The use of influencers in online advertising has proven to be a beneficial marketing strategy for businesses that seek to expand their audiences.
The use of celebrity influencers has been prevalent for a while. Still, the rise of social media has given a broader definition to the understanding of who meets the criteria of an influencer.
There are tools your business can use to find the right influencers for you, but first, it's important to understand what traits make an influencer.
Understanding What Makes an Influencer
An influencer is a person who has a sizable following on a blog or social media site. Usually, their followers follow the influencer across platforms, such as YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
The influencer's audience follows them because the influencer has an engaging personality and offers something of value.
They can keep their audience interested in what they are doing, thinking or saying. For the marketer, they also can influence the buying decisions of their audience.
Just because someone has a large, actionable audience does not mean they are the right influencer for your company.
Influencers are usually an expert in a specific area or industry. A personal beauty influencer would not be the right choice for a company looking to promote fishing gear.
This is because beauty products and fishing gear have a different target audience. After you have identified your target audience, finding the right influencers becomes a little easier.
There are several tools your business can use to find the right influencers for its marketing goals. Each one comes with different capabilities.
Most of the tools come with a free trial, so you can test drive them and see which one works best for best your goals. Here are seven of the best tools to find relevant influencers for your business.
1. Post for Rent
It's an odd concept to think that the ability to influence people could be a career, but this becomes apparent at the site Post for Rent.
Here, influencers can locate companies looking for influencers, and companies can see ratings other businesses have given influencers before deciding to utilize their services.
2. Tweetdeck
Tweetdeck is a tool that keeps track of your twitter posts. But you can also use it to research trending industry topics.
You can search for specific hashtags and see how many retweets a particular post has received. A twitter user who regularly receives many retweets is likely an influencer.
3. Awario
Awario is a useful tool that allows you to track brand mentions or any specific string of keywords.
For your convenience, the influencers are ranked according to their following and number of daily visitors.
4. Upfluence
Upfluence isn't cheap at a subscription rate of $795 per month, but the information it provides could be invaluable.
This tool analyzes the habits and engagement ability of influencers and includes information on which subjects are of the most interest to the influencer. Also included is the influencer's asking rate for different social media sites.
5. BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo is an excellent tool for locating trending industry topics. Once you find popular content relevant to your industry, you'll also find the influencers creating the content.
6. BuzzStream
BuzzStream is an excellent research tool for finding influencers. When you come across a blog that interests you, BuzzStream's browser plugin can provide you with information about the blog author.
It can tell you about their social media engagement as well. You can also search for influencers by topics relevant to your industry. You can save the ones you are interested in a prospect list.
7. Ninja Outreach
Like BuzzStream in its research capabilities, Ninja Outreach is a great tool for researching social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram. Simply type in a keyword, and you'll have thousands of leads in a matter of seconds.
The relationship between influencers and businesses is one that will continue to evolve. For now, each provides something for the other.
It's a relationship that has proven to work well for both parties. Influencers are already proven marketers, so allowing them to market your business can prove to be a good return on your investment.
Are you an influencer looking for companies to represent? Register for a free account at ValuedVoice. We are the go-to platform for influencers that want to receive Paid Opportunities.
