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3 minute read
In a modern-day marketing landscape where over half of all marketers use several influencers to help promote their brand, you might be forgiven for choosing the first person with a healthy Instagram following for the job.
These days, however, it is important to select the right influencer and with so many forging a career from this role, there really is no excuse not to. You can use a number of methods to find the right influencers, whether through trawling social media, using online tools or even by hiring an influencer marketing agency to do it for you.
Influencers have a unique asset and that is that they act as a bridge between brand and consumer, a trusted friend of both who can drive conversions through the roof with the right tools for the task.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the best ways to find the right influencers to achieve your marketing goals…
How to Find the Right Influencers for Your Marketing Goals
Audience Awareness
This is the first point on our list because it is, quite simply, the most important. If you don’t accurately pinpoint who your audience is before reaching out to an influencer then, no matter how large and loyal their following, your genius marketing scheme simply won’t get off the ground.
The key here is to be as specific as possible. Let’s suppose, for example, that you are marketing for a new vegan fitness bar. You reach out to some of the most popular exercises and nutrition influencers out there and two of them get back to you.
Now, the first influencer has more than 100,000 followers and an incredible physique to boot, whereas the second has just 20,000 followers and isn’t quite as impressively shredded. So understandably, you decide to go with the first influencer to promote your 100% plant-based power bar.
What you failed to recognise, is that the first influencer runs a platform that’s geared toward a carnivorous diet, meaning their followers will be highly unlikely to purchase a vegan product. The second influencer, with just 20,000 followers, is a highly-trusted vegan fitness expert with an ability to engage their army of fans in a way that might just have boosted your conversions tenfold.
This is the key point of any brand-influencer partnership. In order to achieve success, you must know your target audience, and that goes for both your brand and the influences you’re targeting.
The Power of Hashtags
Finding the right influencers for your marketing campaign can be as simple as shooting over a direct message on Instagram. Sounds easy, right? Except how does one find the right profile in the first place? The answer is gloriously simple: hashtags.
By searching through the relevant hashtags, you will encounter hundreds if not thousands of influencers who might just be perfect for your campaign. Head over to their profile to check out their niche, reach and voice before sending a message to discuss any potential collaboration.
Google Yourself
Head over to Google Alerts and search for your brand name to check the latest mentions you’ve gotten across the internet. If you’re just starting out, search for keywords related to your brand or product.
Once you’ve done this, you should encounter all manner of bloggers and profiles who would make ideal influencers to team up with and take the world by storm.
Use Social Search and Analytics Tools
Programmes such as Topsy and others cut out the hassle of going through thousands of blogs and profiles to find the perfect influencer for helping with your campaign.
By scouring the web for the perfect keywords and content for your needs, much of the inconvenient work is taken out of what can be an arduous process.
Head over to LinkedIn
This might seem somewhat old fashioned what with so many new ways of finding influencers through special tools and programmes, but the truth is that many top influencers use Linkedin just as much as those in the corporate world.
If you search for influencers on Linkedin and add the keywords relating to your field, you should come across a plethora of worthy candidates for being the face of your next ad campaign.
More and more businesses are choosing to use influencers. If you can find the right influencers for your marketing goals, they can be a great asset to your wider sales and marketing strategy.
This article was contributed by Billion Dollar Boy, an influencer marketing agency based in London and New York.
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