Top 5 Things To Keep In Mind When Searching For The Best Influencer In Your Niche

Influencer marketing is now the most sought after form of online marketing. It is a great way to increase your brand awareness and get your products in the limelight in front of your target audience. But, finding an influencer who echoes your brand values and is well-suited to your niche can be difficult. Before banking all your online marketing efforts on an influencer, it is essential to understand how influencers work.

An influencer is essentially an online authority on a subject or an area of expertise. They have thousands and even millions of followers who listen to everything they say online. Influencers gain followers by creating unique and entertaining content based on their audience’s desire to see, read or hear. They hold power to shape opinions and interests based on what they say, use, or believe.

Types of Influencers

You might think that an influencer is someone with a million followers on Instagram, but there are many more types that that. Below we list some of the different types of influencers you can consider for your marketing campaigns.

Celebrities

Well-known faces in the entertainment industry, politics, sports, or media. They have access to massive audiences. Usually, it is quite expensive and risky.

Macro Influencers

People who create viral content can be trusted to publish relevant content with a vast reach.

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Professionals

Doctors, lawyers, business leaders, subject matter experts – whose word people trust in the niche.

Micro-Influencers

Focused on one niche with a specific audience, has low followers but creates highly relevant content.

Nano-Influencers

Brand advocates who share content online and offline.

Things to Keep in Mind When Searching for Influencers

Once you have picked the type of influencer you think will be the best fit for your campaign, there are certain things that you also need to consider which include:

Know Your Goals

The objective is to find the best influencer who can help you reach your audience and achieve your business goals. Outline your goals and define the outcome you are looking for by hiring asocial media influencer. It will help you assess the benefit your brand or business receives from working with an influencer.

Define Your Influencer Campaign

After you are clear about your goals, the next step is to decide the type of influencer campaign you want to run. Based on your goals, you can choose from the following campaign types –

1. Gifting
2. Guest Posting
3. Sponsored Content
4. Contests and Giveaways
5. Influencer Takeover
6. Affiliates
7. Discount Codes
8. Brand Ambassadors

Find Influencers Who Promote Your Competitors

Look for influencers who are already working with brands like yours, your competitors. Influencers who are already talking/ writing about brands similar to yours are much more likely to engage with your brand too.

Find Influencers Who Share Your Audience

Even if an influencer is not directly connected with the industry you are in, they may share the same audience that you want to talk to. E.g., medicine home delivery services can be promoted by an influencer who talks to a senior audience about music from the 1950s and 1960s.

Understand the Authority of Your Influencer

Evaluate your influencer’s authority on their audience. The audience they have access to should be large enough, and the influencer’s word should be strong enough to prompt the audience to know more about your brand or service.

How to Find the Right Influencers for Your Niche

Once you have started to define your campaign goals and have some influencers in mind, how do you know which is the best one to use? Here are some tips on how to narrow down the field.

Influencer marketing Tools

You will find several paid influencer marketing platforms on the internet to help you find the right influencer for your niche. Influencer marketing platforms offer statistics and details about the influencers that match your brand genre or share your audience. They will also tell you if the influencer is available to talk on social media or prefer e-mails.

Social Media Advanced Search Tools

Every social media platform such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn has advanced search tools to help you find the right influencer faster and more efficiently.

Social Media Tools

A growth boosting tool Path Social and various social media tools are available online and they can help you find a list of likely influential people within the niche. Sort them by the size of their following and the authority they exercise.

Search Hashtags

Hashtags are a great way to surface influential accounts naturally. Search relevant hashtags on Instagram or Twitter to dig in and find influencer accounts that rule the roost in your niche.

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Search Engines

Find a list of influencers in search engines and see which are common on these lists. You can also search social media websites like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to make a list.

Wrapping Up

We hope this article has given you some tips that you may not have thought about when deciding who to choose to be a part of your influencer campaign. Remember that you don’t have to choose the person with the biggest following in order for your campaign to be a success, choose someone who fits in with your niche, your target audience and your company’s core values.

Do you have any tips on how to run a successful influencer marketing campaign? Drop them in the comments below.

About The Author

Rachel Smith is a communication executive who works with the content marketing team at Affable, an influencer marketing company that provides AI-driven solutions that allows you to plan and execute your influencer campaigns strategically. She develops content around social media and marketing topics that can help her readers understand how to pick the right influencers, measure their impact, and run effective influencer campaigns. In her free time, she loves meeting new people and attending workshops on communication and psychology.

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