The maths behind the micro advantage
Engagement rate generally falls as follower count rises. Nano and micro accounts commonly sit in the 3% to 8% band while accounts over 500k often sit under 1.5%. Fees do not fall at the same rate, so cost per engaged viewer moves against you as you scale up.
Micro also gives you volume of tests. Twenty creators at £250 produce twenty different hooks, angles and audiences for the price of one macro post. Expect a handful of those to outperform anything your in-house team has made. You can then put media behind them.
What macro is genuinely good for
Signalling. A macro creator tells the market that a brand is real, which matters when you are pitching retailers, raising money or entering a new country. That value is hard to attribute and still worth buying occasionally.
Macro also unlocks reach quickly for a dated moment, such as a product drop or a seasonal push. Buy it for the calendar date and accept that the cost per sale will look poor next to your micro programme.
How to split the budget
A workable split for a growing brand is around 70% micro and mid tier, 20% held for paid usage of the best performing content and 10% for one or two macro moments. Adjust once you have your own cost per acquisition data by tier.
The mistake is spending the whole budget on one macro post in month one. You get a spike, no learning and nothing to run as ads afterwards. Build the micro base first so the macro moment lands on an audience that already recognises you.