Find Niche Influencers with these Kolsquare Tips

Points clés

• To be successful in influencer marketing, it is important to find the right niche and create content that is relevant to the target audience
• To find an influencer niche, you can create a list that reflects the interests and preferences of your target audience.

Unlike “traditional” influencers with a broad audience, niche influencers focus on specific interests, hobbies, products, or services. They have a deep understanding of their niche and have built a dedicated following of people who share a passion for their field.  In this article we will outline the importance of niche influencers and explore what is important when recruiting this type of partner.

What are niche influencers?

Niche Influencers are Internet personalities who specialize in certain market segments. They focus on interests, hobbies, products, or services such as beauty, health and fitness, fashion, travel, or gaming. Collaboration can be extremely productive for brands because they can target a very specific audience and influence it directly. They know what their audience likes, what it  responds to, and what it wants. As a result, niche influencers often have a loyal base of followers who trust their recommendations. As influencers with smaller audiences, they can generate a higher level of audience engagement and their specialization in a topic makes them experts in their field.

Identifying the right collaborators for a specific niche can be challenging, especially for those with very small fan bases. It is important to consider the demographics, interests, and social media platforms of one’s niche market and tailor the goals and objectives of the campaign to the influencer’s target audience. Reviewing influencers’ performance metrics and audience authenticity is critical. Factors such as quality, format, relatability, sentiment, and frequency of the niche influencer’s posts should also be considered.

What are the niches on Instagram? (From normal to curious)

To find the right niche influencers, brands first need to know what niches exist. Here we have a list of normal to curious niches, which vary in size accordingly.

1. Fashion: Influencers inspire with outfits, styling ideas, trend analyses, and the like.
2. Beauty: Influencers give tips and often publish tutorials.
3. Health and wellness: Influencers advise on a healthy lifestyle and promote related products.
4. Fitness and sports: Influencers show workout routines, give workout tips, and promote fitness products
5. Gaming: Influencers play live or evaluate games
6. Travel: Influencers document their travel experiences, recommend travel destination,  and collaborate with travel-oriented companies
7. Food and beverage: influencers share recipes and restaurant recommendations and collaborate with brands related to food and beverages
8. Parenting: Influencers share their parenting experiences and showcase products they use in their daily parenting lives
9. Tech: Influencers have great tech expertise and review and promote the latest software and gadgets
10. Decoration and Home: Influencers decorate homes and apartments
11. Business and Finance: Influencers share their knowledge about starting and growing businesses, managing wealth, and working with relevant brands
12. Pets: Influencers focus on pets and engage with pet food, toys, accessories and training products
13. ASMR: Influencers create soothing audio and video content
14. Minimalism: Influencers clean up and promote a simpler lifestyle
15. Sustainability:  Influencers focus on organic products, such as natural foods and cosmetics, or sustainably produced and ethical fashion labels that promote upcycling
16. Fandoms: Influencers dedicate themselves to specific fan communities that create content related to popular fictional universes and collaborate with licensed merchandise companies
17. Urban exploration: Influencers discover the hidden or lesser-known aspects of urban environments
18. Crypto: Influencers specialize in cryptocurrencies, provide insights into the financial world, and work with companies that offer investment and trading services in the blockchain industry

How do I find my niche?

To determine which niches fit your product, it’s best to follow these steps:

1. Understand your product: gain a clear understanding of your product’s features, benefits, and target audience. Identify the unique selling proposition, the value proposition, and the problem it solves or the need it fills.
2. Define your target audience: Determine who your ideal customers are. Consider demographic factors such as age, gender, location, interests, and behaviors. This will help narrow down potential niches that fit your target audience.
3. Analyze your market: research your industry and market to identify trends, competitors, and consumer preferences. Look for gaps or underserved segments where your product could add value.
4. Know your competitors: Find your competitors’ influencer partnerships and marketing strategies. Then look at the niches they are targeting and the influencers they are working with. This can give you insight into niches that have already shown potential for your product.
5. Leverage customer feedback and data: gather feedback from existing customers through surveys, reviews, and social media interactions. Look for patterns in your likes, interests, and the specific niches you follow. Analyze data from your website, social media accounts, and other marketing channels to determine the demographics and interests of your existing audience.
6. Discover keyword research: conduct keyword research on your product and industry. Look for popular keywords, hashtags, and topics that match your product. This can provide insights into niches that are actively being searched for or discussed.
7. Experiment with influencer partnerships: also consider working with influencers from different niches on a smaller scale to test the impact and resonance with your (and their) target audience. Track the performance and engagement of the collaborations to find out which niches get the best results.
8. Seek advice from experts: “Together we are strong” – so reach out to other marketers, agencies, or industry experts who can provide insight and advice based on their experience and expertise. They may offer valuable perspectives on potential niches that fit your product.  Also read our podcast recommendations where  we present five German podcasts that give you exactly that: Knowledge, insights, and assessments from experts.

Remember that finding the right niche may take a few tries. Monitor the numbers and data and then evaluate the performance of your marketing efforts.

Searching Influencers: Micro vs. niche influencers

Niche influencers and nano influencers are both types of influencers, but they differ in terms of audience size, reach, and level of specialization.

Niche Influencers focus on specific interests, hobbies, products or services within a specific market segment. They have a dedicated following of individuals who share a passion for their niche. Niche Influencers can have basically any size audience, which typically ranges from several thousand to hundreds of thousands of followers. They are considered experts in their field and create content that resonates with their niche audience. Brands work with niche influencers to leverage their expertise and reach a targeted and engaged audience.

On the other hand, nano-influencers usually have a smaller audience , typically ranging from a few hundred to several thousand followers, and their  influence is more local or community-based. Nano-influencers often have a strong personal connection with their followers and their content focuses on their personal experiences, recommendations, and everyday activities. They may also have a niche interest or specialization, but their audience reach is smaller compared to niche influencers. Yet nano-influencers are known for their high engagement rates, as a smaller audience allows for personalized interactions and strong relationships with their followers. Brands often work with nano-influencers to leverage their authenticity, trustworthiness, and ability to connect with their community on a personal level. They can be particularly effective for  word-of-mouth recommendations and the creation of  local or niche-specific awareness.

How to find the right influencers for your niche

While working with niche influencers is great, finding them can be tricky. Here are three ways you can find them:

1. Google
   As with most things in life, a quick Google search can take you far. It can be really useful to just Google influencers in your niche and look at some lists  or blogs about niche-specific creators. You may not find the influencers you’re looking for right away, but it can be a good starting point for your search.
2. Social Media
   Sure, check out some of the social media profiles of those you’ve already found on Google. You may even discover other niche influencers you’ve worked with who could be a good fit for your brand.
3. Keywords and Hashtags
   Using keywords and hashtags is another way to find influencers who are active in your niche. So, if you choose this method, you’ll first need to create a list of keywords and hashtags that are relevant to your product or niche. For example, if you want to connect with DIY influencers, hashtags like #homeimprovement or #DIY might be a good starting point. You can use these to search on platforms like Instagram.

You can also use your initial searches to get inspiration for other hashtags. It’s best to create a list for relevant keywords ahead of time and expand and review it regularly.

Influencer analysis tools and databases: How to search and find influencers (also free)

Another good (and bullet-proof) way to find niche influencers is to subscribe to influencer marketing platforms. Kolsquare’s all-in-one solution not only helps brands manage and analyze campaigns, it also has a database of more than three million influencers aka KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders), all of whom are actively looking to work with brands.

All influencers are filtered by different categories (e.g. country, target audience, language, platform), so you don’t have to scroll through millions of influencers and manually check if they have fake followers or high-quality content (which is almost impossible to do and a waste of time anyway). Instead, you can spend your time and energy on those who are interested in collaborating. Finding the right campaign support can be a very valuable first step in optimizing campaigns. The following steps will help you decide if and which services from Kolsquare are best for you:

• What are your needs? Determine upfront where you need support and what metrics are important to achieving your goals. These may include metrics such as engagement rates, reach, audience demographics, sentiment analysis, or content performance.
• What are the options? Thoroughly research what influencer marketing analytics tools are out there and which ones can best meet your needs. Look for reputable vendors, read reviews (e.g. OMR Reviews) and check out their respective highlights, features, functionalities, and pricing options. Look for tools that provide the analytics and insights you need.
• What’s your budget? Evaluate the cost of the tools you’re considering and match them to your budget. Some tools may offer different price tiers depending on features and usage. Therefore, determine what level of access you need and if that fits your budget.
• How reliable is the data? Also evaluate the accuracy and reliability of the data provided to you: At Kolsquare, we provide you with clear and up-to-date data for each profile.
• How integrative is the platform? Consider whether the tool integrates with the platforms you already use for your (influencer) marketing, such as social media platforms or influencer management platforms. Compatibility and seamless data integration can improve your analytics process. We recommend Kolsquare’s free Chrome extension, which shows you influencer and audience analytics as you browse Instagram and TikTok profiles.
• What have you already tested? Take advantage of free trials or demos offered by tool providers. This way, you can test the tools firsthand and see if they meet your needs. Pay attention to the user interface, ease of use, and depth of insights provided.
• Who has used the platform? Get recommendations: Reach out to industry peers or influencer marketing communities for recommendations on analytics tools they’ve found effective and reliable. First-hand experience can provide valuable insights.
• How do you scale the platform? If you’re planning to scale up your influencer marketing efforts, consider ahead of time whether the analytics tool can meet your future needs. Look for tools that can handle larger amounts of data and offer scalable solutions.

Always remember that there is no one-size-fits-all tool. Therefore, it is important to find the tool that fits your specific needs and budget. That’s why we offer all interested parties a free demo and a personal meeting with our experts:  Make an appointment with Kolsquare today and find out if we are right for you!