I love the moment you find an influencer whose strengths seem bigger than their follower size. You can almost feel it, the format is landing, the comments are lively, and the creator is finding their fans in real time.

But most teams discover underpriced influencers too late. By the time they notice someone promising, the follower jump has already happened, brands are already circling, and the rate card has already shifted.

If you want a better shot at getting there earlier, start by watching for what usually moves first: conversation.

In this piece, I’ll show you how to spot emerging creators, vet them fast, and reach out before the market crowds in.

 

 

Why Agencies Overpay for “Hot” Influencers

Once a creator gets labeled “hot,” the economics shift fast. Rates climb because demand climbs. Availability drops because calendars fill. And content starts to look oddly similar as multiple brands chase the same creator at the same time.

Overpaying is not only a budget issue. It can change the quality of the partnership. Negotiations get more rigid. Creative flexibility shrinks. Longer relationships become harder to build because you are arriving late, with more competition and less room to collaborate.

 

 

A lot of this happens because discovery starts where measurement is easy: follower count and recent viral posts. Those numbers matter. They just show up late.

 

 

What “Underpriced” Means (and What It Doesn’t)

“Underpriced” does not mean cheap. It means a creator’s pull is rising faster than their current rates reflect.

Here are a few telltale signs I watch for:

• Engagement velocity: engagement is rising post over post, not peaking once. Track it by saving the last 6 to 10 posts and watching whether comments, saves, and shares are trending up across multiple posts.
  
  
• Comment quality: people ask specific questions instead of leaving generic reactions.
  
  
• Intent language: “Link?” “What is that called?” “Where did you get it?” “Does it hold up?
  
  
• Repeat viewers: you start seeing the same names in the comments, again and again.
  

 

When those signals show up consistently and follower count hasn’t caught up yet, you’re often seeing the affordable part of the curve, when creators are still open to longer partnerships.

 

 

Social Listening: What It Used To Be, and What It Is Now

Social listening used to be a “what was talked about” tool. Teams used it to summarize brand mentions after a campaign launched or wrapped. Helpful, but backward-looking.

Now it’s more useful as an early-warning system. It helps you see which creators, formats, and phrases keep showing up while they’re still contained in smaller circles. That’s where trends usually start. Quietly. Then they spread.

 

Used this way, social listening becomes a signal layer. It shows where attention is forming so you can build your shortlist, then confirm fit with influencer data before you reach out.

Later, I’ll show you how to run this with any setup, and how it maps to Influencity if you use it.

The Part People Skip: Vetting (and Why I Don’t)

Getting in early is exciting. It is also where teams can get burned.

I can’t stress this enough: vetting matters. Sometimes these creators are legitimate and ready. Sometimes they have all the red flags. And in my experience, if there is one red flag, there are usually more. 

So yes, I recommend chasing early signals. I also recommend vetting thoroughly no matter how you discover a creator. Don’t let excitement do the decision-making.

Quick vetting checks (use today):

• Scan the last 15–20 posts. Is the content consistently original and on-topic?
  
  
• Read comments, not just totals. Are they real conversations or empty hype?
  
  
• Review “nice” vs. “doubtful” mix for follower quality.
  
  
• Review follower geography.
  
  
• Look for sudden follower spikes paired with low comment depth. That mismatch matters.
  
  
• Check for brand safety basics: hateful content, harassment, stolen-content claims, or repeated call-outs.
  
  

This part is not glamorous, but it is how you avoid expensive mistakes and program headaches.

Two “Early” Patterns Worth Watching

You don’t need secret data to spot these. You just need to watch for patterns.

Pattern 1: The remix cluster

Some creator waves start as jokes. A character, phrase, or format becomes a running theme. Smaller creators remix it, then other accounts build on it. Comment sections fill with references that assume shared context.

Before anything breaks wide, you can often see a cluster forming: multiple accounts posting similar takes, engagement growing across the cluster, and viewers saying the same things in comments.

This is where social listening earns its keep. The signal is not a single viral post. It is repetition that builds across accounts. Brands that recognize those patterns early can collaborate while the content still feels native to the platform, before creators get flooded with inbound requests.

Pattern 2: The helpful authority

In some niches, the creator who wins is not the loudest. It is the one people trust.

You will see it when commenters tag them for opinions, ask for their take, or treat them like the “go ask this person” account. That authority often shows up before follower growth does, which is why it can be such a useful early clue.

The Practical Workflow You Can Run This Week

This is meant to be repeatable, not a one-time hunt. You can do it with any social listening setup, a spreadsheet, and 30 minutes a week.

The conversation-first creator discovery workflow

Step 1: Start with category phrases, not your brand name

Brand-name monitoring is useful, but it tends to surface creators after they already know you. Category phrases catch creators earlier.

Try phrases people actually search, post, and comment with:

• “clean beauty dupes”
  
  
• “budget fitness gear”
  
  
• “carry-on travel hacks”
  
  

Keep them specific. Specific language gives you cleaner results.

Step 2: Watch for breakout signals that show up early

You’re not looking for one viral post. You’re looking for signs of building interest.

Three signals are especially helpful:

• Unpaid mentions: a creator brings up a product or category without being prompted.
  
  
• Steady positive reaction: not one loud spike, but a consistent run of posts where viewers respond well.
  
  
• Community authority: people tag the creator for advice or treat them like a go-to source.

Step 3: Build a shortlist, then validate with influencer data

Social listening gives you names. Validation tells you whether to spend budget and time.

Create a shortlist and analyze the top candidates using influencer data like:

• Audience fit: location, language, interests, age/gender (when available)
  
  
• Consistency: engagement rate across recent posts, not one spike
  
  
• Quality signals: saves/shares (if available), comment rate, view-to-like ratio
  
  
• Brand suitability: themes, tone, prior partnerships/disclosures
  
  
• Growth pattern: steady growth vs sudden suspicious spikes

A practical operating rule I suggest: shortlist widely, analyze selectively. Spend deeper analysis time once the early signals repeat for 2 to 3 posts or 1 to 2 weeks.

Step 4: Track for two quick check-ins, then move

Early discovery only works if you act while terms are still flexible.

Here’s a simple cadence:

• Week 1: save the creator + snapshot last 6 to 10 posts
• Week 2: compare the newest 3 to 5 posts to the prior set
  If engagement is still building and comment quality stays strong, start outreach. Waiting for follower count confirmation often means waiting for everyone else, too.
  

If You Use Influencity, Here’s How the Same Workflow Maps

If you’re running this inside Influencity, the steps line up cleanly:

• Monitoring helps you track category conversations and spot repeat authors.
  
  
• Discover helps you verify those creators with profile and audience data.
  
  
• IRM (Influencer Relationship Management) helps you save them, organize lists like “Watchlist” and “Ready to Contact,” and keep notes in one place.
  
  

Same workflow, fewer tabs.

Turning Discovery Into Repeatable Action

IRM is where early discovery becomes a routine instead of a scattered list. Save promising creators while you’re still watching for consistent growth, add a note about why they stood out, and drop them into a simple pipeline like Watchlist → Ready to Contact → In Conversation. The main benefit is boring in the best way: your team doesn’t lose good finds, and you don’t re-vet the same creator three different times.

Dos and don’ts

Do

• Monitor emerging topics and niches
  
  
• Prioritize engagement patterns and comment quality
  
  
• Check profile and audience data before outreach
  
  
• Vet quickly, even when you are excited
  
  

Don’t

• Only track your brand name
  
  
• Judge creators by follower size alone
  
  
• Bet on a single viral post with no follow-through
  
  
• Skip vetting because a creator “feels like the one”
  
  

Reactive Discovery vs. Earlier Discovery

When discovery starts after popularity is obvious, you usually pay more and have fewer options. When discovery starts at the conversation stage, you often get better terms and more room to build a relationship.

The difference is the order you follow: listen first, validate second, organize and track third, then reach out.

Conclusion

Finding the right influencer is often misconstrued as luck. In reality, it is timing plus a routine.

Social listening helps you see conversations while they are still forming. Influencer data helps you confirm whether a creator is a fit. Relationship management helps you stay organized so your team can move while collaboration is still affordable and flexible.

If you want to work with rising creators before the market gets crowded, build a simple weekly habit: listen, shortlist, vet, validate, and keep a short list you track over time.

FAQs

What does it mean to find an “underpriced” influencer?

An underpriced influencer is not cheap. It’s a creator whose audience response and momentum are growing faster than their current rates reflect. You often see strong engagement, repeat commenters, and purchase-intent questions before follower count or pricing catches up.

How does social listening help discover creators earlier?

Social listening surfaces conversation patterns before popularity becomes obvious. By tracking repeated mentions, shared formats, and who people are talking about, teams can spot creators gaining traction before follower spikes, brand outreach, or rate increases happen.

What signals matter more than follower count when evaluating up-and-coming creators?

Follower count matters, but it’s usually a late signal when you’re trying to catch creators early. For up-and-coming creators, look for momentum indicators first: engagement velocity (reactions rising across several posts), higher-quality comments (real questions, not generic hype), intent language (“link?” “what is that called?”), and repeat viewers showing up week after week. These clues often appear before follower growth catches up.

Can this creator discovery workflow work without Influencity?

Yes. The workflow is tool-agnostic. You can run it with any social listening setup, native platform search, or even manual tracking. Influencity simply helps centralize listening, validation, and organization, but the discovery principles work regardless of platform.