How to Find Instagram Influencers for Dropshipping? (5 Tips)

Finding Instagram influencers for your dropshipping store; how hard can it be, right?

Well, it can be quite hard to find the right ones manually, while tools like Shopify Collabs can make it significantly easier.

In this article, I will guide you through the selection process for Instagram influencers so you can start with influencer marketing.

Enjoy reading (and learning)!

5 Ways to find Instagram influencers for your dropshipping store

Here are five ways to find Instagram influencers yourself so you can "use" them to advertise the products from your dropshipping store!

I do want to start by saying that if you don't have an Instagram page for your dropshipping store yet, then you can click here to learn how to create and grow one!

Another tip, you can also use these methods to find influencers on other social media platforms.

1. Find influencers on Instagram itself

The first way to find Instagram influencers is by going to Instagram! (You might have guessed that already, haha)

I'll give you a few tips below to help you find these influencers yourself. While this might be time-consuming, it's also free!

1. Typing in keywords around the niche from your store/product

The first thing that you can do, and this might be the most obvious one, is type in keywords around your niche from either your store or the product that you want to sell (if you have a general store).

For example, let's search for 'dog', and find some Instagram influencers for that niche. Just type in 'dog', and then press on 'Accounts':

If you click on the Instagram profile, then you will see a section related pages:

This way, you will find pages that you would never have expected to find in the first place!

Awesome, right?

2. Hashtags

The next tip is to go through the hashtags that you're currently using.

If you don't know yet which hashtags you want to use, then you can click here to learn how to find hashtags!

For example, you can use a hashtag generator like All Hashtag:

Or you can type in your keyword in Instagram and press on 'Tags' instead of 'Accounts':

You can use these hashtags to find Instagram pages that are posting inside your niche!

3. Instagram Explore Page

The next tip is to use the Instagram Explore Page. I think you already know what this page is, but if you don't, then you can click here to learn more about it.

Instagram will show you pictures/videos there that they think might be interesting for you.

You might be thinking now, "But how does that help me find Instagram influencers?"

Well, if you're actively looking on Instagram for a certain niche, then Instagram will start showing you more and more posts from inside that niche because they keep track of everything you do on Instagram.

For example, this is what it looks like on a theme page that I tried to grow on Instagram. (I failed because they kept banning me for following too many people, haha)

So now, you just go through each post (same as with the hashtags) and see if they are an Instagram page worth advertising on.

Keep in mind that not all these posts will come from Influencers. Some will come from normal Instagram accounts as well.

2. Websites that show Instagram influencers

If you don't want to find Instagram influencers manually and you have a bigger budget, you can use an influencer marketing platform.

An influencer marketing platform is a service that connects brands (like your dropshipping store) with influencers.

For example, you can use Shopify's built-in tool called Shopify Collabs:

It allows you to connect with creators, send them samples, and pay them automatically!

Another example of that is Heepsy:

They also wrote a guest post on this blog, teaching you all about influencer marketing and how to use it for your dropshipping store. (You can find that article here)

3. Using product research tools

The next thing you can do is use a product research tool like Dropship Spy.

They have a list of 'Approved Influencers', which are the best Instagram influencers that you can use for dropshipping (in their opinion):

You can even sort by what niche you want the Instagram influencer to be in:

The great thing is that you just have to click on the image of the influencer to go to this page:

On that page, you will see all the information of that influencer.

For example, the engagement score, which you can compare to the engagement rate that I showed you above, and the cost for a 24-hour post or Instagram Story.

Of course, they included a link to their Instagram page so you can check out the influencer yourself!

You can even see their latest posts with the number of likes and comments that that post got:

I personally think it’s a great tool; you can get so much inspiration on what kind of influencers are out there. Plus, you can easily compare the prices!

You can use these prices to see what the average influencer charges inside the niche of your dropshipping store or the niche that falls inside the product that you’re going to sell.

They do have another tool called 'Instagram Influencer Search':

You just fill in the name of the Instagram influencer that you found, and you get the same information as above with the approved influencers (except the costs of a shoutout).

But I personally think that, if you want this kind of information, you can better use the tools that I showed you above. (Phlanx & SocialBlade)

And the last thing they have is that they show you the best Instagram influencers with each product they publish:

If you want to learn more about Dropship Spy, then you can click here to read my in-depth review.

4. Take a look at your own followers

If you have been growing your own Instagram account already, then there could be a chance that one of your own followers is an influencer.

Maybe there is someone who comments a lot on your pictures or likes a lot of them.

This great tip is from Izea:

Once you find Instagram influencers for free and they seem jazzed about your brand’s existence, take a peek at their Instagram profiles.

Do they have a good number of followers (more than 1,000)? Do they have more followers than accounts they follow? What do they post about, and how often do they post?

You’re looking for someone who posts about things relevant to your brand (or maybe even about your brand!), and who doesn’t have anything offensive or off-color on their feed.

From this article from Izea

5. Using Google

The next thing that you can do is to use Google. You can search for the top Instagram influencers in your niche (or the niche from your product if you have a general store).

Don't forget that you can do this for any social media platform where they have influencers.

As you can see, you will see a lot of lists with 'dog' Instagram influencers:

But you can also try it with other keywords like 'food':

Another great tip by NinjaOutreach is to search this on Google:

Keyword + site:instagram.com

This will show you tons of Instagram profiles that have your keyword in it, for example:

Or you can do it like this if you want a specific location:

Keyword + Location + site:instagram.com

You can even change the settings of Google to show you 100 results on one page:

Now simply, open each profile in your search results as a new tab. Review each one closely, pick what you like, and send a direct message.

Awesome, right?

How to check if an Instagram influencer is worth it?

Now, let's learn how to see if an Instagram influencer is worth your money or not.

I'll give you some tips below so you will have a bit more confidence before spending your money on these influencers.

Let's get started!

1. Check Phlanx to see their engagement rate

The first tool that you can use is Phlanx.

You can check the engagement rate of the Instagram influencer with this tool.

If you're doing Instagram marketing for your dropshipping store, then it's important to work with influencers with high engagement rates.

As you can see, the Instagram account above has an engagement rate that's significantly higher than average.

2. Check Social Blade

The next tool that you can put the Instagram influencer "through" is called Social Blade.

You can check here if their follower's growth is looking legit (that they didn't purchase fake followers).

You can also press on 'Historical Data' to look for any weird bumps.

For example, if they are gaining around 10,000 followers each month, but one month they suddenly gain 1 million followers. That will look a bit weird, right?

The reason for that could be that they bought fake followers, but it could also be that they had a post that went viral and gained a lot of followers that way!

For example, I found this in their historical data charts; they had around 50,000 followers on 5 April:

But then, a few days later, they went to around 100,000 followers:

And then:

I'm not saying now that they bought their followers, but it's still good to check these kinds of things.

3. Check fake followers

This is almost the same as using a tool like Social Blade, but you can check it manually as well. Although this will take a lot longer!

Here is a great explanation from Hype Journal on what a fake follower is:

Fake followers are Instagram bots, stolen accounts, abandoned accounts, and users who use specific tools to boost their accounts’ followers, likes artificially, and comments number.

Usually, fake Instagram followers have:

0 followers
0 posts
No profile picture
High Ratio of people they follow
0 posts in the last 30 days
Username is filled with random numbers

From Hype Journal

If you're interested in learning more about how to check an influencer for fake followers, then I suggest reading their great article here.

4. Check the likes & comments of the Instagram influencer

Not only followers can be bought, but likes and comments can also be bought.

If you see that the comments are looking weird and out of place (read: spammy), then there is a high chance that the comments are fake and bought.

Definitely, if you see this happening on a lot of different posts!

One thing you can look at for the comments is whether you see a lot of people tagging their friends. If they do, that's a great sign that they have active followers!

For likes, it's a bit harder, but my biggest tip for you is to use your brain. If they have 100,000 followers but only a handful of likes on each of their posts, then that should turn on a big alarm in your head.

5. Bigger pages are not always better

Bigger pages don't always have the same authenticity as smaller pages.

If you're interested in learning the difference between bigger and smaller Instagram influencers (with followers, not height haha), then I suggest reading this article here. That article covers everything you need to know about Influencer marketing.

In case you're wondering, yes, purchasing a shoutout from an influencer to promote a product from your dropshipping store is called Influencer marketing!

Conclusion

So, there you have it!

Everything you need to know to find Instagram influencers for your dropshipping store and to start with influencer marketing.

I hope you also understand now how you can check Instagram influencers to gain more confidence before spending your money on a shoutout!

If you're still not confident enough, then check out these 10 Instagram shoutout examples from other ecommerce stores. Or you can take a look at these 13 Instagram account examples!

Good luck with finding the best Instagram influencers for your dropshipping store!

Want to learn more about Instagram?

Ready to move your influencer marketing for dropshipping to the next level? Check out the articles below:

• Instagram Marketing for Dropshipping: A Complete Guide!
• How Do You Do Product Research on Instagram? (8 Great Tips)
• 9 Reasons Why You Need Instagram for Your Dropshipping Store