How Do I Find Authentic Influencers?

Many social media accounts claim to be “star” online influencers these days. The hard part for marketers looking for influencer partners is determining which accounts are authentic or fake. Sometimes, distinguishing between the two can be more challenging than it sounds. And if you partner with a fake influencer, you’ll waste precious time and resources that you could have spent forging a real, productive relationship with influencer partners.

So, how do you find authentic influencers for your brand and make great partners? Let’s explore the best place to find influencer partners who can help promote your brand’s products or services. 

How Do I Find Real Influencers?

You have a few options for finding real, authentic influencers for your brand. 

One route is doing a manual search on the social media platform of your choice. This option is likely the most time-consuming and tedious, but it can yield excellent results. Just have patience and don’t consider the search a one-time thing. Always be on the lookout while scrolling social media for potential influencer partners for your brand. 

Another option is using an influencer search tool or influencer marketing platform. These tools help connect you with top influencers according to the qualities you want in your influencer partners. Many of the tools will screen influencers to ensure they’re authentic. That way, you don’t have to worry about accidentally partnering with fake influencers. 

How Do I Find Authentic Influencers On Instagram?

Finding authentic influencers on Instagram is no different than on any other social media platform. You can conduct a manual search and use your best judgment to determine whether accounts are genuine influencers. 

Alternatively, you can use an influencer marketing platform that will connect you directly with authentic, suitable influencers for your brand. Using an influencer marketing platform is much less time-intensive and may offer better results since the experts behind the platform select a top group of influencers. 

How Do I Find Authentic Influencers For Free?

Discovering authentic influencers for free is possible; it will just require a larger time investment than other methods. You can manually search social media platforms for free, for example. Another option is to use an influencer search tool for free that you find online. Remember that free online tools may not offer the same comprehensive, tailored results you would get from using a paid tool or platform. 

Is There A Free Tool To Find Influencers?

You can find many different free tools that help you discover influencers. Generally, these tools are lists of influencers or search tools that narrow down the lists based on your preferred qualities. 

If, for example, you want to partner with Instagram influencers in the fitness niche, you can input those details into the search tool. The tool should then return a list of influencers who have those qualities so you can find some people your brand can partner with. 

The issue with using a free influencer search tool is that these tools often have limitations. You may not be able to see the full list of results or make many searches with free tools. The best influencer search tools offer much more comprehensive features and don’t have such limiting rules. It may be worth investing in these paid tools to save time and give your influencer marketing campaign the best possible chance of success. 

How Do I Manually Search Influencers?

Manually searching social media is an underrated way to find top influencer partners. Search hashtags, keywords, or phrases related to your brand’s niche in the platform’s built-in search function. Scroll through the top results, looking for promising influencer accounts. Once you find some accounts that look like influencers you might want to work with, you must ensure they’re authentic—not bots or other fake accounts. 

Check the list of followers for each influencer and the accounts they are following. If you see a lot of accounts with no profile pictures or just strings of numbers as user names, that’s a cause for concern. You may be looking at a fake influencer who purchases followers or otherwise manipulates their account to appear more influential than it is. 

How Do I Find Influencers Information?

If you find an influencer for your brand, the next step is reaching out and proposing a partnership. To do so, you’ll need to find their contact information. 

Some influencers allow you to message them directly on social media, which is a fine option. Others will list their business email or phone number somewhere on their account, typically in the account bio. Use this contact information to get in touch and hopefully launch a productive brand-influencer partnership. 

Connect with Only Authentic Influencers Through Lionize

Lionize, a top influencer marketing platform, connects companies with authentic, vetted influencers who would make great partners for their brands. Through a combination of experienced human expertise and AI power, Lionize makes the influencer marketing process a breeze. Get started with the platform today.