On Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, there are presently between 3.2 million and 37.8 million worldwide influencers. locating the perfect influencers for your company might feel like looking for a needle in a haystack, which is why a recent survey identified locating influencers as the most difficult confronting influencer marketers today!
While the number of influencers continues to grow, there are more methods to find them than ever before. Searching social media, Google, personal referrals, and numerous influencer marketing databases and platforms are all options.
The methods for locating influencers are evolving. As technology advances, what was best practice a few years ago will be obsolete in 2023. According to the Influencer Marketing Hub’s 2023 Benchmark Report, 63% of influencer marketers aim to use artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) in 2023 to find influencers or design effective campaigns.
Fortunately, discovering fantastic influencers that are a perfect brand match is what we do every day at Storyclash! Continue reading to learn about the best strategies to locate artists and how to use AI.
1. Determine your target audience
Who are you attempting to persuade? Any marketing campaign begins with your target audience in mind. If you operate in the DTC industry and want to reach out to a younger, female audience, your social media platform of choice and the influencers you work with will differ from those that want to sell their products B2B.
Consider who will be purchasing your stuff. What characteristics and demographics do they share? Going through your company’s CRM data and looking at your social media following can give you a decent notion of who to target.
2. Search for relevant influencers
Once you’ve determined your target audience’s location, age, gender, and interests, it’s time to determine who is influential in this space.
There are several approaches you may take to locate your chosen influencers, for example:
Use account names or hashtags to search natively on your platforms, such as Instagram Search or YouTube Search.
Use Google to uncover lists of prospective influencers with whom you may collaborate. There are undoubtedly some well-known names in your field. Look for influencers who publish about your subject and read some blog pieces, rankings, and case studies.
3. Prioritize content-based discovery
The easiest method to locate influencers that are actually a good fit for your company is through content-based discovery. While demographics and data are important, they are insufficient for identifying influencers who create high-quality content, share your brand values, and resonate with your target audience.
Find influencers that are providing compelling content on themes that are important to your target audience using a tool like Storyclash. Look beyond vanity metrics.
4. Reach out to influencers you’re interested in
So you’ve identified an influencer you’d want to collaborate with. Great! It’s time to communicate. Popular influencers are bombarded with offers every day, so it’s critical for them to stand apart.
The ideal option is to write them an email describing your business and expressing your interest in collaborating. Maintain a pleasant and personable tone, and make it clear why you want to collaborate with them especially.
5. Foster a long-term collaboration
It’s critical to maintain excellent relationships with the influencers you deal with. Many popular influencers work exclusively with brands, allowing for long-term collaboration, which is beneficial to brands as well.
Why? For starters, if an influencer supports your company on a frequent basis, it produces a consistent user experience and seems more genuine.
It is more effective for increasing sales since an influencer’s followers are more inclined to buy from you if they have been exposed to your brand several times.
Conclusion:
The correct influencers may make or destroy your influencer marketing campaign. You should now have a solid idea of how to locate influencers that are a good fit for your company while avoiding typical errors.
