Knowing how to find micro influencers for your brand is the first step to a winning influencer marketing strategy. Even with smaller followings, the right people can give your brand a face and a voice that people trust.
You’ve seen your competitors using friendly, familiar faces in their social media content. They’re getting past people’s internal ad blockers by using real people in their promotions. These people aren’t celebrities, but rather representations of their own customers.
The only difference is they happen to have small but loyal followings. They connect with their audiences on shared values and interests, and do so in an authentic way.
You can hack this same strategy too, starting with knowing how to find micro influencers in your niche. Let’s dig into why micro influencers matter and how to find the best micro influencers for your business.
Contents:
Why Micro Influencers Matter to Your Business
5 Methods to Find Micro Influencers
Qualities to Look for in Micro Influencers
How to Build Relationships with Micro Influencers
Finding Micro Influencers with Klear
Why Micro Influencers Matter to Your Business
In influencer marketing, it’s easy to assume that bigger is always better. But micro influencers matter, too, and they prove time and time again that small can be powerful.
Micro influencers are content creators with anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 followers. More impressive than their numbers is the trust they’ve built with their audiences. Their followers aren’t just scrolling past their posts; they’re stopping to look, listen, and engage — and even making buying decisions based on the influencer’s recommendations.
Since micro influencers are regular people, they’re more accessible to their audience than “untouchable” Hollywood celebrities. They’re sharing real experiences, honest opinions, and personal connection with their followers. That authenticity makes a huge difference.
Micro influencers are in the best position to promote your products. They can create meaningful conversations about your brand instead of being just another annoying ad in someone’s social feed. And since micro influencers tend to specialize in a niche — fitness, parenting, or beauty, for example — you can reach an audience that’s already interested in what you offer.
TIP: For a comprehensive breakdown of how influencers can help you reach new audiences and grow your business, check out our free Ultimate Guide to Influencer Marketing.
5 Methods to Find Micro Influencers
If you want to find a micro influencer to promote your business, you’ve got a few different options to explore. Here’s a look at how you can make a list of micro influencers to partner with and benefit your business.
1. How to find micro influencers on Instagram
If Instagram is part of your social marketing mix, you’re in good company: Instagram is a favorite channel for micro influencers. Instagram’s diverse topics and content formats (Reels, IGTV, etc.) give content creators multiple ways to connect with their audiences.
To find micro influencers on Instagram, you can do one or more of the following:
- Try a hashtag search. Search relevant hashtags on Instagram to see who’s creating content using those hashtags.
- Find your biggest fans. Check your followers list to see who’s already creating content on your behalf.
- Look for similar influencers. Find doppelgangers of influencers you like by clicking the “down” arrow next to the follow button, then seeing who Instagram suggests.
Once you have a list of micro influencers on Instagram, you can start vetting them one by one. See if their content aligns with your brand values. Find out what they talk about the most. Check engagement rates, follower count, and other metrics to find the perfect fit.
2. How to find micro influencers on TikTok
The expected TikTok ban didn’t happen, so TikTok is still fair game for influencer marketing. The TikTok Creator Fund (now discontinued) and its successor, the TikTok Creativity Program, have helped to birth tons of new micro influencers across every niche imaginable.
This has also made finding and vetting influencers a little harder because there are now so many of them.
Try these tips to find micro influencers on TikTok:
- Use the search and discovery features. Try basic searches like “[your niche] TikTok” or hashtags related to your industry.
- Check the “For You” page. FYP is a place of discovery, so spend some time combing through recommended content to see what creators are producing on topics you care about.
- Find lookalike followers. Similar to IG, you can find similar profiles of influencers you already know and like by clicking the arrow button near the Follow button and seeing who TikTok suggests.
- Check the creator marketplace. TikTok’s creator marketplace is designed to help brands find creators to partner with.
The best micro influencers on TikTok create viral moments and drive engagement. Even better, they don’t need millions of followers to do so.
3. How to find micro influencers on Reddit
When searching for influencers, don’t overlook the opportunities on Reddit. This forum-driven community is brimming with people who are sharing their thoughts and opinions on a wide range of topics and products. It’s all about real conversations, recommendations, and an honest look at hot topics.
There’s a subreddit for just about any topic you can think of, and people who use Reddit to learn and discover tend to be highly engaged on the platform.
Here are some ideas for finding micro influencers on Reddit:
- Explore niche subreddits. Look for active voices on subreddits related to your products or industry, paying extra attention to those who consistently get upvotes from the community.
- Use the search function. Use SEO-like strategies to find advocates for products or services like yours: For example, you could type “I like [product]” into Reddit’s search bar to find people already talking about products you sell.
- Look for high karma contributors. Karma is calculated based on user upvotes, so posters who have high karma scores are likely candidates for micro influencer marketing.
Reddit might not be your traditional influencer platform, but that’s precisely what makes it so valuable. Instead of polished promotions, you’ll find authentic voices that help to shape others’ opinions.
4. How to find local influencers
Local influencers (radio hosts, DJs, government officials, journalists, etc.) thrive on building connections with local audiences. They understand the nuances of what makes their local markets unique and often have personal connections with other community leaders and well-known figures.
Learning how to find local influencers near you can take several different approaches, including:
- Searching for local hashtags
- Doing a Google search
- Checking your own social media accounts
- Following local publications to see who gets mentioned
- Using influencer marketing platforms
TIP: You can check out our guide on how to find local influencers for more ideas and strategies!
5. How to use an influencer marketing platform
An influencer platform like Meltwater's Klear offers a database of influencers to shorten your talent search. You can search via niche, influencer score, or other metrics, then choose the influencers you want to connect with.
Klear has been named one of the best influencer marketing platforms. It gives you end-to-end influencer management, from finding influencers to managing content and payments.
With Klear, you can filter your options by follower count, engagement rate, niche, social media platform (e.g., TikTok, Instagram), and other specifications. Once you have a shortlist of influencers, you can connect with them in Klear and start collaborations.
Klear also lets you manage influencer contracts, send payments, receive content, and track engagement metrics.
You can use Klear to find influencers on Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, and other channels, giving you a complete solution for your micro influencer campaigns.
Qualities to Look for in Micro Influencers
Not all influencers are created equal. Just because someone has a large following doesn’t mean they’re the right fit for your brand.
When you’re on the hunt for micro influencers, look for these common criteria that indicate a winner:
- Authenticity. Does the influencer naturally engage with their audience? People can spot a forced promotion a mile away.
- Relevance. Does the influencer create content for your industry? Ideally, they’re posting about topics that relate to your business.
- Past brand collaborations. Has the influencer done sponsored posts in the past? If so, check out the brands they’re representing to learn more about their values and how they might align with your business.
- Engagement rate. Are people responding to the influencer’s content? High engagement means the audience values what the influencer produces.
- Consistent content. Is the influencer posting on a regular basis? Consistency shows they’re serious about content creation.
- Content quality. Is the influencer’s content good? It doesn’t have to be Hollywood studio-quality, but it should reflect that they put time and effort into it.
Choosing a good influencer means looking at the total package, not just numbers. Find someone who aligns with your brand, connects with their audience, and delivers results in a way that feels real.
How to Build Relationships with Micro Influencers
Successful influencer marketing goes beyond one-off promotions. Building relationships with micro influencers allows both sides to benefit from each collaboration.
Here are some ways you can create these relationships authentically:
- Engage with their content. Show the influencer you’re paying attention to their posts and genuinely appreciate their work rather than seeing them as just a marketing tool.
- Personalize your outreach. Avoid generic introductions; instead, mention something about the creator that caught your attention, like a specific video or post.
- Offer value beyond money. Compensation matters, but offering more than money (commissions, free product samples, etc). can help you stand out as a brand partner.
- Allow creative freedom. You partner with micro influencers because they’re the best at what they do, so trust them to have your best interests in mind when creating content.
TIP: For more information on building influencer relationships, check out our blog on successful influencer management!
Finding Micro Influencers with Klear
Smaller voices can make a big impact, especially when they align with your brand’s values, tone, and audience. There’s a method to the madness, and your search for the right micro influencers starts with Klear, Meltwater's influencer marketing platform.
Klear gives you a full database of influencers, ranging from nano influencers and micro influencers all the way up to A-list status. You can find and vet influencers on niche, content, engagement rates, and other details. The Klear platform lets you collaborate with influencers in a single place, from sending and signing contracts to handling payments and tracking impact.
Learn more about how easy it is to find micro influencers when you request a demo by filling out the form below!
