Beyond the hype: Why micro-influencers are outshining celebrities in ROI

For years, brands chased follower counts like a badge of credibility, equating big numbers with big returns. But that strategy is rapidly evolving. Experts now say that micro-influencers—those with 10K to 50K followers—are delivering significantly higher returns on investment (ROI), outperforming even high-profile celebrity endorsements.

Adani Group General Manager - Digital Media Chandan Sharma revealed, “Brands in beauty, gaming, fashion, tech, and even some B2B sectors have seen higher engagement rates with smaller influencers who have strong community ties. It’s all about trust. When the audience sees relatability, their trust factor increases, making influencer recommendations more impactful," 

According to him, micro and niche influencers provide what bigger influencers are lacking these days—connection and relatability. 

Shan Jain, Independent Director, Brand Strategist and Marketing Transformation Advisor said, “Followers can be bought, but engagement? That’s earned. What really matters today is the quality of the content and the depth of engagement it generates. Brands want to know: Is this influencer creating insightful, valuable content that resonates with their audience?”

Metrics like comments, shares, and the conversations sparked by an influencer are more important. It’s about creating a lasting impact, not just inflating numbers. When a brand chooses an influencer, they’re looking for someone who delivers vitality in their content, a sense of relevance, and importantly quality. The influencer’s ability to spark dialogue is the gold standard.

Entertainment creator Ayushi Rai, who currently has 176K followers, explains, since creators don’t have direct access to sales data—brands keep those numbers under wraps—repeat collaborations are often the best indicator of impact.

"The biggest sign of post success is when a brand comes back for more campaigns. That means they’ve seen real results, even if the audience isn’t in the millions," she explained.

Likes and views were once the gold standard, but the game has changed. "If people are tagging friends, sharing personal stories, and sparking conversations, that’s when you know your content has truly resonated," Ayushi added. 

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Numbers Don’t Lie—Engagement Beats Reach

Ananya Roy, an expert in scaling direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands to Rs 100 Cr ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) at Adbuffs, shared some eye-opening insights in her post.

After spending Rs 40 lakh on influencer collaborations last quarter and analyzing data from 87 partnerships, she made a bold revelation: follower count had “ZERO correlation with sales.”

"Our highest-performing creator had just 12K followers and generated more sales than our top three celebrity collaborations combined," Roy said.

Her team revamped their influencer strategy, shifting focus to smaller creators with authentic engagement. They introduced a storytelling score to measure content quality and moved to a performance-based compensation model. The results? Influencer ROI tripled, and costs dropped by 60%.

The findings challenge the long-standing belief that bigger audiences translate to bigger sales. While large followings can boost awareness, real engagement and conversions are now in the hands of micro-influencers who bring trust and relatability to their content.

"Micro-influencers delivered 4.2X higher ROI, video content outperformed static posts by 7.3X, and Instagram Stories converted better than feed posts. But most importantly, authenticity mattered more than polished photography," Roy emphasised.

How Agencies Are Measuring Influencer ROI

Gone are the days when vanity metrics like impressions and likes were enough. Today, brands rely on data-backed performance indicators.

"Brands are more pragmatic now. They track affiliate links, promo codes, and UTM parameters to measure direct conversions. Beyond brand lift studies, companies track CRM and first-party data to ensure marketing budgets aren’t wasted," Sharma explained.

Viren Vesuwala, Lead - Strategic Partnerships & Alliances at White Rivers Media, agrees. "In India’s mobile-first market, where data is cheap and attention is priceless, brands are prioritizing hard numbers. Click-through rates, conversion data, and cost per engagement now lead the conversation. Advanced analytics are mapping everything from website traffic to brand perception."

Performance-Driven Influencer Marketing: The New Normal

The shift toward performance-based influencer marketing is undeniable. With AI-driven analytics making it easier to track tangible results—like lead generation, app downloads, and purchases—the focus has changed. Brands are asking one critical question: "Can this influencer make a real difference for our brand?"

Aditya Jangid, Managing Director at AdCounty Media, noted that influencers are now integrated into full-funnel marketing. "With UTM links and affiliate codes, we can track their direct effectiveness. Performance-based influencer marketing allows brands to allocate budgets more efficiently—spending on influencers who drive actual business value."

That doesn’t mean brand awareness is obsolete. "Luxury and lifestyle brands still prioritize aspirational marketing. But for most, the days of just ‘getting eyes on a product’ are over. Results matter more than ever," Jangid added.

While celebrity endorsements and macro influencers still have their place, brands are becoming more data-driven, prioritizing engagement, storytelling, and real impact over follower counts.