How to Find Social Media Influencers

Social media influencers like the Kardashians, Justin Bieber, and Addison Rae have all shaped the way social media is utilized today. How, might you ask? Through their reputation, authority, and knowledge. Their every move is being accounted for by social media users. Good or bad, it is inevitable. In simple terms, social media is a series of websites and applications that support sharing a montage of photos, videos, and even news articles. The opportunities are endless. These applications consist of users that share relationships among commonalities and allow them to interact with each other. In this article, we are going to discuss what influencer marketing is, the different types of social media influencers, influencer marketing tools, and all there is to know about the who and the what of local influencers. We can help you find social media influencers for your influencer marketing campaigns.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is when brands rely on reputable social media influencers to spark interest about your brand’s message and ultimately drive more sales as a result. We are all familiar with companies partnering with celebrities. Influencer marketing is not just utilized on social media but other platforms as well. One of the most noted is Proactiv. Throughout the years, Proactiv has used a variety of different celebrities to help support and promote their brand. One of the influencers they used was Justin Bieber. In Proactiv’s campaign, they made TV commercials using Justin Bieber as testimony to their immaculate formula. These days, a social media influencer might not have been a celebrity in another industry. Influencer marketing has become more widespread over the years, specifically on social media. But how can you go about finding relevant influencers for your brand?

Different Types of Influencers

Influencers come in a variety of types. The type is chosen based on a number of factors including the brand, the product, the specific marketing plan, etc. Essentially, whatever aligns with the company’s wanted outcome is what is chosen. The five main types are: celebrities, social media influencers, macro-influencers, micro-influencers, and nano-influencers. The key is choosing relevant influencers for your own influencer marketing campaign.

Celebrities

Within influencer marketing, celebrities are the most commonly known and recognized by people. Celebrities are employed because of their extremely large audience. While it has the ability to be very effective, it is also very costly for companies to use. It is also hard to track whether or not your target market is being reached. As mentioned earlier, celebrities are paid to use the product on TV, billboards, and social media. Social media has emerged as the main medium for celebrity endorsements.

Often, celebrities promote a brand on their social media and include photos of them utilizing the product. Celebrities are also known for subtly mentioning the brand within their content to create subconscious awareness for viewers. Instagram influencers are often celebrities. And more recently, celebrities from a famous platform called TikTok have been involved in a celebrity endorsement. Most followed TikToker, Charli D’amelio, has her own line with cosmetics company, Morphe. She has been recognized for her advanced dance abilities and is the sweetheart of TikTok. Morphe benefits from the deal because it increases their credibility as a company and helps reach her pre-teen fan base.

Social Stars

The stars of social media share similar characteristics to celebrities, but they have defining characteristics that differentiate them. Social stars also possess millions of followers with the exception of not being as publicly known or recognized. They accept deals and get paid by companies to also increase brand awareness and reach a large variety of people. They also pose issues with the inability to know what specific type of market is viewing the endorsement.

Maco-Influencers

In Influencer marketing, macro-influencers have an impressive following of about 50,000 followers. They are geared towards specific communities like cooking, health and fitness, beauty, etc. Macro-influencers are experts in specific industries and most of their followers rely on their knowledge regarding certain topics.

Micro-Influencers

As the funnel continues to dwindle down, micro-influencers hold a smaller following of between 20,000 and 400,000 followers throughout their social networks. Micro-influencers cater to a specific industry, but what separates them from macro-influencers is that they are much more engaged with their audience. They are known for responding to comments, creating designated posts, and their willingness to get involved with those who look up to them which helps them gain more success on social media. Micro-influencers include new YouTubers that are trying to achieve a higher platform.

Nano-Influencers

Nano-influencers are relatively new when we talk about social media influencers. These kinds of influencers are regular employees that work for a company that use their personal accounts to promote the brand and products within the brand. An example would be someone who works for Ulta posting about specific products that Ulta carries and persuading friends and family to go out and purchase them. This is a great way to build credibility because it does not appear as biased or corny as it might when famous influencers do.

The Importance of Influencer Marketing

How many times have you come across an ad on a website, such as a banner ad, a video ad, or anything of that nature and felt annoyed? This is a huge problem company’s face when trying to advertise. Users often get frustrated and experience was is referred to as ad fatigue. Ad fatigue occurs when a consumer is continuously exposed to the same ad and ignores it as time progresses out of disinterest and redundancy. This is why social media influencers are valued by businesses. They are a beneficial digital marketing tactic.

Creating advertisements that are more subtle, appeal to viewers and are more likely to capture and retain their attention. Influencer marketing has the power to create an ongoing conversation with customers and just feels less pushy. Customers feel more inclined to purchase items that are advertised by influencers because they feel like they took initiative instead of having the ad thrown in their face with no escape. The marketing appears more authentic and makes viewers gravitate towards it. Influencers are able to attract new customers, support repeat purchases, drive customer loyalty, and more.

Local Influencers

You are probably thinking what on earth is a local influencer and how does it relate to social media influencers? Local influencers are exactly what they sound like. They are influencers who reside in the same geographical area as your business. Local influencers are deemed one of the best marketing tools to use. If you are considering taking advantage of social media influencers, local influencers are a great starting point. Finding them is relatively easy. All you have to do is follow these three steps: increase your social media presence, use local hashtags, and consider using what is referred to as an influencer marketing agency.

Increase Your Social Media Presence

It is vital to ensure your customers are able to find your social media pages. It is especially important to choose a social media platform that aligns with your customer’s demographic. For example, younger customers use social media sites like Instagram and Snapchat. So if you are trying to target this age group, Using Facebook would provide little to no value. It can be effective to join as many social media sites as possible to obtain a higher reach and even increase your Google ranking. The more access to your brand, the better.

Use Local Hashtags

Specialize your hashtags to the area you operate in. That way when someone in your region looks up a hashtag they are more likely to come across your brand. Instead of creating a broad hashtag that can be viewed by anyone in the world, targeting individuals near you can help drive traffic and allow you to target individuals that have the ability to visit your business. There is no point in exposing your business through a hashtag that is seen in areas in which you do not operate. These people more than likely do not have the ability to use your products/services as they are not convenient to them

Influencer Marketing Tools

There are other ways of finding social media influencers. There are many influencer marketing tools available online. You can use these influencer marketing platforms to find influencers who share your target audience demographics.

Influencer Marketing Agency

If an influencer marketing tool doesn’t work, hiring the expertise of an agency that specializes in understanding the importance of social media influencers can be extremely helpful. Many companies, including SEO Design Chicago, offer services that increase your social media presence on applications like Instagram and more. If you have minimal knowledge, or just need that extra boost, we highly encourage taking advantage of our services! For example, just one of our many services we offer is Instagram advertising.

Finding Social Media Influencers For Your Business

Social media influencers are a great option to consider when trying to increase revenue, brand awareness, and more. What started out to be billboards and TV commercials, has exploded into a platform that millions and millions of people use regularly. There are a variety of ways to implement social media influencers and it is important to use it in a way that emphasizes your brand and what you stand for. As social media continues to become a favorable option to connect users, advertising via these platforms will also continue to grow and shape business as we know and love it. Whether you are searching for Instagram influencers or niche influencers, SEO Design Chicago can help you with finding influencers and creating an influencer marketing strategy.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What’s the difference between micro-influencers and macro-influencers, and which should I choose?

Micro-influencers have 20,000-400,000 followers and typically offer higher engagement rates, more authentic connections with their audience, and lower costs. Macro-influencers have 50,000+ followers (often much more) and provide broader reach but may have lower engagement rates and higher costs. Choose micro-influencers for niche markets, higher engagement, and budget-friendly campaigns. Choose macro-influencers when you need massive reach and brand awareness. Many successful campaigns use a mix of both types to balance reach and engagement while optimizing budget allocation.

2. How much should I budget for influencer marketing campaigns?

Influencer costs vary widely based on follower count and platform. Nano-influencers (1K-10K followers) might charge $10-100 per post, micro-influencers typically charge $100-1,000, macro-influencers range from $1,000-10,000, and celebrities can charge $10,000-1 million+ per post. A general rule is $100 per 10,000 followers for Instagram posts. Factor in additional costs for Instagram Stories (typically 50-70% of post rates), video content (usually 20-50% more), and campaign management. Start with 10-20% of your total marketing budget for influencer campaigns and adjust based on performance.

3. How do I verify that an influencer’s followers are real and not fake?

Check for authentic engagement by looking at comment quality, engagement rates (2-5% is typically good), and follower growth patterns. Use tools like Social Blade to analyze follower growth for sudden spikes that might indicate purchased followers. Examine comments for generic responses like “nice pic” or emoji-only comments. Look for consistent engagement across posts and verify that followers have complete profiles with their own content. Authentic influencers have followers who genuinely interact with their content and post meaningful comments relevant to the content shared.

4. What platforms work best for influencer marketing in different industries?

Instagram works well for beauty, fashion, food, and lifestyle brands due to its visual nature. TikTok excels for reaching Gen Z audiences and works great for entertainment, music, and viral challenges. YouTube is ideal for in-depth product reviews, tutorials, and tech products. LinkedIn works best for B2B companies and professional services. Twitter is effective for news, politics, and real-time engagement. Choose platforms based on where your target audience spends time and which format best showcases your product or service.

5. How do I approach influencers for partnerships without seeming spammy?

Research the influencer thoroughly and personalize your outreach by mentioning specific content you enjoyed. Start with a genuine compliment about their work, then clearly explain your brand and why you think they’d be a good fit. Be transparent about compensation and expectations upfront. Keep initial messages concise and professional, and follow their preferred contact method (email vs. DM). Offer value beyond just payment, such as exclusive products, experiences, or long-term partnership opportunities. Always respect their response time and don’t follow up aggressively.

6. What legal considerations should I be aware of when working with influencers?

Require clear disclosure of sponsored content using #ad, #sponsored, or #partnership hashtags according to FTC guidelines. Create contracts that specify deliverables, timelines, usage rights, and exclusivity clauses. Include content approval processes and guidelines for brand representation. Establish ownership rights for content created and whether you can repurpose it. Include termination clauses and what happens to content if the partnership ends. Consider liability issues and ensure influencers understand they can’t make false claims about your products. Always consult with legal counsel for significant partnerships or ongoing relationships.

7. How do I measure the success of my influencer marketing campaigns?

Track multiple metrics including reach and impressions for brand awareness, engagement rates (likes, comments, shares, saves), click-through rates to your website, and conversion rates using unique promo codes or tracking links. Monitor brand mention sentiment and hashtag performance. Use Google Analytics to track traffic sources and social media referrals. Calculate return on investment by comparing campaign costs to attributed sales or leads. Long-term metrics include follower growth, brand awareness surveys, and customer lifetime value from influencer-acquired customers. Set clear KPIs before launching campaigns to measure success effectively.