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

Are you interested in advertising your dropshipping products on Instagram via these so-called influencers? But are you not sure how to find them and how to pick the best ones? Awesome! 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)!

Finding Instagram influencers for your dropshipping store; how hard can it be, right? Well, it might not be hard to find influencers, but do keep in mind that there are a lot of fake ones as well! You can spot them by using online tools or by going through their followers, comments, and likes! You can only spend your money once!

How to See If an Instagram Influencer Is Worth Your Money?

Before we start with finding Instagram influencers for dropshipping, let's first learn how to see if an Instagram influencer is worth your money or not.

First off, I suggest watching the video below to learn some ways to spot fake influencers:

[EXPOSED] How To Spot Fake Influencers 2020 ⚠️⚠️

Secondly, I'll give you some tips below so you will have a bit more confidence before spending your money on these influencers. You will also learn some of these tips in the video above!

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 not sure what an engagement rate is, then you can click here to learn more.

At the bottom, you will also see what the average engagement rates on Instagram currently look like! As you can see, the Instagram account that I tested above looked good. Way better than the average of 1.97% that you see with Instagram pages with more than 1 million followers!

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).

For example, as you can see in the image below, they were gaining steadily, but in the last few months, their follower growth has slowed down a lot!

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 2017:

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.

Although it's still weird that they doubled their followers in a matter of a few days. Let me know what you think in the comments below or contact me here!

Also, just that you know, you can use Social Blade to check other social media profiles as well. For example, Twitter and Facebook.

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 if you see a lot of people tagging their friends or not. If they are, then 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!

And also, if you're interested now, after reading all my tips, in learning about more factors that you can consider to pick the right Instagram influencer for your dropshipping store, then I suggest reading this great article by Influencer Marketing Hub.

5 Ways to Find Instagram Influencers for Your Dropshipping Store

You now know what kind of Instagram influencers are worth your money (not the fakes ones!), let's continue this with learning five ways to find these 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!

One tip already, if you're ever interested in this, you can also use these methods to find influencers on other social media platforms. Yes, some are limited to Instagram, but not all!

1. 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 that will help you find these influencers yourself. Keep in mind that this might be time-consuming, but it's also free to do!

Also, these screenshots are taken on mobile because that's what most people use while using Instagram, haha!

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 by typing 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':

Then you will see a whole list of Instagram pages that you can check with my tips at the beginning!

And I'll make this tip even better. If you click on the Instagram profile, then you will see an arrow there (close to the follow button), like this:

This will show you pages related to the page that you're currently viewing. 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 I got for you is going 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':

But anyway, you can use these hashtags to find Instagram pages that are posting inside your niche!

Although keep in mind that that will be harder when you're searching through hashtags like #like4likes, it's better to do, for example, #dog or #puppy to have a higher chance to find posts inside your niche.

For example, here are some posts I found while searching for #dog:

Now you can go through each post that you find and see what Instagram page published the post.

Plus, you will even get some hashtag suggestions at the top!

3. Instagram Explore Page

The last tip I got for you is using 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. (Source)

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)

And even more, if you scroll down:

So now, you just go through each post (same as with the hashtags) and look if they are an Instagram page worth advertising on. Keep in mind; 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 bit bigger budget, then you can use an influencer marketing platform.

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

If you're interested in learning what kind of influencer marketing platforms are out there, then I suggest reading this list from Shana Barker.

3. Using product research tools

The next thing that you can do is use a product research tool. I'll show you two of these product research tools below that have an Instagram influencer feature in it.

Just keep in mind that you don't need to subscribe to these tools just to find influencers. (They both cost money)

But it's great if you already have this tool or want to subscribe to a product research tool anyway!

1. Dropship Spy

The first one, and the one with the most choice, is Dropship Spy. The first tool that they have is their ‘Approved Influencers'. This will show you the best Instagram influencers that you can use (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.

And, of course, they included a link to their Instagram page so you can check out the influencer for your self as well!

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.

2. Ecomhunt

And the last product research tool that you can use for this is Ecomhunt.

However, if I had to suggest one product research tool to use for this, then Dropship Spy is better.

Do you want to know why? Well, Ecomhunt only shows you Instagram influencers on the information page of the product they added (like what you saw above, at the end of Dropship Spy).

This is still nice, but it will be a bit harder to find influencers because you first need to find a product that falls into the same niche as the influencer that you're searching for. Here is an example of what you will see with a pet product:

Keep in mind that you can press a lot of times on the arrows to find even more influencers!

If you want to learn more about Ecomhunt, 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?

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 have a bit more confidence in them 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!

Also, if you're interested in advertising more on other social media platforms as well, then take a look at this complete Pinterest advertising guide, which will teach you everything you need to know about getting paid and free traffic from Pinterest.

If you got any more tips to find Instagram influencers or if you have any questions regarding dropshipping, then let me know by commenting below or contacting me directly by pressing the “Contact Us” button at the top!

Also, did you already advertise your products via an Instagram influencer before?

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

Do You Want to Learn More? Here Are My Recommendations!

Are you currently dropshipping? Or do you want to start dropshipping?

Awesome! I’ll link to the articles below that I recommend you read next.

This way, you will be fully prepared to take your dropshipping store to the next level in 2023!

I just want to say one thing; my blog doesn’t endorse any paid dropshipping courses. (I hate them, they are the reason I created this blog)

If you’re interested in learning why I think paid dropshipping courses are a waste of money, then you can click here.

Below you will find the articles that I suggest you read next:

• Influencer Marketing and Your Dropshipping Store in 2023!
• Using Instagram Influencers for Ecommerce: The Pros & Cons
• 9 Reasons Why You Need Instagram for Your Ecommerce Store
• Shopify Dropshipping: A 20-Step Guide to Starting Your Store

And also, if you didn’t create a Shopify account yet (to get your dropshipping store online), then you can click here to get a free 3-day trial + pay $1/month for the first 3 months!