The Ultimate Guide to Finding Influencers in 2025

Finding the right influencers or creators to represent your brand in 2025 is both a science and an art. With the vast amount of data available, it’s essential to know how to filter and search effectively to target the right voices for your campaigns. Here’s a detailed guide on how to navigate influencer search tools, with Instagram as a prime example, and how to use various filters to make your search as precise and relevant as possible. You can try all this in practice by registering a free trial on Hypetrain.

The Future of Influencer Search: AI to the Rescue

While mastering filters can lead to highly effective influencer marketing campaigns in 2025, the future holds even more promise. With AI becoming increasingly sophisticated, tools like Hypetrain are set to take over influencer searches, automating the process with incredible precision. AI will analyze patterns in audience behavior, engagement trends, and content performance, allowing brands to find the perfect influencers without the need for manual filtering. As AI takes the helm, influencer search will become faster, smarter, and more accurate—taking your campaigns to the next level without the heavy lifting. By 2025, the need to manually comb through filters will diminish, as AI revolutionizes how brands discover, vet, and collaborate with influencers in a way that’s not only effective but also effortless.

Anyway, let’s take a peek and see how it’s shaping up with filters now

1. Followers

The follower count filter allows you to choose influencers based on the size of their audience. This filter is perfect when you’re targeting influencers of different sizes:

Nano-influencers (1K-10K followers): Great for niche markets with high engagement.

Micro-influencers (10K–100K followers): Ideal for targeted B2B or SaaS marketing.

Macro-influencers (100K-1M followers): Suitable for broader brand awareness.

Mega-influencers (>1M followers): Best for large-scale, high-visibility campaigns.

When to use: Adjust follower count based on campaign goals. If you’re looking for engagement overreach, smaller influencers are better. For brand awareness, larger influencers will help.

2. Engagement Rate (ER) for 30 Posts

Engagement Rate (ER) measures how actively the influencer’s audience interacts with their content. ER based on the last 30 posts ensures you’re not selecting influencers with artificial spikes in engagement.

When to use: This filter is crucial for identifying influencers with genuine influence. It helps avoid accounts with fake followers or low audience engagement. For campaigns aiming for interaction (comments, likes, shares), focus on high ER influencers.

3. Topics and Categories

Influencers are often categorized based on their niche or topic, such as fashion, tech, fitness, or SaaS.

When to use: This filter ensures that you’re selecting influencers who align with your brand’s industry. For example, if you’re marketing a SaaS product, it’s essential to target influencers in tech, business, or B2B categories.

4. Reels Plays

Instagram Reels has become a powerful tool for engagement, and the Reels Plays filter lets you search for influencers based on the performance of their short videos.

When to use: Use this filter if your campaign focuses on video content. It helps find influencers with a strong Reels performance, which is essential for visual and engaging storytelling.

5. Influencer Location

This filter allows you to target influencers in specific countries or regions.

When to use: For localized campaigns or when targeting audiences in specific geographic areas. For example, if you’re launching a product in the U.S., filtering by US-based influencers ensures relevance.

6. Influencer Gender, Age, and Language

These filters help refine the search to match your target demographic.

Gender and Age: Ensure the influencer resonates with the gender and age group you’re targeting.

Language: Essential for localized content or multilingual campaigns.

When to use: For campaigns aimed at specific demographics (e.g., women in tech or Gen Z users), these filters help narrow the search.

7. Influencer Lookalikes

This feature allows you to find influencers similar to others you’ve worked with or admired.

When to use: Ideal when you want to replicate the success of previous influencer partnerships or find influencers who fit your brand style.

8. Influencer Brand Affinity & Partnerships

This filter shows you influencers who have previously worked with specific brands, giving you insight into their brand alignment.

When to use: If you want to find influencers with a proven history of working with similar or complementary brands, this filter can help you avoid working with those who may have conflicting brand associations.

9. Audience Filters (Location, Age, Gender, Language, Ethnicity, Brand Affinity)

These filters focus on the influencer’s audience instead of the influencer themselves.

Audience Location: Target regions where you want to build brand awareness or generate sales.

Audience Age/Gender: Helps align with the demographic of your ideal customers.

Audience Language: Crucial for localized campaigns in non-English-speaking markets.

Audience Brand Affinity: Identifies audiences who already engage with similar brands.

When to use: These filters are essential for ensuring that the influencer’s audience matches your target market. For example, if you’re launching a new product aimed at Gen Z tech enthusiasts in Europe, you can filter for influencers whose audiences are young, tech-savvy, and located in that region.

10. Keyword, Bio, Mention, Hashtag Filters

Search for influencers who mention specific keywords, hashtags, or topics in their bio or content.

When to use: Ideal when looking for influencers who are organically discussing topics related to your brand or product. For example, a SaaS company can search for influencers using keywords like “B2B SaaS” or “Tech Innovation.”

11. Account Type & Last Post

These filters help you differentiate between personal and professional accounts and identify active influencers by checking their most recent posts.

When to use: This is essential for ensuring that the influencer is actively engaged and not dormant. Choose account types that align with your brand (e.g., professional or business accounts for more formal campaigns).

Combining Filters for Effective Searches

Campaigns Focused on Local Engagement: Combine influencer location, audience location, and language to ensure both the influencer and their audience match your geographical target.

Maximizing Engagement: Use a combination of engagement rate, reel plays, and micro-influencers for campaigns focused on interaction rather than just reach.

Niche Industry Influence: For highly targeted industries like SaaS, combining topics, keywords, and bio filters will help find influencers with deep expertise.

Demographic-Specific Campaigns: Use gender, age, and audience affinity to zero in on influencers whose audience matches your customer profile.