Choosing the right influencer types in 2025

Choosing the right influencers to work with is one of the most crucial aspects of influencer marketing—and often the trickiest. Depending on your brand’s goals, the type of influencers you partner with can make or break your campaign’s success. So how do you decide? Let’s break it down by influencer size—nano, micro, macro, and mega—and explore when each might be the best fit for your strategy.

Mastering influencer sizes

Influencers come in different categories and sizes, and each tier offers unique advantages depending on your campaign’s objectives. Here’s a quick overview of how we define influencer sizes in the Nordics:

• Nano Influencers: 1,000 - 10,000 followers
• Micro Influencers: 10,000 - 50,000 followers
• Macro Influencers: 50,000 - 250,000 followers
• Mega Influencers: 250,000+ followers

Whether you’re aiming for niche engagement or mass reach, the right size depends on what you’re looking to achieve with your influencer activations. Let's take a closer look at each of them:

Nano-influencers (1K - 10K Followers)

Nano influencers are known for their highly engaged audiences, and often build close, authentic relationships with their followers. This makes them feel more trustworthy and approachable compared to larger influencers.

If your campaign goals include producing high-quality, organic content or targeting niche audiences, nano influencers can be an excellent choice. For example, they’re ideal for creating authentic user-generated content (UGC) that can be repurposed in your ads or marketing materials. Plus, they can often be more cost-effective than bigger profiles as they charge less for content and user rights.

Tip: Look for hobbyist photographers or videographers to get professional-quality visuals without the hefty price tag of working with an agency or production company.

Micro-influencers (10K - 50K Followers)

Micro-influencers offer the best of both worlds: a balance between reach and engagement. They tend to have a more defined audience than nano influencers, while still maintaining the relatability and authenticity that resonate with followers.

For brands looking to drive awareness and generate high-performing content, micro influencers are a smart choice. They work well for targeted campaigns where you want to increase visibility within specific niches, but they also have enough reach to give your message momentum.

While micro-influencers typically charge more than nano influencers, they still remain relatively affordable compared to larger profiles. Their strong engagement rates often translate into greater trust, which can boost your campaign’s credibility.

Macro influencers (50K - 250K Followers)

These influencers are often seen as experts or authorities in their fields, giving your campaign a sense of credibility and scale. Their larger reach makes them a great choice for driving conversions or increasing awareness on a broader level.

Macro influencers typically charge more for collaborations and usage rights, but their ability to create a significant impact often justifies the investment. For brands aiming for a wide distribution, macro influencers can deliver impressive results, especially when paired with a paid ad strategy to amplify their content.

Mega influencers (250K+ Followers)

Mega influencers are the superstars of social media. With their massive following, they offer unparalleled reach and are often ideal for campaigns that demand a big splash. These influencers are perfect for high-impact campaigns where you want to grab attention quickly, especially for product launches or brand awareness initiatives.

That said, collaborating with mega influencers requires a significant budget. Their fees are among the highest, and their engagement rates can sometimes be lower than those of smaller profiles. However, when you’re aiming for that virality with a single post or video, mega influencers can make that happen.

Conclusion: Finding the Right Balance

In most cases, the best approach is to work with a mix of influencer types to maximise your results. For example, you might use macro influencers to create a buzz around your campaign while working with micro and nano influencers to produce authentic content and engage niche audiences to drive higher engagement.

If you’re launching a major campaign, adding a mega influencer or two can provide the “stop effect” needed to capture widespread attention. If your goal is conversions, smaller profiles tend to drive lower CPA's (Cost Per Acquisition), however, this is not applicable to all profiles, so testing and optimising across influencer types and size tiers are always key to finding the right balance.

By working with a mix of influencers across different tiers, you can figure out which profiles and strategies deliver the best results. Plus, since platforms like Instagram and TikTok can be unpredictable, diversifying your collaborations helps minimise risk and keep performance steady.