Micro-influencers (typically defined as having roughly 10,000 to 100,000 followers) often deliver higher engagement rates and more trusted recommendations within a niche audience than macro-influencers or celebrities with millions of followers, frequently at a fraction of the cost, making them especially practical for small and mid-sized businesses. When evaluating a potential influencer partner, follower count alone is a poor indicator of value -- engagement rate, audience relevance to your target customer, and authenticity of their past content and recommendations matter far more than raw reach. User-generated content (UGC) -- photos, videos, or reviews created by actual customers -- can be requested through simple incentives like discounts, giveaways, or just a direct ask, and tends to build more trust among potential customers than brand-created content because it comes from a peer rather than the business itself. With permission, repurposing strong UGC into the brand's own feed or ads is a low-cost way to build a steady stream of authentic content without constantly producing everything in-house.