How do you choose an influencer for a small budget?

Pick relevance over reach, every time. Someone with 8,000 followers who genuinely uses the category will outperform 200,000 general followers, and cost a tenth as much.

Why the answer is what it is

Check the comments rather than the follower count — whether people ask real questions is the signal. And start with product rather than cash, which filters for the ones who actually want it.

What this looks like in practice

A platform that owns the customer relationship can change the rules whenever it likes, and has. Selling only on somebody else’s platform is renting your business.

The follower count almost never matches the sales. Engagement in the comments is a far better signal than reach.

Short-form video is the cheapest reach available right now, which is exactly why it will not stay cheap.

Where a mobile app comes into it

The point of an app in this picture is ownership: social brings somebody once, and the app is where they come back to.