influencer market. An increasing number of brands are starting to use nano-influencers as part of their marketing campaigns. In fact, nano-influencers are considered to be one of the most effective tools in marketing .
As a result, becoming a nano-influencer is an excellent remote side hustle opportunity for anyone who enjoys posting on social media. Not only does this side hustle pay well but it also allows you to tap into your creative side and earn money doing something that you genuinely enjoy.
Nano-influencing is not overly time-consuming and is completely free to start. This makes it an appealing side hustle idea for students, parents or other busy professionals who want to make money in the evenings or at weekends.
If you post regularly and create high-value content, you could eventually move from nano-influencers to macro-influencers, who can earn millions from their social media accounts.
The drawbacks
Of course, we couldn’t discuss the perks of becoming a nano-influencer without also highlighting a few drawbacks.
Nano-influencing typically requires content creators to show their faces and create personal content that is relatable to their followers. As a result, this might not be the best side hustle option for people who would prefer to maintain their privacy.
Also read: How to make money on YouTube without showing your face
Secondly, the competition to work with high-paying brands is relatively high. There are over 1 billion active nano-influencers on Instagram alone which means that big brands already have a large pool of experienced content creators to choose from. This means that it may take some time for new nano-influencers to build up a reputation and attract well-paid jobs.
Lastly, promoting products to your followers may decrease your authenticity and online image. Most people can tell when they are being sold too and doing this too often could potentially breakdown the relationship that you have with your audience which might make your content less effective.
However, millions of nano-influencers have opposite experiences. As long as you keep your content transparent and relatable, your following should not take a hit from nano-influencing.
How To Get Started as a Nano-Influencer in 2024?
Anyone can get started as a nano-influencer by posting regularly on their chosen social media platform, reaching out to brands, and joining an influencer agency.
Most brands will expect nano-influencers to have good engagement rates. This refers to the percentage of your followers who actually engage with your content by viewing, liking, commenting, or saving. It is a good idea to start tracking your engagement before reaching out to any brands or agencies.
It is also important to note that nano-influencers must have public social media accounts. You will not be able to monetize your content if it is private. Furthermore, brands will not be able to find you fi you do not have a public account.
How to start earning money as a nano-influencer with an agency
The process of directly pitching to brands can be very time-consuming and disheartening. Therefore, joining an agency is a great way to get started as a nano-influencer in 2024.
Agencies partner influencers with brands without you needing to do any searching or pitching yourself.
The process is fairly simple:
Apply to an agency with the social media accounts that you wish to monetize.
Create a profile that provides examples of your work and shows off your personality.
Wait for the agency to pair you with brands.
Work with brands to create content that meets their requirements.
Get paid.
A lot of the best nano-influencer agencies have very low entry requirements. This is because nano-influencers are not expected to have any professional experience.
Once you are signed with an agency, you will be able to browse through job openings, connect with brands, and build your skills as a content creator.
Conclusion
Nano-influencers help brands to reach customers with relatable, amateur content. This can be a very lucrative side hustle opportunity for social media users who enjoy creating content and have good engagement rates.
It is possible to start making money as a nano-influencer with as little as 100 followers in 2024. Most nano-influencers make money through brand partnerships or affiliate marketing and can earn anywhere between $10 and $100 per post.
In this article, we have taken a look at what a nano-influencer is, how they make money, and why it might be a good side hustle to consider.
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FAQs
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The main difference between a nano and a micro influencer is the amount of followers that they have. Nano influencers have between 100 and 10k followers whereas micro influencers have between 10k and 100k followers.
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The 4 types of influencers are nano, micro, macro and mega. Mega influencers are celebrities or users with over 1 million followers.
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Nano-influencers are people who have built a good relationship with their followers and have expertise in their niche. Nano-influencers post amateur content that is relatable and authentic.
All of our articles are written to help our readers to learn about different side hustles, how they work and how to start earning money from them. Although we mention potential earnings, it is important to understand that there is no guarantee that you will make money from any of the side hustles that are mentioned on our site. Making money from a side hustle requires consistency and significant effort. While we aim to provide useful insight into each side hustle opportunity, it is down to you to follow the right steps towards making any profits.
About The Author
Ruby is the founder of The Rich Girl Guide and has been writing content around personal finance, side hustles and wellbeing for over 3 years. You can find some of Ruby’s published articles on The Motley Fool UK, Tradingplatforms.com and Buyshares.co.uk.