In app marketing, you cannot rely on just one strategy. Establishing a relationship with the top social media influencers in your niche can help you get the word out about your app faster than building your social media profiles out yourself.

So in this post we will give you seven ways to find these people fast, so you can start seeing results as soon as possible.

1. Klout

One of the fastest ways to find an influencer is to do a quick search on Klout. The upside is that you will get an exact score that shows how influential a person is in certain categories.

The downside is that you can only search by their predefined categories, Klout does not offer a free form search. In addition, if a person on Klout does not connect all of their their social media profiles, their score may not be a true reflection of their influence.

But that’s OK. No platform is perfect.

We simply are looking for a quick and free search, and that’s what we get here.

For example, let’s say that you have an app that is related to wine (like this one). To get your app in front of as many wine lovers as possible, having a social media influencer talk about it could give you a huge boost in downloads.

So let’s search for accounts that are influential in the wine category. To do this, we log into our Klout account and do a search for “wine” in the box at the top.

This will give is a list of experts on the right side of the screen.

From there, you can look for people who would be a good match for your app. In this example, one person you may want to contact is Jon Thorson of Reverse Wine Snob.

He has a great Klout Score and he is considered to be an expert in several categories related to food and wine.

You have to create an account to get this information, but the signup is fast and free.

2. Clarity

Sometimes, you have to spend some money, to save yourself a ton of time/money later.

It’s like owning a MacBook. Are they significantly more expensive than other laptops?

Sure.

But when you figure in all the wasted time that comes with owning a PC (viruses, Windows 10 upgrades, new “features,” etc.), the total cost of ownership of a Macbook is actually much lower.

In a similar way, paying $15 a minute for consulting may seem obscene. But if you can get direct access to an influencer and they can possibly help you or point you in the right direction immediately, that can save you a ton of time and help you make much more money than if you had to do it on your own.

This one is a little backwards. You can find them on Clarity first, then take a look at their social media profiles to see how much of a following they have.

So search Clarity and see if there are people who might be able to help you, or put you in touch with niche related social media influencers in your niche. A few minutes might be all you need to solve your most difficult problem…right now.

3. Twitter Saved Searches

Twitter can be a great way to find people who are highly influential in your niche. Following hashtags searches will help you keep track of important conversations around topics you are interested in.

To save a search, simply click on the More options menu, then click on Save this search.

4. LinkedIn Search

This can be an easy way to find people who are experts at what they do. For example, if you want to find app marketing experts, a simple search turns up a ton of results.

You can filter through these people and find influencers to contact. The great thing is that you can see their experience before you contact them.

5. BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo can be a great way to find content that has been shared a lot. This can have dual benefits.

First, you can find great content ideas for your own content marketing. Obviously, don’t copy these articles, but understanding what is already working can be a shortcut to creating content that gets shared.

Second, you can find influencers that don’t turn up in any of your other searches. Sure, some of these content producers may have gotten lucky or paid their way to the top. But you will usually find at least one or two people who are legit influencers in your niche.

To get started, go to the homepage and search for a topic. Let’s say that you have a travel app.

You could search for previous travel app reviews that have been popular. This will show you websites that you can contact and establish a relationship with.

6. Instagram Search

Like Twitter, Instagram is all about hashtags, so taking a few minutes to research the hashtags and keywords in your niche can be a great way to uncover people to work with.

The only thing with Instagram is that the top influencers usually expect to be paid to get a shout out or post on their  account. If you have some money, this could be worthwhile. Just be sure to do your research on previous advertisers on the account you are considering advertising on.

Remember that Instgram ads can be a a cheaper alternative, consider them too.

If you don’t have an advertising budget, then look for second and third tier influencers (a few hundred to a few thousand followers). They can still get the word out about your app, but might be willing to do post for promo codes or some other type of trade.

7. YouTube Search

Last, but certainly not least is YouTube. Some channels have huge followings, but they might not be well known outside of YouTube.

So if you do a few quick searches, you might be able to bring up channels that you could reach out to and have them review your app.

Here is an awesome review of the MyIdol app by Superholly.

Like on any other channel, the channel owner might ask for compensation, so it is up to you to decide if that is the right thing for you. Sometimes a hardcore enthusiast channel with a hundred subscribers (that does it for free) can give you more traction than a channel with tens of thousands of not-so-engaged followers.

So do your research before paying any money.

To learn more about creating videos on YouTube to establish yourself as a social media influencer, read this post on YouTube marketing.

Conclusion

Finally, remember that you are trying establish a relationship with a person. So before you contact these social media influencers, be sure to consider what you can offer them in return. It could be as simple as sharing their content before you ask them for anything.

Building relationships with these people can have long-term benefits for both of you. So get out there and find some cool people to work with!

Got any more tips? Let us know the comments below…