By Annika Bansal 
It’s cool to be kind in 2020, and social media influencers want in on the action. Influencer platform ShopandShout recently collaborated with Replant Amazon, a cause brand committed to lessening the impact of climate change through reforestation projects, and an estimated 600 micro-influencers are expected to jump onboard with the cause.
Replant Amazon’s pilot reforestation project in Bengaluru, India resulted in a mixed forest of Azadirachta Indica (neem), Tectona grandis (teak), Jasmine sambac (jasmin) and Punica granatum (pomegranate) spread out over 103 acres. The plantation of the forest was complete in December 2019.
Now Replant Amazon has set its sight on a more ambitious project: reforestation of the Amazon and beyond after the devastating 2019 fires that wiped out approximately one billion trees. Replant Amazon hopes to complete this project by 2022—and one of its first steps was to enlist the aid of micro influencers, like the ones represented by ShopandShout.
A small donation to Replant Amazon subsidizes a single tree, which the organization’s staff will plant and nurture, using the Miyawaki method. Replant Amazon also prepares the ground where the new forest will grow, and guarantees the survival of every tree it plants.
A spokesperson for Replant Amazon explains, “In order to do this at the pace and scale we need, we have a team of environmentalists who have established relationships with [non profit organizations] across the world. We identify the [non profits] that work with the rigorous accountability process and the standards that we have set in order for this to scale. Tracking software that we have built helps shortlist projects based on their environmental impact, cost effectiveness and periodic growth updates. This way we can make sure that the trees planted by us have a 100% survival rate, until they become self-sufficient.”
Why Micro Influencers?
Micro influencers is the term applied to online movers and shakers with audiences of around 10,000 engaged followers. They’re folks whose appeal is grounded in a well-defined niche. Micro influencers may have fewer followers than outright Instagram celebs, but they tend to be much more engaged on a daily basis with the fans they do have.
While engagement rates for sponsored posts on social media have fallen dramatically in the past three years, the same report from analytics firm InfluencerDB, showed that the fewer followers an influencer has, the higher that influencer’s potential for engagement. This is a game changer in social media terms.
Raising Awareness
Out of its community of approximately 44,000 micro influencers, ShopandShop will be singling out 600 influencers whose niches are the best fit for Replant Amazon’s climate change message. ShopandShout will empower those micro influencers to use their social impact for global good by giving out Replant Amazon trees to engaged fans.
Replant Amazon will be seeding trees while ShopandShout will be seeding a viral campaign that’s designed to add value to the Replant Amazon brand.
“It’s our duty as leaders in the industry to ensure we work closely with our community to create global impact and raise awareness around global warming. Our mission is to decrease our CO2 footprint,” notes Vytas Lenauskas, ShopandShout’s Vice President of Marketing.
The easiest way to get involved with this initiative is to ‘plant a tree’ on the Replant Amazon website, or reach out via email to find out about volunteer opportunities.
This type of social consciousness is one of the reasons why 2020 is likely to be the Year of the Micro Influencer.
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Sitetrail Research Team 
Sarah Ross