How-To

How to Find Influencers for Your Brand in 5 Steps

Updated 10 min read
Illustration of a magnifying glass over a field of grey faceless figure tokens, with one token highlighted in emerald, with the title 'How to Find Influencers for Your Brand in 5 Steps'

Here is how to find influencers for your brand in five steps: decide which creator you need, search the apps the way your customers do, use the platforms’ own creator marketplaces, vet every account for fit and authenticity, then keep a shortlist with a reason beside each name. None of it needs a scraping tool or a bought contact list.

Search is where a written influencer marketing strategy turns into names; this page covers the search itself.

Table of Contents

How to find influencers for your brand: what are the steps?

Define the creator, search the apps, use the platforms’ tools, vet, then shortlist. Each step narrows the last:

StepWhat you doYou end up with
1. DefinePick audience, platform, niche, size and formatA one-line creator profile
2. Search the appsTags, mentions, customers, keyword and hashtag searchA long list
3. Use platform toolsTikTok One, Meta Creator Marketing Hub, YouTube Creator PartnershipsCreators who joined or qualify
4. VetAudience, engagement, past disclosures, category rulesA short list
5. ShortlistOne row per creator, with a reason and contact routeWho to pitch first

Step 1: What kind of influencer does your brand need?

Write the profile before you search: whose attention you want, on which platform, what the creator posts about, roughly how big the account is and what you need made. An illustration: “Home-cooking creators on TikTok with mostly Canadian viewers who post recipe videos.”

Size labels are shorthand. None of the regulator or platform pages checked for this guide defines nano, micro, macro or mega influencers. Checked against CMA (GOV.UK): Social media endorsements: guidance for content creatorsNot verified One industry convention, the IAB’s February 2025 map, puts Nano at 1k–10k followers and Micro at 10k–50k. Checked against IAB: Creator Economy Ecosystem Mindmap (February 2025)Industry convention To find micro influencers, apply that range to your long list; types of influencers compares every tier.

Step 2: How do you find influencers for free?

Start with people who already know your brand, then search each app the way your customers do. All of this costs time, not money:

  • Your tags and mentions. People who tag your brand already use the product.
  • Your customers. Ask in a newsletter or order email whether any of them make content.
  • Keyword and hashtag search. Search your category’s words and niche hashtags, and note who posts on the topic again and again.
  • Creators your audience follows. Note the ones people mention or share in your comments.

Keep it manual; the search engine section below explains why.

Step 3: Which creator marketplaces do the platforms run?

TikTok One, Meta Creator Marketing Hub and YouTube Creator Partnerships: each is a platform’s own tool for finding creators who have joined or qualify. None replaces your own vetting.

TikTok One. Advertisers search creators by username or keyword (Search with AI is available to select customers), filter by creator details, audience details and performance metrics, and invite creators to a project. Profiles show audience insights such as age range, gender ratio and country or region. TikTok’s steps, on a computer:

On a computer: TikTok One (advertiser):

  1. Log in to TikTok One.
  2. From the main navigation at the top, click the Explore creators section.
  3. In the Explore creators tab, click Creator search.
  4. Enter a creator's username to see their profile, or enter a keyword (like "skincare" or "gaming") to find creators who have posted content with that keyword.
  5. Use the Filter by dropdowns (creator details, audience details, performance metrics) and the Sort by menu.
  6. From a creator's profile or a shortlist, click Invite to project, select the project, write a message with the project details and your proposed offer, then click Send invitation.

Checked against TikTok Business Help Center: How to find creators who work with TikTok One (last updated June 2026).

Meta Creator Marketing Hub. In Meta Business Suite or Ads Manager, brands discover creators and their content, send partnership requests and manage partnership-ad permissions. You need a verified business portfolio in a supported country and an eligible Instagram account linked to a Facebook Page:

On a computer:

  1. Log in to Meta Business Suite.
  2. Click Creator marketing on the left navigation bar.
  3. You can also access Creator Marketing Hub in Ads Manager below All Tools > Advertise.

Checked against Meta Business Help Center: Eligibility requirements for businesses on Meta Creator Marketing Hub.

Creators who join Meta’s creator marketplace can pick up to ten preferred brand partners, and the brands they pick see them under Interested creators. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Get started as a creator on Meta Creator Marketplace Our Instagram creator marketplace guide covers the creator side.

YouTube Creator Partnerships (formerly BrandConnect). YouTube announced the new name on 23 March 2026; for advertisers it’s built into Google Ads and Display & Video 360. Checked against YouTube Official Blog: Discover a new era of brand and creator partnerships on YouTube (23 Mar 2026) All eligible YouTube Partner Program creators are discoverable to brands. Checked against YouTube Help: Get started with YouTube Creator Partnerships The announcement describes no self-serve sign-up; it tells advertisers to reach out to their Google team. Checked against YouTube Official Blog: Discover a new era of brand and creator partnerships on YouTube (23 Mar 2026)

Should you use an influencer search engine?

A paid discovery tool can save time, but check where its data comes from first. Two platforms publish partner lists you can check a tool against:

Meta’s Business Partner directory asked for a login when this page was checked, so a tool’s Meta partner claim couldn’t be confirmed there. Checked against Meta for Business: partner directory (login wall)Not verified And a listing isn’t a certification: the companies write their own directory descriptions.

Skip any tool that asks for your Instagram password or exports follower lists. Instagram’s Terms forbid collecting information in an automated way without its express permission, and soliciting or using other people’s login credentials. Checked against Instagram Terms of Use TikTok’s US Terms forbid scraping data with automated bots unless TikTok USDS Joint Venture approves in writing. Checked against TikTok Terms of Service (United States), last updated July 15, 2026 Influencer marketing platforms compares the paid options from their own pages.

Step 4: How do you vet influencers?

Check audience, engagement, authenticity, and disclosure and category rules for every name on the long list:

  1. Audience. Ask to see the creator’s own analytics, ideally as a screen recording. Instagram shows top countries, cities, age ranges and gender for a preset timeframe in which over 100 accounts were reached or engaged. Checked against Instagram Help Center: About Instagram insights (Viewers, Accounts engaged, Total followers) TikTok says its viewer demographics come from predictive models, not confirmed user data. Checked against TikTok Creator Academy: Analytics introduction
  2. Engagement. Work out every rate the same way with the engagement rate calculator, and compare creators of similar size.
  3. Authenticity. Follower jumps, generic comments and an audience far from the creator’s market deserve a question; how to spot fake influencers has the checklist.
  4. Disclosure and category. Check that past sponsored posts were labelled, and that the platform allows your product as branded content: Meta bans it for tobacco and vapes, weapons and multilevel marketing, among others. Checked against Instagram Help Center: Branded Content Policies

Step 5: How do you build the shortlist?

Keep one row per creator who survived vetting: the handle, platform, audience match, engagement rate, past brand work, the contact route they publish and a one-line reason. Ask your top names for their media kit, and open your pitch with that reason; influencer outreach covers the first message.

Can Outfeed find influencers for you?

Open Outfeed AI

Finding influencers: FAQ

How do I find influencers for my brand for free?

Start with methods that cost only time: people who already tag or mention your brand, customers who make content, and each app’s search for your niche’s keywords and hashtags. The platforms’ own brand tools, TikTok One and Meta Creator Marketing Hub, set their own access rules, and their pages don’t say whether brands pay to use them.

How do I find micro-influencers in my niche?

Search your niche’s keywords and hashtags in the app your customers use, then narrow by size. TikTok One lets advertisers search by keyword and filter by creator details, audience details and performance metrics. Size bands are a convention: the IAB’s February 2025 map puts micro at 10,000 to 50,000 followers.

Can brands find influencers through Instagram’s or TikTok’s own tools?

Yes. In TikTok One, advertisers search creators by username or keyword, shortlist them and invite them to a project. For Instagram, brands use Meta Creator Marketing Hub in Meta Business Suite or Ads Manager, which needs a verified business portfolio in a supported country and an eligible Instagram account linked to a Facebook Page.

How do I know if an influencer is a good fit for my brand?

Check that the audience is your customer, using the creator’s own analytics; that the engagement looks genuine; that past sponsored posts were disclosed; and that the platform allows your product as branded content. Meta, for one, bans it for tobacco and vapes, weapons and multilevel marketing.

influencer marketing influencer discovery creator marketplace tiktok one brand partnerships