How to Find Influencers to Promote Product Launches (Without Getting Ghosted)

Every product launch is a make-or-break moment for CPG brands.

And pouring countless hours into launch-day promotions that fall flat is a marketer’s worst nightmare.

That’s part of why finding influencers for product launches makes perfect sense. 

With 100s of creators promoting your latest offerings, you stand to break through the noise on social media despite crowded competition.

Not to mention maximize word-of-mouth before, during and after your launch.

That’s why you need a plan for how to find influencers for launches long-term and build an always-on strategy.

And this post breaks down how you can do exactly that!

5 of the Best Ways to Find Influencers to Promote Product Launches 

We get it: finding influencers for your brand is daunting.

This is true even when you’re not up against launch-day deadlines. 

Whether you’re introducing something next month or next year, scrambling for creators for every new product is a no-go. Building relationships with creators long-term not only results in better content but also means massive time saved for your next campaign.

And so the more options and opportunities you have to recruit creators long-term, the better.

Below we dig into five ways to find influencers for your product launch.

1. Start Your Influencer Search by Looking at Collaboration Hashtags (#PR, #Gifted, #Unboxing and #Ad)

Given that creators must disclose their brand partnerships with these types of tags, this is the perfect place to find influencers without too much digging.

By default, you’ll mostly narrow your search to creators who…

• Have a proven track record of collaborating with brands (and know the ins and outs of publishing sponsored content)
  
  
• Primarily post content related to brands (such as reviews and unboxings)

To speed up the process of finding influencers, consider coupling those collab hashtags with industry-specific hashtags and keywords as well. For example, a beauty brand might search Instagram hashtags like #ad or #gifted in combination with #makeupartist, #mua or #beautycreator. 

You can also do a general social media keyword search by combining terms like “gifted” with your product type. This will help you find creators promoting products similar to yours and a target audience resembling your own.

And as a bonus, searching these tags is fair game for finding influencers on Instagram and TikTok.

2. Use Search Filters and Keyword Phrases to Find Micro-Influencers  You Might Miss

Don’t underestimate the power of the search bar.

While this tactic isn’t as effective on Instagram, native search filters make it much easier to zero in on micro-influencers on TikTok. These creators are otherwise tough to spot “in the wild.”

For starters, simply search a few relevant industry-related terms on TikTok. 

Then, take your broad search and brainstorm how you can narrow it down to something more niche. 

Here’s an example of “niching down” your influencer search terms:

“Self tanner” > “best self tanner” > “best self tanner review”

The more granular your terms get, the more targeted your results. This is important for product launches as you’ll want to tap into specific communities to build word of mouth and awareness versus more “general” influencers.

With TikTok, you can dig even deeper by using the app’s native search filters to find micro and nano-influencers based on their account size. This helps you find influencers with specific follower counts to cast a wider net during your launch.

We’ve found that creators with a follower count somewhere between 10,000 and 100,000 represent the sweet spot in terms of reach and engagement. Creators of this size have built up meaningful audiences that still hang on their recommendations.

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Having a mix of different types of influencers in terms of size and reach is a smart move for brands, especially during a product launch. The thing is, micro-influencers are more cost-effective at scale and can introduce your brand to new audiences ASAP.

3. Instead of Finding Influencers Yourself, Encourage Them to Come to You

Brand-creator collaborations shouldn’t be one-sided. 

And so the discovery process doesn’t have to be all on your plate, either.

Not only can you seek out influencers for your product launch but savvy brands have found ways to attract brand advocates to them.

Affiliate and ambassador programs are a proven option to turn your brand into an influencer magnet.  For example, Kara Beauty does this well with a PR sign-up list for prospective influencers. 

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Of course, these programs are a ton of legwork to maintain, let alone build from scratch. That said, you can potentially foster a community of creators on standby when you’re ready to launch.

However, there are some trade-offs. While you don’t have to find influencers for these programs yourself, you’re still on the hook for vetting them and getting products in their hands. Not to mention double-checking that they’re meeting their posting requirements and not just freebie-hunters.

The time commitment involved with maintaining this type of community combined with regular product launches is often too much for marketing teams to handle themselves.  That’s why brands turn to micro-influencer platforms like Statusphere with existing relationships with 10,000s of vetted creators.

4. Recruit Satisfied Customers to Be Your Brand's Influencers

Ask yourself: who are your brand’s biggest cheerleaders?

You know, the repeat customers and people who always comment on your content. These are prime candidates to become influencers for your brand.

Your pack of influencers might be right under your nose. To find your fan club, dig into the following:

• @Mentions on social media
• Branded hashtags (#[yourcompanyname])
• Social media comments
• Third-party sites that feature your brand or products
• DMs and emails for collab requests

Trust us: these are a wealth of ambassadors just waiting for their call-up! Starting with satisfied customers is a great way to save time and not comb through thousands of creators.

Here are a few more upsides of finding influencers who’ve purchased from you in the past:

• They’re intimately familiar with your product (and know what’s important to call out)
• They like and trust you so they’re more willing to work with you
• Their posts are more likely to be authentic

All of the above are especially important for product launches. Instead of spending a ton of time second-guessing or educating these creators about your brand, they’ve already got it all figured out because they know you.

Still, don’t forget to audit their profiles to make sure they have the right vibe and engagement. If they pass the vibe check, shoot them a TikTok DM or outreach message on Instagram.

5. Match with Relevant Creators with an Influencer Marketing Platform 

If you’re tired of figuring out how to find creators for your brand, we get it.

More and more brands are outsourcing the process of both finding creators and establishing communities for a reason. That’s why investing in a platform to find influencers is a natural next step for teams who are totally overwhelmed.

To wrap things up, here are a few influencer search tools and platforms to help:

• The TikTok Creator Marketplace is a simple and search-friendly way to partner with TikTok’s approved creators. However, this marketplace is more suited for brands working with bigger influencers one-on-one.
  
  
• Third-party Influencer databases provide lists of influencers on Instagram and TikTok. The thing is, one of the biggest cons of influencer databases is the fact that you’re still responsible for most of the legwork related to influencer management. This includes outreach, vetting and more.
  
  
• Scalable influencer marketing platforms eliminate the legwork of manual searching. For example, Statusphere instantly matches brands with relevant creators based on 250+ first-party data points. Rather than worry about where to find influencers, we help brands achieve guaranteed content and delivery to automate all of the most tedious aspects of running a creator campaign.

Why You Can’t Seem to Find Relevant Influencers (or Keep Them Around) 

Finding influencers and collaborating with influencers are two different things.

We often talk to brands that have no shortage of potential influencers to partner with. However, once the ball seems to get rolling they get radio silence.

DMs go dark. Posts never get made. Influencer kits are never seen again.

What gives? Here are the most common reasons why creators ghost brands based on what we’ve seen firsthand:

• You simply don’t have the time or bandwidth for influencer relations and campaign management. When you’re working with more than a handful of influencers, the process quickly snowballs into a full-time job. Even more so if you’re launching new products and need to support an always-on influencer marketing strategy.
  
  
• You need to step up your value exchange. If you’re “offering” creators a free $25 product but a novel-length influencer brief, you can’t be surprised when they go quiet on you.
  
  
• You’re treating your creators like they’re one-size-fits-all. This is one of the biggest reasons that influencers stop answering your messages right before a collaboration kicks off. If you’re sending everyone the same products or copy-and-pasted messages, you’re not exactly creating a great influencer experience.

How to Find Influencers for Ongoing Product Launches (Who Won’t Ghost You!)

Finding influencers is the first step to running a creator campaign but is likewise one of the most challenging and frustrating during a product launch.

Because for brands launching products, it’s not just about the discovery process. 

There’s also managing the relationship and getting products into their hands. Not to mention educating creators and improving your influencer posting rate.

When you’re doing this to the tune of 100+ creators on a consistent basis, it’s a lot.

That’s where Statusphere’s micro-influencer marketing platform can help.

Our software streamlines busy brands’ influencer marketing campaigns from A to Z. Rather than finding influencers yourself, our platform matches you with vetted creators to get UGC at scale. We get super granular by matching your brand with creators using 250+ first-party data points.

And with Statusphere, you don’t have to do any of the heavy lifting when it comes to tracking performance, fulfilling orders or gathering content.

Want to learn more about how our platform works? Get in touch with one of our experts to see how we can scale your influencer marketing efforts in a fraction of the time.