Partnering with social media influencers can help you grow your brand and build a community of engaged fans.
But what’s the right way to find Instagram influencers for your business or clients?
And how can you transform those initial connections into real relationships?
Let’s look at effective ways to connect with Instagram influencers and strategies for forging successful partnerships on social media.
Instagram influencers are social media users who have used their expertise or popularity to cultivate engaged audiences. They exist in almost every niche, from fashion and beauty to food and fitness.
They might be celebrities you know from music or TV, or they might be public figures that probably wouldn’t exist without social media.
No matter how many Instagram followers they have, influencers can leverage their credibility to drive their audiences to act every time they publish content.
Why Partner With Instagram Influencers
Working with Instagram influencers gives you an extra weapon to add to your social media marketing arsenal.
Because organic reach is declining on Instagram and the cost of advertising on social media can add up quickly, promoting content via influencer partnerships provides another option for meeting your marketing goals.
Unlike branded posts and advertisements, influencers produce content that delivers their sponsors’ messages in a less invasive way.
After all, Instagram influencers usually appear to their followers more like good friends than self-serving brands.
That means their word-of-mouth marketing strategy comes across like a reliable recommendation their audiences can trust even when they use Instagram’s paid partnership feature.
When you want to build trust and drive results for your company or social media clients, influencers can help as long as you choose your partners wisely.
Try these strategies to find Instagram influencers in your niche.
Follow Hashtags to Find Popular Content Creators
Hashtags make discovering high-performing content and popular accounts on Instagram easy, and they can lead you to influencers, too.
Use a tool like Hashtagify to check hashtag popularity, find similar terms, and stay on top of upward trends.
Use social listening to find Instagram influencers
Then add key hashtags to Agorapulse’s social listening search so you never miss a post.
As you monitor your social listening feed, watch for popular creators and engaging content relevant to your niche. 
You can get ideas and planning tips for an Instagram marketing strategy from this free ebook.
Track Engaged Followers With a Social Media CRM
In many cases, you don’t have to look far to locate the best influencers for your brand.
If you’ve been building your Instagram account for a long time, you may have already attracted knowledgeable influencers.
To find them, start by tracking interactions with your most engaged fans.
Track Instagram influencers with a social media CRM
The Agorapulse CRM automatically sorts followers who comment and message frequently into a Top Followers category and applies an “engaged” label. However, you can take this approach a step further.
Create your own “influencer” label for your biggest fans, and add custom notes about their brand, niche, impact, or even projects you’d like to pitch. Add potential partners to your Favorites list to find them and track your relationship progress easily.
Grab your FREE social media content calendar here!
Identify Key Figures With the Right Search Tools
To find influencers outside of your audience, try using a search tool designed to identify major content creators and Instagram users with significant engagement.
For example, tools like Buzzsumo allow you to search for influencers in certain niches and locations and then analyze their impact based on reach, engagement, and other factors.
You can also create lists of potential partners to follow and connect with.
Platforms like TapInfluence offer a more comprehensive approach to influencer marketing that includes discovery tools, Instagram profile searches, and performance data.
With this platform, you can also estimate the cost of partnering with specific influencers as you start to shape your marketing campaigns.
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How to Build Successful Instagram Influencer Partnerships
As you start to work with Instagram influencers, you’re likely to see big potential in these relationships.
To build successful partnerships, keep the following tips in mind:
Outline Goals Clearly
Before launching any influencer marketing campaign, discuss your goals with your partners.
Decide whether you want to:
Increase brand awareness
Boost engagement
Drive sales
Achieve other objectives
Talk about the types of influencer-created content that could help you achieve those goals.
From counting new followers and tracking giveaway entries to reviewing sales numbers, know how you’ll measure the outcome of your campaigns, too.
Consider Micro-influencers
It’s easy to assume that accounts with massive followings are better suited for influencer partnerships, but that isn’t necessarily true.
Don’t automatically write off micro influencers, or Instagram accounts with under 10,000 followers, if they have great engagement and specialize in your niche.
Micro-influencers often generate better results and can be easier and more affordable to work with on marketing campaigns.
Download your FREE ebook of content ideas, examples, and calendar.
Strike Up a Mutual Relationship
Influencer marketing relationships can be one-sided, but they tend to work better when they’re mutual.
To forge a relationship that benefits your brand and your partners, make a point of communicating regularly and interacting with your influencers’ content.
When you’re both invested, your partnership is likely to last longer and produce better results for everyone involved.
When you work with the right Instagram influencers, you’ll gain an effective partnership that enhances your social media campaigns.
From platforms like Agorapulse to hashtag and search tools, using the right tools to find influencers can help you take your social media marketing strategy to new heights.
Get started on saving time and energy on your own social media management! Check out our free trial of Agorapulse to help you schedule, track, and measure all your social media efforts.
Read more: agorapulse.com
