Instagram Influencer Marketing 101: How to Find the Best Influencer for your Business

By Natalie Just

Whether you are a small business in an up and coming neighborhood or a Fortune 500 company, you can benefit from influencer marketing. Influencers have a very strongly connected audience and getting your products in front of thousands of people through them can be super beneficial. But where do you start looking for an influencer and how do you know who is the right match for your brand? I’m going to give you a step by step breakdown on how to find and create profitable partnerships with influencers who best suit your business. 

Step #1 Define Your Partnership

Figure out what you want to come out from this partnership. If you are going to pitch a collaboration to an influencer, you need to come prepared with exactly what you want to offer them and be ready to negotiate based off their terms. Put together a creative brief with price points and an explanation of the terms, conditions, and collaboration details. It is also important to decide on a budget for the collaboration. Have a marketing plan in place and be sure to know as much as possible about the influencer you want to work with.

Step #2 Research Your Influencer

This leads into the next important step in this process, research your influencer. If you are a small business looking to grow locally, find a creator near you who could be a good candidate to get the word out. One way you can do this is by searching, for example, #pittsburghblogger on Instagram and seeing whose content comes up. Research how many followers they have and see how well their content performs. If you are a large, nation-wide company, search for hashtags relative to your brand. For example, if you are a beauty brand, search for #beautyblogger or #beautyinfluencer.  

Step #3 Reach Out and Prepare to Negotiate

Once you have found an influencer that you feel like aligns with your brand well, send them an email! Send them your pitch that gives a little bit of information regarding your brand and the campaign and attach any documents that might be necessary. I would not expect them to get back to you and say yes with no questions asked, so be ready to answer their questions or concerns and to negotiate with their rates. Note that an influencer negotiating with you does not mean they don’t want to work with you, this just means they know they can provide you quality work and they know what they deserved to be paid. My best advice is to listen to their requests, be prepared to answer questions and communicate exactly what you want to come out of this collaboration. 

Introductory Email Example

Taking these three steps will help you find an influencer that aligns well with your brand’s identity and will assist in creating a mutually beneficial partnership. The last tip I will leave you with is don’t forget to ask for permission to re-post or use any of the influencer’s content on your social platforms! Odds are they will be more than happy to let you use their content. Just be sure to ask and you will be on your way to a successful #influencer collaboration!