The explosion of digital media and influencers has quite literally led to thousands upon thousands of bloggers in any given niche, from those posting daily avocado recipes to bikini sporting enthusiasts and green beauty aficionados.
With so many bloggers in any segment, it can sometimes be difficult to find the best ones that truly serve the niche you are in. When you’re looking to target bloggers and influencers in your market, it can often get overwhelming to figure out exactly who they are and where to find them!
Here are the tricks my agency uses when locating bloggers in a particular niche – good luck and happy pitching!
The truth is that while the top media databases can be phenomenal for tracking down contacts for traditional media outlets, many struggle to keep up with influencers and bloggers. That said, if you’re already subscribed to a media database, this is obviously your starting point.
However, there are now databases specifically for influencers/bloggers that have detailed contact info, follower counts, rates, etc. These don’t come cheap though, and they are still not fully comprehensive, especially if you need to focus in on a particular location or truly drill down into an influencers area of expertise/focus.
Access to a database is great, but you can still find what you need with a little elbow grease! You likely have an idea of who the crème de la crème influencers in your field are, so expand your awareness by searching through who they follow on Instagram and social media platforms. Comb through recent blog posts, particularly those that center around a big brand activation or event, pay attention to who they were with!
While many influencers cull down their following count to big brands, celebs, and magazines that the top names, they do also frequently link/follow their fellow blogger pals in your niche – some who you may not be familiar with yet! My agency has discovered some fantastic bloggers and influencers using this method.
Another strategy to build your list of influencers is to see which names other brands in your field work with. If you have a line of activewear, research influencers that other fitness brands have worked with by checking out the brand’s recent press/social media pages where they’ll often post big wins. If you happen to know their PR agency, comb through their social media as well for recent promoted hits.
When all else fails, enlist the always-reliable hashtags! Get specific with them to avoid unrelated posts, or click through the hashtags of some of the bloggers you’ve already identified as an appropriate fit. While you might be weeding through a lot of posts at first, you’ll eventually see what hashtags tend to be used predominantly by bloggers and influencers and will be able to further build out you list of contacts.
You can apply these tips to nearly any lifestyle industry – whether you work with home goods, apparel, makeup, you name it! It does require a bit of digging, but the process of finding the right group of partners for your campaign is a bit like pushing a boulder up a hill at first, but once you stumble onto the right lead, the rest is all downhill!
