In case you didn’t see it (omg you didn’t see it?!?) Obviously was featured in the New York Times Business Section. Our fearless leader, Girl Boss, and super hero CEO Mae Karwowski shared her thoughts on nano influencers and the future of influencer marketing. (More on that later.) This feature is a testament to how much the company has grown since its founding in 2013, but even more so it’s a testament to how much influencer marketing has grown- and changed. Obviously has always been on the cutting edge of the industry, staying one step ahead of the crowd, and separating ourselves as both experts and innovators. This may sound like I’m bragging, but… you know what, I totally am. Not for myself, of course, but for the company as a whole and especially for Mae. We’re so proud of what she’s built and truly honored to be a part of it.

Obviously influencers in The New York Times

While the rest of the world was focusing on online celebrities, Obviously was turning our attention toward micro influencers. We understood the value of audiences that are highly engaged and feel a personal connection to a specific creator. Through our platform, we developed a way to work with micro influencers at scale, helping brands connect with the perfect community of real, down-to-earth people to market their products. In turn, we helped micro influencers connect with brands they never imagined working with, like Google, Saks, and Coca-Cola. We’ve also watched some of our favorite influencers grow from under-the-radar newbies to major names in social media.

Behind the scenes at Mae’s NYT photoshoot

We love micro influencers, and we always will, but good ideas spread fast, and it hasn’t taken long for others to catch on. By now, most marketers understand the value of micro influencers and why they are a better bet than celebrities, who tend to be unreliable and untrusted. So what is Obviously doing? As always, we’re pushing the boundaries and raising the bar. We’re going big or going…

Actually, we’re going small.

Welcome to the age of the nano influencer: social media personalities with 1,000 followers (or less!) As Mae explains in The NYT, “We’ve seen a real push to work with smaller and smaller influencers, because their engagement is so high and we have the technology to work with a lot more influencers now and track and measure what is and isn’t working.”

To be clear, we fully intend on continuing our work with influencers at all levels. If you’ve been working with Obviously already- great! We can’t wait to continue that relationship. But if you have, up to this point, felt that your following was too small even for a micro influencer platform, now is the time to join Obviously. We’re opening our platform to nano influencers who have the same great qualities as the people at the top. We want to be the ones to discover you first.

We’re looking for creators who:

Post beautiful, high-quality, original content
Have a unique point of view and approachable personality
Are passionate about something. This can be food, fashion, tech, travel, parenting… whatever gets you going!
Have a social media following- any social media following!

In the near future, marketing is going to look very different across the board. Most people simply don’t trust or aren’t interested in being told what to do or buy by distant celebrities. Most people fast forward through commercial and block ads. There’s just too much noise out there to pay attention to anything we don’t want to. This makes word-of-mouth, always considered the strongest form of marketing, even more important. Influencer marketing is about leveraging the power of social media to spark an authentic conversation about the brands we love. We’re going to keep finding the most creative ways to make that happen. We can’t wait to work with you!

(Wait, you STILL haven’t read it? Do yourself a favor, and check it out here.)

Thoughts? Questions? Join the conversation in the comments!

We Love Nano Influencers (and The New York Times)