6 Tips to Find Influencers in Your Niche

Social conversations have a significant impact on what and how people choose to buy. 80% of consumers have purchased something based on the recommendations of an influencer. 

However, most marketers say finding the right influencers for a campaign is difficult. Now that you are here, I will make it easy for you to find an ideal influencer in your niche. Let’s get started. 

What Is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing refers to partnering with people who have a robust social media presence to promote your product. Both you and the influencer benefit from this partnership. They get incentives (either monetary or non-monetary), and you get more sales. 

Major brands like Nike and Gillette have been doing influencer marketing for decades now. Nike partnered with Michael Jordan in 1984 and generated millions in sales within the first year. 

Benefits of Influencer Marketing

With more than 3.8 billion people using social media, influencer marketing helps cut through the noise by targeting specific audiences. Influencer marketing helps grow your business online.

Here are some more benefits of influencer marketing for businesses:

  • It does not look pushy while promoting your products or services.
  • Boosts your online visibility and reach. 
  • It helps build trust and credibility with your target audience. 
  • Entice potential customers to convert. 
  • It is cost-effective, considering the ROI it generates. 
  • Provides enormous value to the consumers. 
  • It assists in filling gaps in your content schedule.  

How to Find the Right Influencer in Your Niche?

Despite the many benefits of influencer marketing, it’s a waste in investment if you partner with the wrong one. Here are the six best ways to find the right influencer for your brand. 

1- Search Through Industry-Related Hashtags

Hashtags are popular in social media, and almost every influencer uses them. Determine which social network is right for your business. Then, search for hashtags to find people who are actively using your industry-related hashtag. 

Visit the social media platform of your choice and enter a hashtag in the search box. Check from the list of hashtags that appear as a suggestion to find the relevant ones. 

Follow the best practices when finding influencers through hashtags. 

  • Don’t use generic terms, such as #food, #cosmetics, #fitness, etc.
  • Search keywords that are specific to your product or service. For example, if you sell fitness supplements, search hashtags like #proteinpowder or #proteinshake.
  • Check the related hashtags section to find niche influencers. For example, I searched for “#proteinpowder” on Instagram. The related hashtags section consists of niche words like #wheyproteinisolate, #proteinsmoothie, and #proteinbar. 
  • Check the stories for each hashtag to find the most active influencers in your niche. 
  • Go through the influencer’s profile, check how many followers they have, and if people engage with their posts.

2- Use Influencer Marketing Tools

Influencer marketing tools like Charitable can help you promote your brand, products, or services and grow your social audience. Charitable partners with top celebrities and influencers with millions of followers to ensure your message reaches a wide audience (the ones that you want to target). 

The best part about Charitable is that with every campaign, they support a nonprofit cause. By partnering with Charitable, you will not only be able to build brand awareness and drive sales, but you will also contribute to making the world a better place. 

3- Leverage Search Engines to Find Potential Influencers

You can find industry-specific influencers on search engines. Divide the list of influencers based on your needs to ensure they are the right choice for your brand. 

For example, if you want to find social media influencers to promote your newly launched cosmetic product, search for “top beauty influencers on Instagram.” You will see a list of results. 

When searching for influencers on search engines, follow these best practices to increase your chances of succeeding:

  • Analyze all the top ten results on the first page of the search results page. Separate the names that are common in those pages. They probably have more followers, engagement, or are more authoritative. 
  • Manually check each influencer’s profile to analyze the type of content they post and their engagement rate. 
  • Search for different types of influencers (top, micro, and nano). Choose a few of each kind and then compare them to identify the right one for your company. For example, you can search for top beauty micro or nano influencers on Instagram.”
  • Check the “people also search for” section at the bottom of the search results page. If a lot of people are searching for them, chances are they have built a loyal following. 

4- Look for Influencers Who Have Worked With Your Competitors

Discovering influencers who have worked with your competitors is a great way to find those who are likely to associate with you. This also gives an idea of who would be a good fit for your brand. 

Another advantage of looking for influencers who have worked with your competitors is that you can analyze whether the collaboration was a success or not. Check the engagement rate. If enough people haven’t interacted with their post, it’s time to remove them from your list. 

Avoid collaborating with influencers who are currently working with your rivals. It won’t look authentic if they promote both your and your competing products simultaneously. 

5- Analyze the Quality of Engagement

Analyzing the influencer’s profile can help you determine whether they can help you achieve your campaign objectives. It also gives a lot of insights into their audience’s demographics. 

Here are the key metrics that you should be analyzing:

  • Engagement: It refers to the influencer’s ability to generate interaction on each post they publish. The average engagement rate on Instagram is around 3%. Check the number of likes and comments your potential influencer receives on average. 
  • Authenticity: Influencers need to be authentic to earn trust with followers. Check their passion for their niches. For example, Aaron Lesue, a fitness expert, regularly posts photos and videos of workout, showing his enthusiasm for living a healthy life. Aaron’s audience is more likely to buy a product if he vouches for it as a healthy product. 
  • Content quality: Check a few of your potential influencer’s posts to get an idea of the quality of work they can deliver. 
  • Frequency: Check how frequently the influencer publishes new posts. If an influencer is very active on social media, they would be a better partner for your brand.  

6- Discover Popular Bloggers in Your Niche

Bloggers, too, are influencers. They might not have a robust social media presence, but they have a loyal following visiting their blog regularly. 

Also, bloggers usually have a list of subscribers, and they send emails every time they publish new content. 

By finding and partnering with popular bloggers in your niche, you can instantly widen your reach and acquire new customers. 

To find bloggers in your niche, search “Your seed keyword +blog” in Feedspot. For example, if you want to promote an “SEO tool,” search for “SEO blog.” You will see a list of top 100 SEO blogs and influencers. Narrow down the list by analyzing who amongst them are an ideal fit for your business. 

Final Thoughts

Influencer marketing helps reach a wider audience, boost brand awareness, and generate sales. However, finding the right influencer in your niche is not an easy task. You have to spend time and do some manual work to determine if an influencer can bring desired results. If you are short of time, use third-party influencer marketing tools to find the ideal celebrity for your brand. Happy Influencer Marketing! 

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By Annika Bansal

Annika is a Senior Editor at Social Media Explorer. She travels full time and has lived on the road working remotely for over two years. You can check out her Instagram to follow her on the road.