The role of influencers within the online space is no longer the “new thing”. Rather, it’s a well-established role that has become synonymous with the online experience, offering those with sizable audiences an impressive level of power and, well, influence, in shaping shopping trends and the overall cultural zeitgeist. Naturally, this has made attaining influencer status a dream of many women across the globe, and over the years competition within the influencer space has made the process of gaining an audience harder than ever before.
So, what goes into becoming an influencer in the current space? And what should you be focusing on if you want to grow a following on social media?
Choose Your Influencer Style
When we think of influencers and people of note on social media, we often have a particular image in our head of glamorous, stylish people who are using their platform to share their aesthetics and creativity with the world. However, this isn’t the only way for someone to develop their career as an influencer or as a KOL, and there are many different niches that you can neatly fit yourself into.
One of the most important factors in becoming an influencer is your sense of authentic passion in what you’re doing, so picking a niche can be as simple as focusing on the area you are most familiar with. From motherhood influencers giving advice and glimpses into family life, to business influencers giving tips on how to stay motivated and keep the dream alive, there are a lot of different options you can pull from when crafting your unique style of influencer.
From Nano to Macro
If you’re going into the space with hopes of brand deals and collaborations, then you need to know what it is that those big businesses are going to be looking for in terms of your appeal. This is where terms like “nano-influencer” and “macro-influencer” come in, where brands will separate you based on your audience size and perceived appeal as a collaborator:
Macro influencers (500K–1M followers): The big stars with massive reach, perfect for broad campaigns.
Micro-influencers (10K–50K followers): The sweet spot of engagement, building tight-knit communities in niche spaces.
Nano influencers (up to 10K followers): Cozy, authentic voices with super loyal fans who trust their every word.
Knowing where you are in your journey helps you to plan out your goals and position yourself as a hot commodity in the space.
Engage With Your Audience
When you’ve got millions of followers, people will join your community and follow you for the content you bring, but as a smaller contributor to a platform with limited reach, it’s important that you do a little extra to stand out in the minds of your audience. Remember that the algorithm is a vast and ever changing place, and it’s hard to keep people’s attention if you aren’t putting in effort to capture them.
Wherever possible, respond to queries, pay attention to your audience’s comment trends and see what it is that your followers are coming to see. Does that mean entirely changing the course of your work to meet their needs? Not at all, but if you can work in elements that are going to show that you’re paying attention, that’s going to be enough to keep a lot of people coming back.
Collaborate With Influencer Management Platforms
Whether you’re new to the influencer space or not, you might be wondering how brands are contacting and facilitating collaborations and endorsements so easily. The answer is that, behind the scenes, there are a number of platforms that exist solely to support the connections between brands and the influencer space. Partnering with influencer platforms like Lefty is a great way to leverage your influencer status and gain connections within the business space that wouldn’t be available elsewhere.
Some of the top influencer marketing platforms include:
Lefty
Best for: Luxury and lifestyle brands seeking data-driven influencer discovery and campaign automation.
Lefty remains the premier choice for luxury and style-focused brands. This end-to-end influencer marketing platform, with a primary focus on Instagram, provides access to over 30 million influencer profiles. Its sophisticated discovery engine employs advanced filters to identify creators based on demographics, audience quality, and engagement metrics, solidifying its position as the preferred platform for global luxury brands.
Lefty excels in campaign management, offering automated content tracking (including Instagram Stories), comprehensive reporting, and competitive benchmarking. Features such as customisable landing pages and in-platform payment solutions streamline influencer onboarding and disbursements. With competitive pricing for its robust feature set, Lefty is an exceptional option for brands aiming to simplify and amplify their influencer marketing initiatives.
Traackr
Best for: Data-driven brands prioritising analytics over campaign execution.
Traackr specialises in in-depth influencer analytics, providing insights into performance and audience demographics across Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. Its global network spans 50 countries and 26 languages, making it ideal for international campaigns.
The platform’s content search and proactive recommendations enable brands to identify creators based on brand mentions or competitor activity. However, with pricing around $2,600/month and limited features like product gifting or affiliate payments, Traackr is better suited for brands focused on analytics rather than full campaign management.
GRIN
Best for: Brands managing complex campaigns with high-quality creators.
GRIN is a robust creator management platform offering tools like Creator Lookalike for identifying similar influencers and social listening to pinpoint brand advocates. It supports integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento for product seeding and affiliate tracking.
While GRIN delivers comprehensive campaign management and content performance insights, its influencer pool is approximately 30% smaller than Modash’s, and its pricing (starting at $1,000/month) may deter brands targeting niche or global markets.
Sprout Social Influencer Marketing
Best for: Brands integrating influencer campaigns with broader social media strategies.
Sprout Social’s influencer marketing module leverages AI-powered, topic-based search to identify creators aligned with brand values. Its Brand Fit Score and safety reporting ensure authentic partnerships, while the influencer CRM streamlines outreach and approvals.
Available on iOS, Android, and web, Sprout Social starts at $199/month per seat (billed annually). While not exclusively designed for influencer marketing, its integration with social media management tools makes it ideal for brands seeking a holistic approach. Smaller businesses may find the pricing and learning curve challenging.
CreatorIQ
Best for: Large brands requiring robust CRM and analytics.
CreatorIQ provides a cloud-based platform with a database of over 20 million profiles across major social media platforms. Its AI-driven influencer scoring and customisable filters enable brands to identify creators aligned with their objectives.
The platform excels in campaign management, offering automated content approval workflows and detailed ROI analytics. With pricing starting around $2,000/month, it is better suited for enterprises with established influencer programs, though its complexity may overwhelm smaller teams.
Shopify Collabs
Best for: Shopify merchants seeking a cost-effective, integrated solution.
Shopify Collabs is a no-cost platform embedded within the Shopify admin, making it an excellent choice for e-commerce businesses. It simplifies influencer discovery, product gifting, and affiliate tracking, allowing brands to manage campaigns directly from their Shopify dashboard.
While its search capabilities are less advanced than premium tools, its seamless integration and zero cost make it ideal for small to medium-sized Shopify stores. It is less suitable for brands requiring advanced analytics or multi-platform support beyond Instagram and TikTok.
Upfluence
Best for: Brands running large-scale affiliate campaigns across multiple platforms.
Upfluence is a versatile platform supporting Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, X, and Pinterest, with a database of over 8 million creators. It excels in affiliate marketing, offering integrations with Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, and Amazon for seamless promo code generation and sales tracking.
Upfluence’s AI-powered tools, including ChatGPT integration, enhance influencer discovery and campaign management. However, its pricing (starting around $478/month) may be prohibitive for smaller businesses, and its influencer pool is smaller than Modash’s, limiting options for niche campaigns.
Modash
Best for: E-commerce brands and Shopify users seeking a vast influencer database.
Modash boasts an extensive database of over 250 million influencer profiles across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, cataloguing creators with 1,000+ followers. Its advanced filtering tools allow brands to target influencers by niche, location, engagement rate, and audience demographics, making it ideal for discovering micro-influencers or niche creators.
With seamless Shopify integration, Modash enables brands to create promo codes, ship products, and track campaign performance without requiring creator sign-ups. Its intuitive interface and transparent pricing (starting at $199/month for the Essentials package) make it accessible, though it lacks support for platforms like Snapchat or X and does not offer affiliate link creation.
Your First Step to Influencer Success Starts Here
Finding the right tools for your influencer marketing needs can be the difference between a good campaign and a fantastic one, which is why it’s important to keep up-to-date with new ways to get your brand out there. Whether you’re a luxury influencer looking to expand your reach, or a startup vlogger looking for some early exposure, we’re sure that the tools above will provide you with a fantastic first step in the right direction.
The road to being an influencer is by no means a simple and straightforward one. However, if you are dedicated to expanding your reach and getting your voice into the conversation of what’s hot online, then hopefully the above information has been useful.
