Most of us have believed that influencers are now a dying breed. However, we could not have been more wrong – influencers are here to stay. Based on research, it has been found that 63% of marketing professionals have decided to increase the budget for influencer marketing in 2022.
On platforms like Instagram alone, you will find more than 500,000 influencers actively updating content on their profiles. Then, you also have influencers on platforms like TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, etc.
The challenge of selecting an influencer for your brand is very real. You cannot simply sign a well-known influencer based on the number of followers. If your company’s image does not align with its values, it can cause a PR nightmare.
However, building a professional and strong relationship with a well-matched influencer can be quite powerful in the eyes of your clients or customers. Therefore, you must know how to find the right influencer for your brand.
This article will tell you how to find the best influencers for your company.
What Are Some of the Best Ways to Find the Right Influencer for Your Brand?
Some of the most effective methods of finding an influencer for your company are:
1. Hashtags
As a business, you need to be aware of the current boosted content and trends around your brand. One of the best ways to do this is by conducting a manual search for trending hashtags relevant to your brand. This way, you will find many influencers that use these hashtags.
Once you find the right influencer for the job, you can send them an Instagram direct message. However, you must get your research done to ensure that they share the same niche or at least align with your brand.
You also need to look into the number of followers and engagement rates, which can be done using an Instagram engagement calculator. Always avoid users that have low to zero engagement rates.
2. Various Social Media Sites
Yes, when we mean hashtags, it is already implied that you are on social media. However, we are talking about going deeper than that here. You need to start looking for brand mentions as well as use various social media tracker tools.
With the help of these tools, you will easily find all the influencers already talking about your niche, industry, or brand.
3. Google
<p>Google is the best choice for finding social media influencers. There are various ways you can find influencers on Google. For instance, you can use Google search alerts to ping or notify you when someone is using a keyword related to your brand.</p>
<p>With the help of this method, you will easily find people talking about your niche, industry, brand, and everything else in the middle.</p>
<h3>4. Bloggers</h3>
In most cases, bloggers and influencers often collaborate to create unique content on social media. Bloggers often have a strong engagement behind them in most cases. Manually, you can try looking for keywords related to your products or brand, along with the word ‘blog,’ and look at the first page of the search results.
Alternatively, you can also head over to the social media accounts of these bloggers to find out if they have any influencers in their following or follower tabs.
5. Influencer Marketing Platforms
There are many influencer marketing websites where you can search for the best influencers for different niches. You will be provided with various information like their social profiles, email addresses, etc. You will have many ways to get in touch with them.
However, you need to tread carefully. Many of these influencer marketing websites provide outdated information. Therefore, you must get your research done before contacting the influencers from these sites.
6. YouTube
YouTube is quite useful if you are looking for influencers for your brand. Depending on the niche, YouTube is the most common platform where influencers upload longer reviews of products, ads, and other types of content. Digging into YouTube is definitely worth your time and effort.
You can type in relevant keywords in the search bar to find influencers that upload videos related to your products or niche. You also need to find a middle ground of influencers with a decent number of subscribers but not so much that it can cap your entire marketing budget.
Alternatively, you can also look for dedicated YouTubers (who are influencers in a way); these individuals often have a wider audience reach on most of their social media pages and will not charge an exuberant amount for their services as well.
7. Your Company Website
Your company website needs to be accessible to your customers and influencers. You need to have all resources ready if they want to get in touch with you or vice versa.
For instance, you can add a link that lands the influencers on a dedicated page where you can let the influencer know how you would like to collaborate with them. Additionally, it should also include a space where the influencers can leave behind their contact information.
This is considered the best way to save time and effort trying to get in touch with influencers. Instead, you are giving them a chance to approach you.
8. LinkedIn
While the probability of finding an influencer is lower than the other methods described above, it is still worth taking a shot if everything else fails. LinkedIn already provides you with a wide range of search features to look for influencers based on niche and industry.
For a more refined search result, you can try adding keywords like content creator and blogger. Selecting the relevant niche or industry will further narrow down the search result.
LinkedIn is more of a professional website than Instagram, which means the site will boost your company profile. Therefore, you also need to make it easy for influencers to find your company page on LinkedIn. For influencers, you can find out how to contact them here.
How Can You Engage With Influencers?
Of course, finding the right influencers for your brand is not enough. Even after you have found the right people, it is equally important to learn how you can engage with them. The steps to take so are:
1. Get Them to Notice You
You can start by following their profiles and engaging with their posts. If you want to comment, try to be meaningful and show your appreciation for their work. This will help you draw their attention and also get them to notice you.
2. Send the Offer
<p>Once the influencer has noticed you, it is time to send in your proposal. It needs to contain some important information:
- Everything they need to know about you, as well as how you know about them.
- The reason why you are reaching out
- What can you offer in return for their services?
- How can they take the conversation forward if they are interested?
Of course, you do not have to dive too deep into the specifics. But it would help if you made your offer sound intriguing to increase your chances of getting a response. Eventually, finding influencers and getting them to work along with you or your brand are two different stories.
To increase your chances of collaboration, you can also refer to some of your past successful collaborations or how the opportunity can be relevant for them.
Finally, you must provide means of communication so they can get back to you. For example, you can add your email address or phone number.
3. Follow-up
Since influencers receive many messages, it is possible for them not to notice your email or direct message. Therefore, it is suggested that you wait for some days and then send a follow-up.
Even if they do not reply to your follow-up, keep doing so a couple of times before you decide to move on. Additionally, ensure that your relationship with the influencer lasts once the collaboration is over. This will help you in the long run.
If both parties have had a good experience while collaborating, your brand and the influencer can work together more often, eliminating the need to look for another influencer and saving a lot of time.
Final Thoughts
With the help of the right influencers for your brand, your campaigns will be successful. It would help if you focused on building a long-term relationship with influencers to seek the best results. If you know of other strategies to find the right influencer for your brand, let us know in the comment section below.
