The industry sorts creators into tiers based on follower count. There's no single official standard and ranges vary a bit by source, but these are the most common:
| Tier | Followers (approx.) | Strength | |---|---|---| | Nano | 1,000 – 10,000 | Very high engagement rate, tight-knit community | | Micro | 10,000 – 100,000 | Good balance of reach and trust | | Macro | 100,000 – 1,000,000 | Wide reach, already fairly professional production | | Mega | Over 1,000,000 | Mass-scale awareness, closer to celebrity status |
Why this classification matters
Each tier serves a different goal. Nano and micro influencers tend to build more trust and deliver a better cost per result (a lower CPM), which makes them ideal for conversion-focused or highly niche campaigns. Macro and mega influencers, on the other hand, are the right choice when the goal is large-scale brand awareness.
Many brands and agencies mix several tiers in the same campaign: a handful of macro influencers for reach, plus a wider network of micro and nano creators for trust and conversion. Managing that mix cleanly — with its own rate card per creator — is exactly the kind of work that gets messy once an agency grows past a handful of hand-managed creators.