With influencer marketing predicted to grow 23.4% in 2023, experienced marketers are invested in the technique. If you’re new to social media influencer marketing or hoping to beef up your 2023 campaigns with new partnerships, check out these influencer recruiting tips.
By partnering with influencers for six-month or year-long campaigns, companies can ditch the one-and-done posts and develop stories through enhanced content, ongoing consumer feedback, and repeat exposure to the brand, product or service.
Before you search for influencers
Long before you start your search for content creators, you need to establish a few parameters for the campaigns, including:
- Budget
- Target audience
- Preferred content format
- Preferred social media channels
- Any preferred or necessary influencer traits
- KPIs
Keep in mind that while some of these parameters, such as budget and target audience, may be set in stone, others may offer some room for flexibility.
How to find influencers
As you begin your search for one or more social media influencers, focus on relevance (niche/industry), reach (target audience), and resonance (engagement). If you can successfully partner with an influencer who matches your brand’s needs in these three areas, your chances of creating a successful campaign are better.
You can find potential social media influencers in several ways, but here are four of the most common:
1. Recruit existing brand advocates
Who better to promote your brand than satisfied customers? Check your company’s social media followers for fans who already know and like your products or services. A quick search of your social media pages can likely help you determine if any of these customers are also content creators with a connection to potential customers.
It’s worth noting that not everyone who likes your brand will be a follower on social media. Tools like social listening — which often come as part of a package with influencer marketing platform services — may be able to help you find brand promoters across the web.
2. Search for industry-specific hashtags
Where do your potential customers spend most of their time online? Head to that social media platform and search for relevant hashtags to find out which content creators are engaged in your industry. As you come across posts, take some time to review the user’s content, engagement, bio, and any experience serving as an influencer for brands.
3. Create a landing page for potential partners
Consider developing a landing page on your website to recruit content creators looking to partner on influencer marketing campaigns. The page should include your company or brand’s mission, why you’ve created an influencer program, social proof of other influencer campaigns you’re doing or have completed, and a call to action.
Although you can also touch on what influencers will receive from your brand partnership — payment per post, free samples, promo codes, reimbursement for expenses, affiliate commissions — there’s no need to spell out the payment details on this page.
4. Use an influencer marketing platform
The fastest way to funnel your influencers is by using an influencer marketing platform. If you’re a startup with a limited budget, a free database might be all you need to find your flagship content creator. But for companies looking to truly excel in influencer marketing, it’s worth investing in a more advanced influencer marketing platform.
The paid versions feature a full suite of tools beyond just a clearinghouse of influencers. IZEA Flex, for example, offers detailed influencer searches by channels, location, industry, niche, gender, followers, engagement, and more, as well as comprehensive tools for content mining, social listening, campaign metrics, and integrations into Google Analytics and other services. You can try Flex for free first, too.
You can also head to The Creator Marketplace® to create Casting Calls, where interested influencers can respond to your call for specific creators.
5. Contacting influencers and negotiating
Once you’ve narrowed down your search for potential campaign partners, it’s time to reach out to one or more with a pitch. Craft a clear but catchy subject line, and use a branded email address to lend credibility to your pitch. Although a template can be helpful, your email must be personal and specific.
Start by offering an authentic compliment on their content, citing specific videos or posts when relevant, and then mention why you think they’re a match to represent your brand. Feel free to mention other creators your brand has collaborated with, even if they’re nano-influencers.
Although you should have a basic contract ready, your initial discussions should be used to see if the influencer is interested based on your offering in terms of payment, timeline, rights, etc.
If you’re worried that your initial email went to spam or got buried in the influencer’s inbox, feel free to send them a direct message through social media or via the marketplace, mentioning that you’ve reached out via email. If they still don’t respond, move on to the next content creator on your list.
Use these influencer recruiting tips to find your next content creator. With any luck, your partnership will be profitable for both parties, and your brand will have a talented promoter for future campaigns.
