Part One: What Are Key Influencers and How Do I Find Them?
Because key influencer collaboration can be so beneficial to building your brand and expanding your own influence and reach, it’s important that you understand what influencers are and how you can find them. In this post I’m going to explain both of these things.
Um, What Exactly is an Influencer?
There’s a lot of confusion as to what an influencer does and who they are. Most people probably think of someone like Kim Kardashian or Reese Witherspoon when they picture an influencer. Maybe you think influencers are basically just salespeople or product reps. But there’s much more to it than that.
Influencers are also thought leaders and industry experts, writers, CEO’s, business owners, podcast hosts, and organizations, for example. Stephen King is an influencer. Bill Gates is an influencer. But anyone from top local bloggers, to leading industry experts can be influencers. Basically, anyone who creates content, has a recognized online presence and trusted brand or a certain level of expertise can be an influencer. Your key influencers are those influencers in your niche, the people who influence the decisions of your target audience.
So How Do I Find My Key Influencers?
Maybe you’re asking why influencers matter to you as an author, speaker, or entrepreneur? Well, because you can learn a lot from the influencers in your industry, niche, or area of expertise— like how they got to where they are—by following them and observing the content they share. And how they go about it. You can and should engage with them! These are your key influencers. You can also collaborate with them to build your own brand and influence. But first you have to identify them.
Your key influencers are online! You find and identify your influencers by doing your research. Not every influencer is on the macro level, and those celebrities aren’t who you’ll be collaborating with in the future most likely. You’ll be looking for micro influencers and professionals. Below are some ways you can find them.
Search engines are a good first step
Use search terms like: Top Influencers in,*Insert your field here*. Read through the results and find the relevant ones.Then follow them on social media! Google top bloggers in your niche. Get specific and even search locally if you want. Sign up for their newsletters or subscribe to their blog feeds. You’ll likely find links to follow them on social media on their blogs too. So, do that! Plus, you can also search for known influencers on Google and check to see who else Google recommends. Search for authors on Amazon and then see what other books Amazon recommends and who reviewed those authors.
Influencers are everywhere. You just need to pay attention and track your data! Be careful, you can easily find yourself falling down a rabbit hole in no time. I recommend that you set a time-limit when conducting research, and remember to stay focused on your search goals.
Glean information from who your followers are following
Look through your current follower’s social media pages, or those you already follow, and see who they follow. For instance, on Facebook, you know how you can see which pages are liked by the pages you follow? Well, pay attention to those. Look into the ones that may be in your niche and follow them too.
Also, check in on who else your followers are following. If it fits for you, follow them as well.
Search hashtags and use advanced search tools
If you use Twitter or Instagram, search a phrase or topic that relates to your niche. On Twitter you can explore hashtags or just do a general search. You can explore relevant accounts, look at who’s talking about your topic, and follow the relevant topics and/or influencers.
The thing is, if you find out these influencers aren’t helpful or as relevant to you later, you can simply unfollow them. But the ones that are, you’ll want to engage with by liking/sharing/retweeting or commenting on their posts to start.
Use advanced search tools on social media
Using advanced search tools to find your key influencers can be so helpful. This is especially true if you have a very small niche. It also tends to filter out the information that is less relevant. I won’t make you read through step by steps, but I provided links below.
- Here’s a step by step on how to use Advanced Search on Twitter
- And one for LinkedIn
- And finally, Facebook
Some Final Things to Consider
- More followers doesn’t necessarily mean more influence. What really matters is engagement. So, if you see a lot of likes and comments, that’s a good sign!
- Macro influencers help you find your potential followers. So find those big time influencers and see who their followers are, and what else they and their followers are following.
- In general, once you’ve found your key influencers and you’re following your relevant topics, stay engaged! That’s why you’re following them after all. You want to see what the conversation’s about. Like, comment, and share! This will all set you up for the next step—reaching out and discovering influencer collaboration opportunities!
So do your research on your key influencers. Follow relevant accounts and topics. Subscribe to blogs and newsletters of those key influencers. And once that’s all done you can engage!
If you take the time to do this now, it will pay off in the long run. You’ll be more knowledgeable about which way the wind blows, what kind of content gets high engagement, and set the stage for growing your own influence—which I’ll be telling you about next week.
