There was a time when influencers and advocates were mainly celebrities that almost everyone knew about.

They were often actors, athletes and musicians. That has changed know because influencers are also social media stars that have millions of followers on Instagram and YouTube.

They may have thousands of followers that happen to be the target audience of a brand.

If you’re trying to identify influencers, social listening can help you achieve that goal. Let’s delve a bit deeper.

Importance of Social Listening

There are thousands of influencers online and likely many influencers that can sell your products and services.

The question is how you go about finding them. The answer is social listening.

There are highly-regarded social analytics companies that help brands with all aspects of social analytics, which includes finding influencers.

This is achieved by listening to conversations on socials.

This process can help you identify the influencers and advocates in your industry that you want to work with based on their ability to influence others.

Given the volume of influencers that exist, social listening is the most productive way to identify who you’re searching for.

What to Look For in an Influencer

To find the right influencer, you should look for someone that is already having conversations online about your brand, products and services.

It’s also best if they have a following that falls within the guidelines you have set.

For instance, you may only desire to work with influencers that have at least one million followers.

Others may be willing to work with micro-influencers, which is also a valued group become sometimes they are highly effective.

You’ll need to refine your search and social listening can help.

Influencer Marketing

Marketing for the purpose of finding an influencer is important because there are certain expectations that influencers have when working with brands.

Many have become experts at selling products and brands understand this fact.

The reason why they are so good at it is because they have built a loyal following and people often trust their recommendations.

Once you have identified the influencers you want to work with, you’ll need to reach out by the appropriate means.

In most cases, that simply involves sending a letter or email to the point of contact provided by the influencer.

That message should generally include the deal you would like to offer.

Some brands go above and beyond with extravagant offers to influencers.

Setting Expectations

When working with an influencer, there should be clarity surrounding the expectations.

This isn’t about the outcome of their efforts, but the methods.

For instance, you should know in advance whether or not they use hashtags, post on Facebook regularly, or communicate by vlogging on YouTube.

This information is provided by social analytics and reports that are available through the social listening app/company

While you don’t necessarily have to be strict about their method of promoting the product, you should certainly have guidelines.

Other Considerations

Another consideration when choosing an influencer is whether or not they work with other brands that may be your competition.

You should also examine their experience working with other influencers and if there seems to be a positive sentiment about their brand when you analyze the results of social listening.

Working with influencers is something that can become a long-term engagement, especially if the results are positive.

You can actually find out the results through social analytics.

It will help with your analysis because technology is employed to get the insights you need during the decision-making process.