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Instagram - Finding Influencers - Clueless newbie - help please!

by Shelley Waite
11 replies
Hi all,

My first post here. I'm sorry if this question sounds REALLY dumb! But I want to know how this works before I start pouring money into it.

I'm just starting out my journey as a dropshipper. I've spent a few weeks researching and learning and I'm pretty much ready to jump right in and get started. However...

I've been trying to get my head around Instagram from a business owner's perspective and, while I get the gist of it, I'm still not quite sure how it REALLY works. I've been going round in circles for 2 days now and my brain hurts! I'm pretty tech-savvy but until now have never been interested in Instagram, so it's a massive learning curve for me. I'm hoping to get some advice from you guys in here. This is what I did (and it didn't work!)

I decided to play around with an item that I thought would probably be quite popular, just to see how I would get Influencers and how they would promote my stuff. So, I looked for mugs with cats on, because everyone loves cats... right? :confused: I guess if I were the owner of a Shopify store that sold mugs with cats on, I would find Instagram Influencers that also loved cats, by typing "cats" into the search bar. Up comes "cats_of_instagram", so I click on their page. They have a massive 9M followers and loads of engagement on their page. But I can't find any photos of items they might be promoting... No mugs. No t-shirts. No, well, ANYTHING. So, am I right in assuming that not all people on Instagram with a huge following will promote your stuff??

Next, I tried to use an Instagram Influencer Marketing Platform. I searched for cats_of_instagram and... they didn't even appear. So I searched for "cats" instead and a load of Influencers came up. I clicked on a few of these and there were just lots and lots of photos of their personal lives. No mugs. No STUFF of any kind. There must be a LOT of people wanting to sell cat mugs on Instagram, so where are all the ads??

I'm so confused. What am I missing? Do Influencers even promote your stuff on their Instagram account or does it work some other way? Why can't I find hardly any STUFF people are dropshipping, when Instagram is supposed to be one of the best ways to promote your store?!

Again, sorry if I sound like a dummy but I guess I have to start somewhere!

Any advice will be very gratefully received!
#clueless #finding #influencers #instagram #newbie
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  • Profile picture of the author SKathuria
    Hi Shelley Waite, Usually the influencers mention in their bios if they will accept offers or are open to collabs. You can try to contact them by searching if they would give your product a shout out for a 24 hr period or any kind of deal that you can work out with them.
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    • Profile picture of the author Shelley Waite
      Originally Posted by SKathuria View Post

      Hi Shelley Waite, Usually the influencers mention in their bios if they will accept offers or are open to collabs. You can try to contact them by searching if they would give your product a shout out for a 24 hr period or any kind of deal that you can work out with them.
      Thank you SKathuria!

      I just wonder where the influencers promote your stuff because I can't seem to find any promotions on influencers' pages. Do they promote in Instagram, to their followers? Or to Facebook, or some other channel?
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  • Profile picture of the author rwizz99
    Hey!
    "Do Influencers even promote your stuff on their Instagram account or does it work some other way?"
    That depends on the deal you have. I'm assuming you are going to send your product to influencers for free, and in that case, you need to think whether you are willing to pay them, or if you do not want to put down any more money. If you do not pay money (i.e., you are not paying for virtual ad space on the influencer's post), it is up to the person whether or not they would be posting about the product at all.

    If you are willing to pay for promotion, your main goal is to find people you want to do business with. It is most important that you do your research and then contact the people you think would be representing your product the best. If the promotion is paid for, you need to have clear requirements of what it is you need (how many posts, what style of picture, whether a tag is added, etc.)

    When it comes to contacting influencers, find their business emails or, if that is not an option, DM them personally). You might also be able to find who is representing the person you want to contact (pr, agents, etc) and contact them directly.

    Marketing via Instagram is a hustle, and you need to need to work hard.
    Good luck!
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    • Profile picture of the author Shelley Waite
      Thanks! This is all new territory for me, so will be a slow process but I'm only going to have to master it once, right
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  • Profile picture of the author mike@
    One thing to note is that you must tell them how much time do you want the post to be online. Maybe that's why you don't see any promotion.
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    • Profile picture of the author Shelley Waite
      Originally Posted by mike@ View Post

      One thing to note is that you must tell them how much time do you want the post to be online. Maybe that's why you don't see any promotion.
      Thanks Mike, that's a good point. Maybe they are promoting things and then taking the posts down.
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  • Profile picture of the author cearionmarie
    Do you like cats? I prefer dogs, i have 6 but I guess that's not the point here. Anyway if you are looking for collaborations then working with micro influencers is a better approach. You do not necessarily have to search for cats, look for real people, real influencers, then can do the promotion for you.
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    Cearion Uy - Marketing Advisor
    www.influencerauditor.com

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  • Profile picture of the author dylansmith22
    Hello Shelley!

    I would like to suggest you a platform in which you can contact influencers and work with them, this is called *PHLANX* platform

    Hope it helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author Shelley Waite
    Thanks all! I'm slowly getting the idea. My store is nearly ready to go, so I'll just dive in and see what happens! Thanks all for your input
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanbiddulph
    Many top IGers tend to pop up with their Stories, but focus on bonding 1 to 1 with all types of IGers in your niche. Forget top users. Connect with lesser known folks more easily and grow your network organically.
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    Ryan Biddulph helps you to be a successful blogger with his courses, manuals and blog at Blogging From Paradise
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  • Profile picture of the author Charly berthet
    Hey Shelley !
    Influencers often promote product through life pictures. For example a picture when she is running. But check caption of posts and you'll see that they mention brands, eg: «*love this leggings from @brand, you should check it!*».
    Also if you want to find influencers easily you should try https://insflam.com, it's free, no login good luck!
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