Influencer Discovery

Given an industry/niche and target audience, systematically discover influencers across 4 platform categories plus cross-platform discovery angles (conference speakers, podcast guests, newsletter curators), then score and rank by Audience Overlap. Outputs a prioritized list of influencers worth partnering with, sponsoring, or learning from.

Usage

Use when finding influencers to partner with for sponsorships, affiliate deals, or co-marketing. Also useful for identifying thought leaders your target audience already follows, building a media list for outreach or PR, or understanding who shapes opinion in your niche before creating content.

Process

Step 1: Gather Inputs

Ask the user for:

• Industry/niche — the topic domain (e.g., "B2B SaaS marketing", "personal finance for millennials", "indie game development")

• Target audience — who follows these influencers, framed as the buyer (e.g., "SaaS founders", "freelance developers", "e-commerce store owners")

• Platform focus (optional) — prioritize specific platforms (YouTube, X/Twitter, Newsletters, Podcasts, Instagram). Default: search all.

• Minimum follower count (optional) — exclude influencers below a threshold. Default: no minimum (micro-influencers included).

Extract from inputs:

• Niche keywords: The 3-5 topic terms that define the industry

• Audience profile: Who the target audience is (role, stage, problem domain)

• Platform priorities: Which platforms to weight more heavily

Step 2: Generate Search Queries

Generate 10 search queries to surface influencers across platform types and discovery angles:

"Top influencers" list queries:

• "top [niche] influencers [current year]"

• "best [niche] creators to follow"

• "top [audience] thought leaders"

Platform-specific queries:

• "top [niche] youtube channels"

• "[niche] youtube [subscribers OR creators]"

• "best [niche] newsletter substack"

• "top [niche] podcast"

• "[niche] twitter thought leaders"

Cross-platform discovery:

• "[niche] conference speakers [current year]"

• "who sponsors [niche] newsletters"

• "[niche] podcast guest list"

Step 3: Search YouTube

Search YouTube for top channels in the niche:

• Use queries: "top [niche] YouTube channels", "[audience] YouTube", "[niche keyword] tutorial/advice channel"

• For each channel found, collect: Channel name, URL, subscriber count, content focus

• Aim for 20-30 YouTube channels across macro (500k+), mid-tier (50k-500k), and micro (<50k) tiers

Step 4: Search X/Twitter

Search for thought leaders on X/Twitter:

• Use queries: "[niche] twitter", "best [niche] accounts to follow", "[identity/role] twitter"

• Check "listicles" — blog posts titled "Best [niche] accounts to follow on Twitter/X" often list 10-20 accounts at once

• Include both prolific posters (daily content) and respected practitioners (less frequent but high-quality takes)

Step 5: Search Blogs, Newsletters, and Podcasts

Blogs

• Search: "top [niche] blogs", "best [niche] blog to read", "[niche] writers"

• Look for independent writers with their own sites

Newsletters

• Search: "best [niche] newsletter", "[niche] substack", "[niche] email newsletter"

• Check Substack's discover page for the niche if applicable

Podcasts

• Search: "top [niche] podcast", "best [niche] podcast", "[audience] podcast"

• Check Apple Podcasts and Spotify charts if accessible

Step 6: Search Meta (Facebook and Instagram)

• Search: "[niche] facebook page", "[identity] instagram", "[niche] instagram creator"

• Focus on public profiles and pages

• Meta is lower priority for most B2B niches — if the niche skews consumer or visual, prioritize more heavily

Step 7: Mine Cross-Platform Discovery Sources

Conference Speaker Lists

• Search: "[niche] conference [current year] speakers", "[niche] summit speakers"

• Conference keynote and session speakers are pre-vetted as recognized voices

• Extract speaker names → find their primary platform

Podcast Guest Cross-References

• Search: "[top podcast in niche] guests", "most popular [niche] podcast episodes"

• Repeat guests on multiple podcasts = high-credibility signal

Newsletter Curator Lists

• Search: "who sponsors [niche] newsletters", "[niche] newsletter sponsors"

• Companies sponsoring newsletters indicate which newsletters have a commercially valuable audience

Step 8: Normalize All Results

Compile all discovered influencers into a single list. For each entry, record:

Field Description

Name Person or brand name

Primary Platform The platform where they have the largest/most active presence

X/Twitter URL Profile URL or "—"

YouTube URL Channel URL or "—"

Newsletter/Blog URL URL or "—"

Podcast URL URL or "—"

Instagram/Facebook URL URL or "—"

Primary Follower Count Count on their primary platform

Content Type What they primarily create (tutorials, opinion/takes, case studies, interviews, tools)

Source Where they were discovered

Deduplication: If the same person appears from multiple discovery sources, merge into one entry. Multiple discovery sources = stronger relevance signal.

Step 9: Score Each Influencer

Score every influencer on Relevance (1–5):

Score Signal

5 Content is directly about the target audience's core problems — almost every post/video is on-target

4 Strong match — most content is relevant, occasional tangents

3 Adjacent — their niche overlaps meaningfully but isn't a perfect match

2 Loose match — some relevant content but audience is broader or different

1 Tangential — topic surface-level overlap but different audience

Audience Overlap Rating

Rating Criteria

High Relevance ≥ 4

Medium Relevance = 3

Low Relevance ≤ 2

Step 10: Sort and Finalize

Sort the full list:

• Primary: Audience Overlap rating (High → Medium → Low)

• Secondary: Primary follower count (largest first within each tier)

Include micro-influencers (1K–50K followers) alongside macro — do not exclude them.

Output Format

Influencer Discovery: [Industry/Niche]

Date: [current date] Industry/Niche: [description] Target Audience: [description] Influencers found: [count] across [X] platforms Audience Overlap breakdown: High: [X] | Medium: [X] | Low: [X]

High Overlap Influencers

Medium Overlap Influencers

[Same table structure]

Low Overlap Influencers

[Same table structure]

Platform Coverage Summary

Observations

[2-3 bullet points: where this niche's influencer ecosystem is concentrated, tier distribution, notable patterns]

Partnership Opportunities

[Top 3-5 influencers worth prioritizing for sponsorship or collaboration, with a 1-sentence reason each]

Recommended Next Steps

1. [e.g., "Reach out to top 3 High Overlap newsletter authors — newsletter sponsorships often have fastest lead time"]
2. [e.g., "Monitor [top X/Twitter account] for mentions of problems your product solves"]

Rules

• Aim for 100+ influencers total. For narrow B2B niches, 50 is acceptable — flag it.

• Never invent influencer accounts or inflate follower counts — only include verified results from search.

• Never exclude micro-influencers (1K–50K) — they are often the highest-value partnerships for niche B2B audiences.

• Never focus only on one platform — cross-platform coverage is a core output requirement.

• Discovery source matters: an influencer found via conference speakers + podcast guest + YouTube search is more credible than one found via a single listicle.

• Follower counts are best-effort estimates — verify before outreach.

• If fewer than 30 influencers are found, try broader synonyms for the niche or audience.