How To Find Social Media Influencers For Marketing

Your Audience Will Show You: Without sounding too obvious, you find influencers where your audience finds them. Think and act like your target market and the influencers will become obvious. Who are the people, groups, etc. that your audience is engaging with in-person, online and via social media? The market will always give you the answers.

If you know your audience well enough, and you pay attention to them, you can find their influencers before they become known (and then overpaid) as influencers. Being first to a “diamond in the rough” influencer can bring you great value by costing less and appealing to your target audience as more authentic, not just a paid spokesperson.

Start With #Hashtags: Hashtags on social media platforms is a great place to start looking. I use #SaturdayMorningHustle on Instagram/Twitter as a way to connect with my audience of Entrepreneurs and Startups with great engagement success. These interactions lead to connections and potential influence. But first, you have to find a theme that fits what you do or who you’re trying to influence.

Don’t be generic like #Business or #Entrepreneur it’s too large of an idea. Find a subset of a generic term and look to see who is attracting audience engagement. Keep following the path down the rabbit hole until you find the audience most likely to be highly engaged with your product or service. Laser focus, not a shotgun approach.

Play the Long Game: Paying celebrities is expensive and losing influence every day. Engaging grassroots influencers has more bang for the buck. This requires more work from you, and it’s a slower build but the loyalty/retention will be much greater. Take the time to find the “next big thing” in relation to your specific audience and get in on the ground floor. Be first, cultivate a relationship and create a Win/Win situation for you and the influencer(s). Build, don’t buy influence.

Good luck!