How to Find Quality Influencers for Your Brand

Author: Haley Walker

With the influencer pool growing monthly, the influencer marketing discipline has become more relevant than ever. Statistics show that over 40% of consumers have made a purchase because they were influenced on social media. As a result, the influencer landscape has become a competitive space for brands – many of which are beginning to prioritize exclusive quality partnerships to prevent competing brands from accessing their golden nugget. So, how do you find the best of the best for your brand?

Step one: Identify the “perfect partner.”

Once you decide to enter the influencer marketing realm, it’s important to hone in on characteristics and non-negotiables that are complementary to your brand values. Your non-negotiables should be obvious, and your characteristics should help identify what qualities you’re looking for in the right influencer.

For example, the perfect partner for a smoothie brand may be a mommy lifestyle influencer with a primarily female audience ranging from ages 25-55, who lives a healthy lifestyle, is constantly on the go and reflects the brand attributes of outgoing, inclusive and refreshing. If it’s a national campaign, a non-negotiable would be a U.S. based location and most of their audience residing in the U.S.

Your influencer partners may not meet every characteristic, but it’s essential to visualize what success looks like to you.

Step two: Research, research, research!

Once you’ve identified your non-negotiables and ideal characteristics, it’s time to find potential candidates to participate in your campaign. Leaning on an agency or representative who is an expert in the influencer landscape and has a robust community/relationships at their disposal is recommended; however, if you’re unfamiliar with the space, consider using a database or conducting hashtag research to find niche influencers.

There are a handful of influencer discovery tools that can help narrow your findings, including Upfluence or Tagger. Utilizing these platforms allows for plenty of research in a little amount of time.

An alternative and more organic tactic is taking advantage of platform hashtags. Using niche hashtags like “#nashvillefoodie,” for instance, can work wonders in finding influencers that encompass some of those characteristics and even target location.

Finally, there are various influencer types to consider throughout your research such as wellness, outdoors, foodie, lifestyle, fitness, tech, etc. Decide which influencer types fit closely to your “perfect partner” and begin the process of elimination.

Step three: The process of elimination.

After you’ve established a pool of potential partners, take the time to further evaluate each influencer and their content. Consider the following questions as you evaluate:

Is their engagement rate strong?

Is their audience located in a target market?

Are they a better fit than other candidates?

Is their content in line with your brand values?

Once unfit partners are removed, begin to rank your priority influencer candidates and prepare for outreach.

Step four: Pitch away!

Be sure to understand what budget you have available and facilitate outreach as appropriate. Keep in mind that every partnership holds a distinctive value and all influencers approach partnerships differently. Some influencer rates may offer more flexibility and faster turnaround times. Ultimately, following this process will set you up for success and lead you to the right partners for your brand.

Need assistance partnering with the right influencers for your brand? Reach out to Crowe PR’s expert digital team to help get you started.