MIT Sloan Management Review Article on The Surprising ROI of Small Online Influencers

For social media marketing, many companies gravitate to big-name endorsers. But there are good reasons to get “nano influencers” into the mix.

Sparkling water brand LaCroix has been available in the U.S. since 1981, but it took off to become a go-to drink for millennials about 10 years ago. Its creative flavors and candy-colored packaging were part of the reason, but so, too, was the company’s strategy of working with a large number of relatively small social media influencers who talked up the brand to their audiences.

In 2016, Inc. noted that “while some brands pay thousands of dollars for Instagram users with large followings to feature their products, LaCroix has adopted a reverse approach to finding and rewarding influencers”: looking for people who tagged LaCroix online, engaging with them, and maybe offering them a free case. LaCroix’s strategy of working with promoters who have small numbers of followers is much the same today — and likely helped it earn a No. 1 ranking earlier this year on Newsweek’s annual list of the most trusted brands.

About the Author

Maximilian Beichert is an assistant professor of marketing at Bocconi University. Xiaoxi Zhang is a doctoral student at Stony Brook University. Andreas Bayerl is an assistant professor of marketing at Erasmus University. Jacob Goldenberg is a professor of marketing at Reichman University and a visiting professor at Columbia University. Xian Gu is an assistant professor of marketing at Indiana University. P.K. Kannan is a professor of marketing at the University of Maryland. Andreas Lanz is an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Basel.

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