Follower count used to be the whole pitch. Not anymore.
Brands are putting real budget behind micro and nano creators, especially those with 10K to 100K followers. Why? Because their audiences are smaller, more connected, and much more likely to trust what the creator is saying.
Why Smaller Creators Are Winning Budget
For years, reach was the easiest number to sell and the easiest one to chase. More followers meant more potential, at least on paper.
But brands are starting to realise that reach without trust does not necessarily drive results. You can generate millions of impressions, but if people are not paying attention or do not trust the person behind the message, those numbers do not mean much.
That is where micro and nano creators are making a difference. They might not reach millions of people, but the people they do reach are much more likely to listen. That makes them one of the most cost-effective performance levers available to brands right now.
The Trust Factor Behind Smaller Audiences
A creator with a smaller, loyal community feels more like a real person than an advertising channel.
People followed them for a reason. They have stayed for a reason. They engage with their content because they actually care about what that person has to say.
A celebrity or major influencer with millions of followers can generate huge numbers of impressions without necessarily generating the same level of attention.
A micro creator with 10,000 genuinely engaged followers can create both. More importantly, their recommendation can feel like a genuine recommendation, rather than just another paid placement.
Somewhere: Micro Creators in Action
We saw this first-hand with Somewhere, the Dubai dining concept we worked with on our Good Taste Travels campaign.
Instead of putting the entire budget behind a handful of big names, we built a tiered creator strategy. Mid-tier creators helped drive awareness and discovery, while micro creators brought authentic, culturally relevant storytelling to the campaign at scale.
The result was a campaign that reached 1.2 million people, 15% above target, while achieving an engagement rate nearly double the original goal.
Those results did not come from chasing the biggest following in the room. They came from finding the right balance between reach, relevance and trust.
What This Means for Your Brand
If your influencer strategy still starts with follower count, it may be time to rethink the approach.
The brands seeing the strongest results are building layered creator strategies that combine reach with genuine trust, rather than choosing one over the other.
Smaller does not mean smaller results. In many cases, it can mean the opposite.
For us, this is not a trend we are watching from the sidelines. It is already part of how we build campaigns that drive real results, and it is exactly the kind of strategy we bring to every brand we work with.