It goes without saying that I am a complete social media nerd. Instagram and Twitter are where I spend most of my time and I love keeping tabs on how people use them as a tool to grow their reach.

Lately, I have been particularly interested in the topic of micro-influencers and all they do for the industry. For those who don’t know, micro-influencers are generally considered people who have a following of 10,000 to 500,000 people, give or take. As with many things, it depends on who you ask. As Barrett Wissman said in a Forbes article, “it’s not necessarily the followers as much as how engaged that audience is.” This is to say, with smaller followings usually comes stronger dedication and interaction with content.

Engagement is such an important factor when considering someone’s success on social media. Does it look good on the surface to have thousands of followers? Sure, of course it does. However, what makes money and affects ROI for a company who partners with this person is engagement, the give and take relationship between an influencer and their audience. You want people who are clicking content, talking back, reposting; these are the numbers that truly matter.

With my fascination of micro-influencers has come a fascination with influencers in my city, Washington, D.C. I love seeing what people are doing with the spots we have in the area. Where do they get great photos? Where is their favorite spot to grab drinks or work out? I am always searching for coffee spots to try too. I grew up in the middle of nowhere Vermont and while I love it deeply and visit every chance I get, until now, I’ve never lived where things happen. It’s so fun to see people who are out and about where I live and even cooler that I can go to those places too. After all, that’s what influencers are all about.

My absolute favorite influencer in the D.C. area, who is known on Instagram as Blonde in the District, is Dani Sauter. She is an amazing force of a style icon who breaks the barrier of beauty being defined by size, as her Instagram bio reads. Whether she is at New York Fashion week or doing a workout at a well-known D.C. spot, her posts are always well curated and fun! Her website is no different. Everything she does is colorful, exciting, and completely authentic to her personality. She shines through everything she posts and that is exactly what people want to see. Let us not forget that her content is body positive, promoting the fact that beauty doesn’t look the same for everyone, which is why it is so special. This something that Instagram could use way more of!

Her brand is her personality, which is key to the micro-influencer persona. Brands would be smart to invest in people who have content so specifically curated like Dani’s, because their followers like them due to having similar interests. It is audience segmentation that is practically handed to you.

Content produced by micro-influencers is inherently personal, because their brand is smaller. They are still making content for the sake of sharing with people who care. When you get into the big swingers with millions of followers, most things are purely business transactions, and it shows in what they produce. You can tell when it isn’t that person behind their posts. Not to knock these influencers, I think if you can get your check, take it. But I love seeing people who still interact with their followers and produce things they know we want to see and learn about. I see this in posts that Dani puts out, and other people too.

I love to see other people in my area and beyond who influence those around them and produce unbeatable content. I will continue to support content producers like Dani Sauter, because it is social media users like them who really push the industry forward and make such an impact.

Find out more about Dani Sauter on her website or Instagram.