# Influencer discovery Human Guide

## What This Is For
Use when finding influencers to partner with for sponsorships, affiliate deals, or co-marketing. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for influencer discovery: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Influencer discovery agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for influencer discovery.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Influencer discovery guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- **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).
- **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
- "top [niche] influencers [current year]"
- "best [niche] creators to follow"
- "top [audience] thought leaders"
- "top [niche] youtube channels"
- "[niche] youtube [subscribers OR creators]"

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Usage, Process, Step 1: Gather Inputs, Step 2: Generate Search Queries, Step 3: Search YouTube, Step 4: Search X/Twitter, Step 5: Search Blogs, Newsletters, and Podcasts, Blogs, Newsletters, Podcasts.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

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

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Influencer discovery human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the superamped/ai-marketing-skills skill entry for `influencer-discovery`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Influencer Discovery

## 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:
1. **Industry/niche** — the topic domain (e.g., "B2B SaaS marketing", "personal finance for millennials", "indie game development")
2. **Target audience** — who follows these influencers, framed as the buyer (e.g., "SaaS founders", "freelance developers", "e-commerce store owners")
3. **Platform focus** (optional) — prioritize specific platforms (YouTube, X/Twitter, Newsletters, Podcasts, Instagram). Default: search all.
4. **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"