How do I find a specific influencer?

Influencers have become an integral part of digital marketing strategies. Brands partner with influencers to promote their products and services to the influencer’s engaged following. However, with so many influencers to choose from, finding the right one can be challenging.

Here are some tips on how to find and select the perfect influencer for your brand:

Define Your Goals and Ideal Influencer

Before searching for an influencer, clearly define your goals and the type of influencer you need. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What is the objective of this influencer marketing campaign? Sales, engagement, awareness?
• Who is your target audience? Age, gender, interests, location?
• What content do you need the influencer to create? Photos, videos, reviews?
• What is your budget for the partnership?
• Do you need a nano (1k-10k followers), micro (10k-50k followers), macro (50k-500k followers) or celebrity (500k+ followers) influencer?

Having clear goals and criteria will help you find relevant influencers for your brand and campaign.

Use Influencer Marketing Platforms

Influencer marketing platforms like Klear, Upfluence, AspireIQ, and others have large influencer databases you can search through using filters. Here are some tips for using these platforms:

• Use multiple filters like location, gender, age range, interests, follower count, engagement rate, etc. to find your ideal influencer.
• Browse through influencer profiles and content to evaluate relevance, production quality, consistency, and audience engagement.
• Shortlist influencers who meet your criteria for further research.
• Compare profiles side-by-side and contact potential influencers to check if they’re a good fit.

Platforms may charge subscription fees but can simplify the influencer search process through their vast networked databases.

Search Social Media Platforms

You can manually search for influencers on social platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Here are some tips for using this method:

• Use relevant hashtags like #fashionblogger, #makeuptutorial, #foodie, etc. to find influencers in your niche.
• Go through the followers/following lists of influencers in your niche to discover similar accounts.
• Use Instagram and TikTok’s filters to refine your search by location, followers, tags, mentions, etc.
• Look for verified accounts as it indicates an authentic influencer.
• Evaluate engagement by likes, comments, views, shares per post to assess influence.

Searching directly on social platforms lets you discover rising influencers organically but can be more time-consuming.

Ask for Referrals

Reach out to your own followers and existing network to ask for influencer recommendations. You can also request referrals from:

• Your employees
• Brands who have done influencer campaigns before
• Influencer agencies
• Industry connections

While you may not find an exact match, referrals can present you with vetted options to evaluate.

Shortlist and Compare Profiles

Once you have a list of potential influencers, the next step is to shortlist the best fit options. Here are some factors to compare:

Thoroughly evaluating shortlisted influencers against key factors will help reveal the ideal fit for your brand’s campaign goals.

Contact the Influencer Directly

Once you’ve narrowed your list down to a few top contenders, directly contact them to gauge interest and availability. Here are some tips for outreach:

• Be brief yet personalized – introduce yourself and why you want to partner with them specifically.
• Provide an overview of your brand, campaign goals, and proposed partnership terms/deliverables.
• Ask about their rates – this will help align expectations early on.
• Establish how you will measure success together.
• Use a professional yet friendly tone.

Direct outreach presents you an opportunity to further vet the influencer. See if they respond promptly, professionally and are easy to communicate with.

Do a Background Check

Before finalizing a partnership agreement, do some due diligence by:

• Taking a close look at their feed and engagement to identify any red flags like fake followers, suspect engagement spikes, etc.
• Searching their name online to uncover any controversies they’ve been involved in previously.
• Cross-checking with other brands they’ve worked with about ethics, professionalism, results delivered.

A thorough background check protects your brand’s reputation and ensures an ethical, fruitful influencer partnership.

Establish a Detailed Contract

Draw up a detailed, mutually agreed upon contract before initiating the partnership. Be sure to specify:

• Total compensation amount and payment terms/schedule
• Content creation and publishing timeline
• Type of content to be created (photos, videos, blogs)
• Usage rights for the branded content
• Mention of your brand name, products, handles
• Influencer’s responsibilities (e.g. usage of branded hashtags)
• Your responsibilities and support offered (free products, assets,etc.)
• Metrics for tracking performance
• Terms for terminating contract

A clear, binding influencer contract sets expectations and prevents misunderstandings down the line.

Send PR Kit and Free Product Samples

Provide the influencer with a PR kit containing:

• Brand style guide with logos, images, colors, voice, etc.
• Catalog or product samples if applicable
• Example posts/captions you like
• Your brand’s ideal customer persona (ICP)
• Campaign hashtags and mentions to use

Equipping the influencer with relevant brand assets and information helps them create high-quality, on-brand content.

Co-Create and Finalize Content

Collaborate with the influencer on content creation. Provide feedback and refine concepts together. Before final approval:

• Ensure the content aligns with your brand style and campaign goals
• Look for seamless integration of your products/messaging
• Check that branded hashtags, captions and mentions are incorporated

Proactively co-creating and reviewing content enables greater quality control over your campaign’s promotional assets.

Amplify and Repurpose Content

To maximize ROI:

• Share influencer content across your own social channels
• Consider boosting high-performing posts through paid advertising
• Repurpose visual content into ads, website banners, etc.

Amplifying the content further expands your reach and extends the life of your campaign assets.

Track Performance and Optimize

Throughout the campaign, closely monitor metrics like:

• Engagement rate on influencer posts
• Clicks, traffic, conversions driven to your channels
• Sales lift or coupon/promo redemptions from campaign
• Social media growth, reach, etc. from the partnership

Review results regularly and switch up elements like CTAs, promos, or even the type of content if needed to optimize performance.

Maintain Open Communication

Check in regularly with your influencer partner during the campaign to:

• Provide any new assets, information, or guidance as needed
• Discuss latest results and future optimization
• Provide feedback and appreciate their efforts
• Address any concerns quickly and directly

Clear, timely communication ensures a smooth partnership from start to finish.

Send a Wrap-Up Report

Once the campaign concludes, share a wrap-up report with the influencer highlighting:

• Performance results and key metrics
• Top-performing content
• Sample social buzz and audience feedback
• Areas of opportunity for future campaigns

The report brings closure to the current campaign and provides insights to build an even stronger partnership next time.

Ask for Feedback

Solicit the influencer’s direct feedback on aspects like:

• Onboarding and communication process
• Brand assets provided
• Overall partnership experience

Influencer input will help you improve processes and collaboration for future influencer programs.

Explore Ongoing Partnership

If the collaboration was successful, explore extending it through:

• A long-term influencer agreement
• Repeating campaign in the future
• Having them test and promote new products

Ongoing influencer relationships maximize returns through repeated exposure to their follower base.

Conclusion

In summary, identifying and partnering with the right influencer takes research, due diligence, clear expectations, active collaboration and ongoing optimization. Define your campaign goals upfront and vet potential influencers thoroughly based on relevance, quality, ethics and audience. Maintain open communication and track performance regularly. A strategic, professional approach will lead to an influencer partnership that drives brand awareness, delivers great content and has a strong ROI.