How to Find Local Influencers to Boost your Small Business

Local influencers are a relatively new type of nano-influencer. Despite this fact, they are growing rapidly in popularity as many brands are already seeing the benefits of targeting niche audiences in specific geographic regions. Collaborating with the right local influencer can expand the reach of your small business and provide your brand with the credibility and social proof it needs to attract more customers from your local area. 

But where do you find these local influencers?

In today’s post, we are going to discuss how to find local influencers who can help you boost your small business.

What Is a Local Influencer?

Before we discuss how to find local influencers, let’s start with the basics: what exactly is a local influencer?

A local influencer is someone with a loyal online following in their local area. Essentially, local influencers are members of a local community who have built solid reputations as experts or thought leaders. As a result, their followers trust what they say and believe in their recommendations.

As the content that they post is specifically targeted to their local community, local influencers tend to be nano-influencers, as they usually have between 1K-10K followers. Because their audience is smaller and based in the same geographic location, followers are often more engaged with the brands that local influencers promote. This enables brands to successfully raise awareness in their target markets. Key players are often small businesses specializing in hospitality, travel, or local produce, for example.

Do I Need a Local Influencer?

So, why is it so important to promote locally these days? What benefits can a nano-influencer from your community offer you compared to macro or celebrity influencers?

Although macro and celebrity influencers have much larger followings and can usually reach a much bigger audience, many brands find that working with less notorious influencers often results in higher engagement levels. And this is especially beneficial if you are trying to specifically target consumers in your local community.

For example, if you are a local restaurant, then there’s no point promoting your brand on a global scale, as most of the people you will reach with your campaign will probably be unlikely to visit your region, let alone your establishment. You’ll get a much higher level of engagement and return on your investment if you target potential consumers who live within driving distance. 

What’s more, because a local influencer is an existing member of your community, they will already understand what your target audience values from a brand. This will help them appeal to them with the right message and encourage them to take an interest in what you have to offer. To continue with the same example, a local influencer is likely to have a much better understanding of what people in the community enjoy eating and drinking, which will help their followers relate to them.

How to Find Local Influencers

So, we’ve seen what they are and how they can benefit your brand. Now let’s look at how to find local influencers so that you can hire them to promote your brand.

Search Through Your Own Social Following

The first place to look is your own social media followers. What percentage of your audience lives locally? Are any of them influencers? If so, do they create content focused on your industry? Remember, it’s all well and good  finding local influencers with dedicated followers, but if the content that they post doesn't align with your brand then there’s no point in collaborating with them as they won’t have the right audience. 

If you do find a local influencer with the right style of content, take a look at their performance metrics, too. How frequently do they post? How active and engaged is their audience? Do their values align with those of your brand? Would you want your brand to be associated with them?

Some influencer marketing platforms, like Influencity, let you add these local profiles to your own influencer database, giving you access to these stats and more. This way you know that you are getting the most bang for your buck on the local influencers in your area. 

Check Local Hashtags

The next strategy you can use involves checking social media hashtags related to your brand and products. Be sure to narrow down your search, so that you only search for results that correspond to your local area. 

For example, if you want to see if there are any local influencers who could promote your New York restaurant, you could search for anyone using the hashtag #newyorkfoodbloggers. Try a variety of keywords to see what posts come up. You might find someone working with similar brands in your local area.  

Use an Influencer Platform

Finally, the most effective way to find local influencers is by using an influencer platform. That way, you have access to a broad variety of profiles which you can narrow down by filtering for certain interests, locations, and influencer and audience brand affinities. This means that you can quickly create a list of potential candidates in your area. 

For example, with Influencity, you get a full spectrum of influencer marketing tools and features that help you find the right influencers in your local area. This includes filters that let you narrow down influencers by country, city, and even US state. What’s more, Influencity gives you key audience data to show you where a content creator’s followers are located, what languages they speak, and what brands and hobbies interest them. This means that you reach your target audience each and every time, attracting customers to your small business and giving you the best possible return on your investment.