Finding the right influencers for your brand

- Head over to Twitter and find the right celebrity with the biggest following and you've found yourself the perfect influencer, right? Well there is a little more to it than just that. There is more than one type of influencer and you want to ensure you're aligning your business with the right influencers for your brand. To make it easier for you, I've grouped influencer types into two categories. Okay, the first category includes celebrities and mega influencers. They are big power players with 500,000 followers to a million plus followers.

These celebrities like musicians and actors haven't always grown their social following, and don't have a close relationship with their followers. It's kind of hard to be friends with a million plus people. So they provide a different type of influence. Okay, the second category which is one I really want you to look out for is the macro and micro influencer markets. Micro and macro influencers are moms, dads, thought leaders, employees, and entrepreneurs with very niche personal brands.

These influencers are consistently curating content and giving value to their audience. Micro influencers have a follower range between 500 to 10,000 followers. And don't let the term micro fool you. Macro influencers have a bit of a larger follower count, around 50,000 to 100,000 followers. Even with a smaller number of followers compared to celebrities, micro and macro influencers are known to generate higher engagement.

Because of their smaller following, they have developed real and more intimate relations with their followers and brand loyalists. Their smaller audience makes it easier for the influencer to track audience behavior and interest which in turn tells them what content and messaging is going to resonate best with their followers. And of course they're going to be more accessible, more cost effective, and more peer to peer relatable than those big celebrities. So with so many types of influencers to choose from, here are some steps you can take to find the perfect influencer for your brand.

Okay first, I always say start with a simple Google search. Take those industry key words used in your marketing efforts and see what type of content and industry influencers populate. Let good ole SEO reveal which influencers are dominating certain niche conversations. Next, I suggest using a tool like BuzzSumo. It's a website that lets you search using keywords and terms related to your industry. This site is unique because it was developed specifically to display the top trending content and influencers.

It's a simple tool to navigate and explore which industry influencers are most active and relevant in your space. The third thing I recommend is typing in keyword hashtags within each social media platform. For example, if you're in financial services, in the search section, type in hashtag finance or hashtag finance tips or hashtag money expert to see which influencers populate. Duplicate that search on each platform to see the influencers who are creating quality content and dominating your industry.

And lastly, don't overlook trending conversations within your industry. Influencers are always going to be present in key trending conversations because they're thought leaders pioneering and showcasing new trends for their audience. Twitter chats are a great example of this and you can find them taking place every day on Twitter. Once you've cultivated a list of influencers, ask yourself these key questions. Are they developing and sharing content that is relevant to your brand or industry? Do they have followers who are engaged with their content or do they have 20,000 followers and not a single like or comment? Are they consistently staying aligned with their content and messages? And are they consistent in posting and engaging with their audience? The right influencers can generate some serious brand awareness and ROI on behalf of your company.

Taking the time to discover the right influencers to partner with could make all the difference in your influencer marketing initiatives.