The news: Nano- and micro-influencers are strong sources of authentic, meaningful engagement on social media.

• Nano-influencers (with between 1,000 and 10,000 followers) on Instagram have the highest engagement rate at 1.78%, followed by micro-influencers (10,000 to 50,000 followers) with 0.54%, per HypeAuditor’s 2026 State of Influencer Marketing report.
• Engagement rate drops to 0.33% for mega-influencers with over 1 million followers. TikTok follows a similar trend.
• Still, larger accounts garner more absolute interaction—Instagram influencers with over 1 million followers generate a median of 6,678 likes per post, compared with 91 likes for micro-influencers.

Over three-quarters (81.5%) of Instagram creators are nano-influencers and 14.4% are micro-influencers. Only 0.1% have over 1 million.

What it means: Smaller creators drive stronger engagement relative to their audience size, while larger influencers offer broader reach and visibility. This reinforces the value of matching creator tier to campaign goals.

• Brands focused on conversions or community-building may see more efficient returns from nano- and micro-influencers with highly responsive audiences.
• Meanwhile, celebrity creators can amplify brand awareness quickly, even if engagement rates are lower.

Why it matters: Not all brands have the budget to work with large-scale creators, presenting a decision to be made around influencer marketing efforts—work with big-name creators to reach broad audiences or nano- and micro- influencers to tap into high-intent, smaller audiences? This pushes marketers to weigh reach against efficiency and awareness against measurable engagement, especially as performance scrutiny and pressure for ROI intensifies.

Recommendations for marketers: A blended approach that pairs the scale of large influencer campaigns with the high-touch engagement of nano- and micro-creators can help advertisers balance efficiency with exposure.

Explore using nano- and micro-influencers to target niche audiences. Craft hyper-specific campaigns for segmented demographics and build community trust that compounds over time.