There’s no doubt that influencers play a key role in connecting brands with customers. They influence millions of people to buy products based on their recommendations. It’s no wonder that small and large companies alike are trying their luck with influencer marketing. By working with the right influencers, businesses can build credibility, increase brand recognition, and reach new audiences. The first step to success is to find influencers for your brand who can accomplish your goals.
Thus, the questions arise. What makes influencers so effective? And what are the best ways to find them? This blog post discusses where, how, and what to look for while searching for creators.
Why Should You Work with Influencers?
A great relationship with their followers
Creators put a great deal of effort and dedication into building their audiences. Users listen to what they have to say and trust their opinions. This applies especially to small influencers who don’t necessarily have hundreds of thousands of followers. Instead, they have an active follower base with whom they maintain close relationships.
Micro-influencers build their names as experts in a specific niche and create content closely related to that topic for their followers. Despite having a follower base of 5K to 20K, you can target many relevant follower subgroups that are likely to be interested in your brand or product. Apart from being cost-effective, micro-influencers are likely to work with brands whose values align with their own and whose products they can endorse.
Authority in a subject
Influencer marketing has continued to grow in popularity and has already become an integral part of companies’ digital marketing strategies. Most brands are active on several social media platforms to reach as many users as possible. Due to this, more and more businesses are working together with small and large influencers, resulting in growing competition for users’ attention.
You can still stand out if you focus on a particular niche and seek out influencers who also create within it. Your message will reach people who are interested in your product, resulting in a high conversion rate. As an added benefit, working with experts on a topic will build your reputation in your field and help you gain followers’ trust.
Gripping content
It takes several years for influencers to establish their own brand, gain extensive content creation experience, and acquire the trust of their audiences. Therefore, they know what content captures their followers’ attention and motivates them to take action. No matter if it’s a sponsored post or if they simply like your brand, influencer content is different from traditional brand advertising.
Long-term partnerships
Take the extra step by maintaining a successful relationship with social media influencers in your industry. The key to successful influencer outreach and collaboration is clear and constant communication between your brand and creators. During the process, you can build a good working relationship with industry experts whom you can collaborate in the future with.
7 Ways to Find Relevant Influencers
Before starting your influencer search, identify your goals and target audience. If your goal is, for example, to increase your following base, then it’s especially critical to define the characteristics of your new target market. Instead of relying solely on big names, consider collaborating with niche influencers too. In this way, you’ll reach a wider audience.
With the above in mind, here are 7 ways to find influencers.
Search hashtags
Conduct hashtag research related to your brand or your industry to find Instagram influencers. Since hashtags make it easier for users to find posts on Instagram and Twitter, creators regularly use them as keywords.
Review mentions and tags
On Instagram, you can easily find influencers for your brand by searching for people who have mentioned or tagged you. There is more to influencer marketing than celebrities. A small influencer recommending your product to their followers is the best way to gain genuine interest in it. They may even have the potential to become your next brand ambassador.
Scan your brand’s followers
Why not check out your own social media followers? Many brands are followed by prominent content creators, and they may not be aware of it. You may also want to take a look at who you’re following. You never know who could be a suitable influencer for an upcoming marketing campaign.
Check your competitors
Most likely, your competitors have already collaborated with digital creators. Investigating other industry players’ follower bases is a good way to find relevant influencers or users with a large following. Another method is to check who mentioned your competition and search hashtags associated with them.
Use Google
It’s helpful to go beyond social media to discover relevant influencers in your industry. Using Google, you can narrow your search for influencers to a specific niche and location. Your creator’s location is especially crucial if your campaign aims to reach consumers in a particular region, city, or country.
Connect with bloggers
Follow niche blogs and determine who your industry's key opinion shapers are. By engaging with these content creators, you can gain authority in your industry and win more dedicated followers.
Leverage influencer marketing platforms
A major benefit is that you can handle your entire marketing workflow with them, from influencer search to campaign management. By using HypeAuditor’s Influencer Discovery, you can search among more than 60 million digital creators. Additional filters will help you find creators who will get your message to your target audience. Alternatively, you can discover fresh faces and rising stars within the Top Trending accounts.
Why Creator Search Should Be a Constant and How To Find influencers in 2023
Several factors require that brands search for influencers continuously. It enables them to provide fresh and attractive content, adapt quickly to changes in audience tastes, and remain competitive. In our recent webinar, we discuss the importance of consistent influencer discovery, and traditional and new techniques to look for creators.
Understand how you can spot existing customers and subscribers and collaborate with them.
Discover what other platforms are available for finding thought leaders besides social media.
Learn how to pick trending influencers in your niche.
Watch HypeAuditor’s webinar on how to discover influencers in 2023.
How to Analyze Influencers
Once you discover relevant creators, don’t rush into collaborations! Examine influencers’ analytics before launching a campaign so you don’t waste time and money. There’s no doubt that this is easier said than done. That’s when a tool like HypeAuditor’s Analytics comes in handy. In seconds, you can analyze influencer accounts without any hassle and view key stats, including:
Audience geo and demographics: Review if the audience’s location, age, gender, interest, and education correspond with your target market.
Follower size: The more followers an influencer has, the higher your reach and views will be. Nonetheless, study the quality of the audience as well.
Audience authenticity: Look for creators, whose audience vastly consists of real people. It doesn’t matter how many followers an influencer has if a substantial portion isn’t real.
Follower and following growth: The follower and following charts show if the creator used illegal methods to grow their audience. Purchased or fake accounts are mostly inactive and won’t engage with the influencer’s posts.
ER: The engagement rate shows the number of likes, shares, and comments an influencer’s content receives. The higher the ER, the more engaged the audience is.
Reach: Reach represents the number of individual people who see the creator’s post. Logic dictates that the larger an influencer’s audience, the greater their reach. However, reach alone doesn’t prove your marketing efforts are successful.
Content: Make sure the influencer hasn’t published on a potentially risky subject.
Estimated price: Find out what each post, story, or video will cost and select creators whose fees correspond to your influencer marketing budget.
When searching for authentic creators, consider the number of brand mentions and paid or sponsored posts on creators’ feeds. Many businesses seek out influencers with a large following, but popularity comes at a price. Creators who publish a lot of paid or sponsored posts will lose credibility, and their audiences will be less likely to trust them.
Conclusion
With this information, you’ll be able to find influencers for your next marketing campaign. As a first step, define the campaign’s purpose and target audience. After that, you can begin your search for influencers.
Combining several approaches can yield better results, although it can be very time-consuming and there is a greater risk of making mistakes. Overall, the most effective solution is to use an influencer marketing platform, like HypeAuditor. Discover influencers that match your budget and niche by using our influencer search tool and analyze their performance and audience instantly.
Find Influencers for Your Brand FAQ
Where can I find social media influencers?
You can search social media platforms using brand hashtags or keywords related to your industry. Look around your business’s following and your competitors’ audience for devoted fans, or locate niche influencers on Google. However, it is easiest to find influencers using a platform like HypeAuditor, which provides several features to refine your search.
How do I find influencers close to me?
One option is to search Google for influencers in your area. Or you can use an influencer search tool like HypeAuditor’s Influencer Discovery that allows you to filter by the location of the influencer and audience.
What are the advantages of working with influencers?
With the right influencers, you can achieve several marketing goals and bring a lot of benefits to your business. One of the greatest advantages of influencer marketing is the ability to leverage word-of-mouth marketing and deepen customer loyalty.
How to search for influencers on Instagram?
You can go about discovering Instagram creators in several ways.
Search hashtags associated with your brand or niche or with the values your business represents.
Scan brand mentions and tagged posts as another option.
Thirdly, you can track your competitors’ Instagram followers and hashtags.
Last but not least, identify Instagram creators on influencer marketing platforms, like HypeAuditor.
How should I analyze influencers’ accounts?
Make sure the influencers’ audience is authentic and their demographics match your target audience before contacting them. Analyze performance data, such as ER, reach, and CPE. It’s possible to measure and calculate metrics manually, but using an influencer analytics tool will provide the most accurate results.
