5 Easy Ways to Find Micro-Influencers

Table of Contents

• Benefits of Working with Micro-Influencers
• How to Find Micro-Influencers: 5 Methods to Try
• Find Micro-Influencers with Confidence

While big businesses are busy pursuing macro-influencers and celebrities, you could be collaborating with another type of influencer who is not as expensive, yet has a stronger influence on their followers. They’re called micro-influencers, but don’t let the name fool you — what they lack in audience size, they more than make up for in engagement.

Micro-influencers are individuals who have a smaller following than top-tier social media influencers but are considered experts in a specific niche. They’re trusted by their audiences as a sound source of information. This can help brands get in front of a highly engaged audience that needs very little convincing to support your brand.

If you are considering working with potential micro-influencers, you will need to know a few things about how to find them in the first place. Let’s dive into five methods on how to find micro-influencers.

Benefits of Working with Micro-Influencers

Pursuing big fish can mean a big payout. But there are advantages to pursuing smaller fish, too. 

For starters, micro-influencers have a smaller follower base. Fewer connections allow them to get to know their audience on a more personal level. As a rule, the right micro-influencers tend to be more connected to their own followers.

Micro-influencers have also been found to have a higher engagement with their followers and a greater influence on them. They tend to be more niche compared to larger influencer followings, meaning their audience is likely to be relevant to your brand and interested in what the influencer talks about.

Big-data research found that micro-influencers show the best ROI for brand partnerships. This is great news for companies who want to leverage the power of influencer campaigns but don’t have the budget to collaborate with celebrities!

Working with micro-influencers is more cost effective as they charge far less per post than macro-influencers. You may be able to work with more micro-influencers at one time for the same cost (or less) than you’d spend on just one macro-influencer partnership. In this case, MORE can be MORE!

You can find micro-influencer marketing across nearly every channel: TikTok influencers, Instagram influencers, influencers for small business, influencers for e-commerce, and even influencers to promote in-person events. No matter your influencer marketing goals, there’s a micro-influencer ready to create user-generated content to help your brand flourish.

Last but not least, working with micro-influencers can help you build brand credibility and trust. You are the company you keep, and this works both ways. When a trusted influencer promotes your brand’s events, products, services, or other programs, you’ll appear credible in the eyes of their audience. This is a great way to connect with new customers who might be on the fence and just need to get to know you a little better.

How to Find Micro-Influencers: 5 Methods to Try

The first step in choosing to work with micro-influencers is to know where to find them. Typically, a micro-influencer will have anywhere from 1,000 to 100,000 followers (although it’s arguable that followings between 1,000-10,000 users are considered nano-influencers). 

Regardless of size, try these five methods to learn how to find micro-influencers that will help you grow your brand by leaps and bounds.

1. Look Among Your Fans

You might come across a micro-influencer on your list of social media followers. Such influencers could already be interested in your business and would be more than willing to help promote your brand. It might be a bit more difficult to convince a micro-influencer who doesn’t have the slightest idea about your business.

Start by checking out the fans who engage the most. On Facebook, they may have earned a Top Fan badge. Or you might notice the same people commenting on or liking your posts each week. It’s clear they already enjoy your content, so use that as a way to grow your connection. 

From there, you can scope out their audience. See how many followers they have. Look at the type of content they post. See which other social media channels they’re active on. 

Most importantly, look at how their audience engages with their content. Are they getting lots of likes, shares, and comments? Do the engagement rates match up with their follower count? 

As you discover potential influencers, make a list so you can dig deeper into each one across all their social networks. This is a largely manual process, so plan on spending some time with this method of how to find micro-influencers.

2. Leverage Hashtag Research

Influencers make heavy use of hashtags to help them grow their followings and highlight the topics they talk about. You can make use of hashtag research to find micro-influencers who are already interested in the kind of products or services that you offer. 

To do a hashtag search, simply type in a hashtag in the search bar on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook. See what posts pop up in the top results and who the top profiles are for those hashtags. 

Click on those profiles and check their audience sizes and engagement metrics. If you think they might be a good fit, check their profile to see if they have a website where you can learn more about them. They might also list an email address so you can connect with them outside of the DMs.

Something to keep in mind when using a hashtag is that the hashtag should be specific, not generic. You can choose brand-related hashtags, product-focused hashtags, or other terms that will help you narrow the results. For example, instead of searching for #foodies, you might search for a specific type of food, such as #falafel or #vegancheese. This will put you in closer contact with micro-influencers who share those interests rather than general food lovers.

3. Connect with Local Bloggers

If you own a business that operates in a specific geographical area, local bloggers can help you get the attention you need. Such micro-influencers have a good number of followers in the local area which can be of benefit to you.

One way to find local blogs is to do a Google search for area-based articles. For instance, if you live in Savannah, GA, you might search for articles on local historic landmarks, restaurants, and other points of interest. See what types of publications come up. You can also search directly for “bloggers in [your city/county]”. 

From there, you can use the blog’s contact information to get in touch with the blogger. Many websites and blogs will also have links to their social media profiles. You can see which channels they’re active on and check their follower count. 

Also, free tools like UberSuggest can give you insights into how much traffic the blog gets each month, how many people have backlinked to the blog, the keywords the blog is ranking for, and other data. Knowing all of these details can help you decide which bloggers have the greatest influence over local readers. 

It also gives you a glimpse of the type of content they create. Bloggers not only write articles, but also maintain an active social presence. You may be able to collaborate on different types of content for the blog and social media platforms, depending on your goals. For reference, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest are favorites for bloggers.

4. Use Influencer Discovery Tools

Influencer research tools, like Klear, Ninja Outreach, or BuzzSumo, deliver accurate and fast results, which leaves you with more time to concentrate on other aspects of marketing. Such tools are useful since manually looking up the profiles of micro-influencers can be time consuming.

For example, Klear allows you to search for influencers based on audience size, niche, topics, location, and other filters. You can find influencers who fit your micro-influencer requirements, but you can also look beyond surface-level metrics to find the best fit. Learn more about the influencer’s values and how they align with your own. Discover more about their audience, such as genders, ages, income levels, and more, to see whether their followers will be interested in what you offer.

Not only do influencer discovery tools target influencers based on your criteria, but they also allow you to connect directly with them. No more wasting time looking up email addresses and websites. You can send messages directly through Klear and make an introduction. As an added bonus, Klear also manages the other phases of influencer marketing, from collaborating on content to tracking conversions and KPIs.

5. Do a Google Search

Whenever there is anything that we need to find out about, we “Google it.” Using Google’s search engine to find the most relevant micro-influencers for your business generally yields successful results.

It’s pretty simple: Just type in “micro-influencers in [niche]” and see who comes up. You might find listicle-style articles from bloggers who have done some of the hard work for you. Or you might find direct links to social media profiles.

However, keep in mind that even Google doesn’t know it all. You will still need to vet your shortlist of influencers, even if they did get the top Google search results. Some influencers will build an army of fake followers to look like an influencer on the surface, but they will lack the engagement that you need to drive your influencer marketing campaigns forward.

Find Micro-Influencers with Confidence

Once you have found the most suitable micro-influencer for your business, start designing a campaign. It’s clear that working with the right influencers can give your brand real exposure. It’s a cost-effective way to boost engagement and get your brand noticed by people who are most likely to be interested.

Follow this micro-influencers guide gifographic to learn more about working with micro-influencers, then reach out to Klear to see how you can streamline how to find micro-influencers!