Micro-influencers work because people are more likely to trust recommendations from people they know. Micro-influencers also work because they have higher rates of engagement from their followers than bigger influencers. They also tend to cost less than big-name influencers, making them accessible even for companies with the smallest of budgets. But how do you find micro-influencers?
Now that you know the value and benefits of working micro-influencers, how do you find micro-influencers and what should you be looking for in one? You can’t just approach every person you come across on social media to see if they want to work with your brand. There are specific things to look for when trying to find micro-influencers and ways to go about making contact.
What to Look for in a Micro-Influencer
Generally speaking, there are three qualities to look for when trying to find micro-influencers to work with. They are:
Niche or subject matter
Many micro-influencers focus on very specific industries or niches. They aren’t generalists who post about whatever captures their fancy that day. Having a very specific niche means that micro-influencers are likely to attract followers who also have an interest in that niche, and who are looking for more information about it.
Follower size
How many followers a micro-influencer has doesn’t matter too much. You can get excellent results working with someone who has just a few hundred followers. What you do want to do is make sure the person you’re looking at actually qualifies as a “micro-influencer.” To do that, he or she should have fewer than 100,000 followers.
Levels of engagement
If no one likes or comments on a social media post, that post might well have never happened. Take a look at the average number of likes a micro-influencer gets per post, in comparison to the number of people who follow him or her. Getting 100 likes per post on an account with 500 followers is impressive. It’s less impressive if a person has 10,000 followers.
Find Micro-Influencers DIY
One way to find micro-influencers is to manually search social media platforms to see if any relevant profiles pop up. You can do a search for mentions of your brand and see if anyone is particularly jazzed about your company, or do a search for hashtags relevant to your niche.
Although searching will let you see who’s posting relevant stuff about your brand or in your industry, it’s often not the most efficient way to find influencers. For one thing, just because someone decides to post about #cats one day doesn’t mean that person’s a cat expert. You might end up chasing a lot of leads that go nowhere.
For another thing, there’s no real way to filter out big-time influencers when you search, or to specifically find people who are looking for influencer opportunities. You might chase after a few people who have no interest in working with you, or send a lot of messages that get no response.
Find Micro-Influencers With an Influencer Marketplace
Another way to find micro-influencers is to use an influencer marketplace. Just like social media, you can use a marketplace to search for relevant hashtags, or by subject matter.
The advantage of using a marketplace is that you’re going to get people who are actively looking for partnerships or campaign opportunities in your results.
You also get the bigger picture about who an influencer is when you use a marketplace. Social media profiles only tell you so much, and some people have extremely limited information on theirs. Profiles on influencer marketplaces tend to be much more fleshed out. Many include biographical details, as well as information about past projects and campaigns they have worked on.
Plus, some influencer marketplaces use a scoring system find micro-influencers that are a good fit for your brand. The scoring system lets you see how an influencer ranks within their niche, on certain social platforms, and with your brand.
When you’re putting together a micro-influencer campaign, you want to focus on the meat of the campaign. You shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not the influencer you’re working with is the best possible one. Using an influencer marketplace streamlines the process and puts you in direct contact with the best micro-influencers for your project.
