What Is the Best Place to Find Influencers?

With experts predicting $7.14 billion in influencer marketing spending next year, there’s no better time to find the perfect content creators with whom to partner. But how do you find content creators for your brand? What is the best place to find influencers?

Whether you’re looking to find micro-influencers on TikTok or narrow down an Instagram influencer list, we’ve got some tips to help you find your next campaign partner based on their target audience, engagement, values, platforms, and talent at crafting content. 

1. Scout your brand’s followers

There are lots of reasons social media users follow a brand online, including:

• They like what they’ve seen of your brand so far.
• They want to stay up-to-date on new products and services.
• They don’t want to miss promotions and special offers, including freebies and contests.
• They like your content.

With built-in access to, at the very least, consumers who are curious and interested in your brand or, at the very most, brand advocates, it makes sense to first scout among your followers.

Review their profiles to understand the person, then look at their content. Does their content align with your brand’s tone, style, and values? Is it informative, entertaining, or a mix of both? How frequently do they post? What’s their engagement like, and do they respond to comments and questions promptly? Is their messaging consistently something you’d be proud of as a brand partner? Do they have any paid or sponsored content, and if so, is it tied to one of your brand’s competitors?

Although you can note the follower count, it shouldn’t be the deciding factor in deciding whether to partner with the influencer. Instead, look at engagement rates, which often better predict a campaign’s success than the sheer number of followers. 

In fact, nano-, micro-, and mid-tier influencers are often a better option for small and mid-size brands, especially when you’re just getting your toes wet in influencer marketing. These lesser-known influencers not only tend to have the ear — and trust  — of their followers but also charge less for campaigns. The decreased spending will decrease your risk and make a far smaller dent in your marketing budget.

2. “Eavesdrop” on advocates

Check your notifications to discover who has tagged your brand on social media. If you invest in an influencer marketing platform with social listening, your tech will do the work for you.

Armed with this list of brand advocates already touting your products, services, or customer experience, you can do a deeper dive into their accounts to determine if there’s a potential for an influencer marketing partnership.

3. Manually search your preferred platforms

We’ll be the first to admit that this tactic can be incredibly time-consuming, especially considering that only around 3% of the U.S. population can be considered influencers. 

Yes, while manually searching for keywords to find content, accounts, and tags related to your niche will require some butt-in-chair (or standing desk) research, it’s certainly not impossible. Most of the major platforms have their own shortcuts to help you find influencers. Here are a few of the best influencer search tools offered free of charge on major platforms:

TikTok

Check your brand’s “For You” page, where TikTok suggests relevant, trending content that matches your interest.

Instagram

Click on “Explore” to view recommended content based on inputted keywords or scroll through the curated content that Instagram’s algorithm suggested based on accounts similar to yours.

YouTube

The Explore tab on YouTube highlights trending videos in a variety of categories. Search among the creators whose content pops ups to find potential influencers who share your target audience.

4. Follow the hashtags

Although broad hashtags like “fashion” aren’t necessarily going to narrow your search results to a workable list, niche hashtags can. 

Head to the search box on your preferred campaign social media platform and try some hyper-specific hashtags to funnel your search results. Not sure what hashtag to search for? Consider the following word associations:

• The product or service you want to promote in your next campaign (like #PetHairVacuum)
• Your brand’s target persona (like #SkaterGirl)
• The solution your product or service provides (like #FasterWifi)

5. Invest in an influencer marketing platform

Access to an influencer database can save you time since everyone is there for the same purpose. But not all directories are created equal. You’ll need to look at features, pricing, network size, flexibility and value.

If your brand is truly ready to engage in influencer marketing, consider investing in the best influencer marketing tools now. Unlike simple databases, which simply provide a hub of influencers and a few filters to narrow down your search, the right influencer marketing platform can offer a comprehensive suite of tools to make nearly every aspect of your campaign easier. 

IZEA Flex influencer marketing platform, for example, goes beyond just creator profiles to provide integrations with Google Analytics and Shopify, AI tools like AI Briefs and Brainstorm, real-time tracking links, content storage, payments and multi-platform social monitoring.

6. Check out IZEA’s influencer lists

No matter the type of influencer you want to work with, you can find a list of influencers in that category on the IZEA blog.

Influencers:

Looking to partner with industry-leading brands? Create your free profile today. 

Marketers:

The world’s biggest brands trust IZEA’s influencer marketing software and managed solutions. Find out which solution is right for you.