How to Use BuzzSumo to Find Influencers

Finding the right influencers can feel like searching for a needle in a digital haystack, but what if you could use data to guide your search - and get it right every time? That’s exactly what BuzzSumo allows you to do. This article will show you, step-by-step, how to use its powerful tools to identify, vet, and connect with influencers who genuinely move the needle for your brand.

Start with What Works: Finding Influencers Through Top-Performing Content

One of the most effective ways to find relevant influencers is to see who is already creating and sharing popular content in your niche. Instead of guessing who might be a good fit, you start with proven results. BuzzSumo's Content Analyzer makes this simple.

Step 1: Search for Your Core Topic

Navigate to the Content Analyzer tab. In the search bar, type a keyword or phrase central to your industry. For this example, let's say you're a brand selling high-quality home coffee-making equipment. You might search for "pour over coffee technique."

Be broad enough to get results but specific enough to be relevant. Searching just "coffee" might be too generic, while "V60 pour versus Kalita wave water temperature" is probably too narrow. Find that sweet spot.

Step 2: Analyze the Top Results

BuzzSumo will return a list of the most shared and engaged-with content related to your search term across the web. The default sort is by "Total Engagements," which is exactly what we need. This list is a goldmine. Right away, you can see:

• Which articles and videos are resonating with audiences.
• Which platforms (Facebook, X, Pinterest, etc.) drive the most engagement for this topic.
• The authors and publications behind this successful content.

Look at the authors of the top five or ten articles. These are your first potential influencer leads. They are proven content creators who know how to connect with an audience interested in your niche. Click on their name to see what else they’ve written.

Step 3: Uncover Who Shares the Gold

Here’s where it gets interesting. Creating popular content is one thing, but who is helping it go viral? Next to each article in the search results, you'll see an option to "View Sharers." Clicking this reveals a list of the X (formerly Twitter) accounts that shared the article and have a significant following.

This is incredibly valuable because it gives you a list of curators and tastemakers - not just creators. These people have built an audience that trusts their recommendations on your topic. Sharing a popular article on "pour-over coffee technique" indicates they are a respected voice in the coffee community. You can sort this list by metrics like the number of followers or reply ratio to see who is most impactful.

In minutes, you've gone from a broad topic to a curated list of influential authors and sharers backed by real-world engagement data.

Use the Dedicated Influencer Search for Targeted Discovery

While finding influencers through content is a powerful "bottom-up" approach, BuzzSumo also has a dedicated "top-down" tool in its Influencers tab. This is where you can search directly for influential people and vet them based on specific metrics.

How to Search for Influencers by Bio or Content

You have two primary search options here:

• Search Bios: This allows you to find people who have specific keywords in their X bios. Looking for a "registered dietitian in California"? This is the search for you. It's fantastic for finding professionals or creators who identify with a specific title or location.
• Search Content Shared: This searches for influencers who have shared content containing your keywords. This is often more powerful, as it’s based on action rather than self-identification. Someone who consistently shares articles about "sustainable fashion" is demonstrably an authority on that topic, even if their bio just says "Creative Director."

For most marketing campaigns, starting with "Search Content Shared" will yield a list of people who are actively engaged in your niche right now.

Imagine you're launching a new sustainable clothing line for hikers. You could search for people who have shared content about "sustainable outdoor gear." Instantly, you have a list of people who care about that intersection.

Applying Filters to Refine Your List

A raw search can give you thousands of results. The real power comes from BuzzSumo’s filters. On the left-hand sidebar, you can narrow your search by:

• Location: Perfect for local businesses or region-specific campaigns.
• Languages: Reach specific linguistic communities around the world.
• Influencer Type: You can filter for bloggers, journalists, companies, academics, or "regular people" (which usually means active consumers or enthusiasts).
• Follower Count: Use this as a general guide, but don't let it be your only metric. A micro-influencer with 10,000 highly engaged followers is often more valuable than a macro-influencer with 1 million passive ones.
• Key Metrics: BuzzSumo offers several helpful metrics to sort and filter your results.
  • Page Authority (PA) &, Domain Authority (DA): These are Moz metrics that predict how well a website or page will rank on search engines. High numbers are good, especially if you're looking for bloggers who can provide SEO value.
  • Retweet Ratio: The percentage of an influencer's tweets that are retweets. A low number is often better, as it indicates they create more original content.
  • Reply Ratio: The percentage of tweets that are replies to others. A high number suggests they are genuinely engaged in conversations - a great sign of a true community builder.

"Look Under the Hood": How to Vet Potential Influencers

You've built a list of promising candidates. Now, it's time to vet them. BuzzSumo gives you the data, but your judgment is what turns that data into a successful partnership. A huge follower count is not a guarantee of influence.

Go Beyond the Bio

For each promising influencer on your list, click "View Content Shared." This will show you a feed of the recent articles and links they’ve posted. Ask yourself these questions:

• Is the content relevant and high-quality? Does their shared content consistently align with your brand, or are they all over the place? Do they share from reputable sources?
• What is their tone and voice? Is it professional? Lighthearted? Technical? Make sure their personality fits with your brand identity. A mismatch here will feel inauthentic to their audience.
• How often do they promote brands? If nearly every post is a sponsorship (#ad), their audience may be suffering from promotion fatigue. Look for a healthy balance of organic content and brand partnerships.

Check Their Audience Engagement Manually

This is the most important step, and it can't be outsourced to a tool. Click through to their actual social media profiles and spend a few minutes looking at their recent posts. Don't just look at the number of likes and comments, look at the quality.

What to Look For:

• Are the comments genuine? Are people asking questions and having conversations, or is it mostly "Great post!" and emoji spam?
• Does the influencer reply? An influencer who engages with their audience in the comments is fostering a real community. That bond is what makes their recommendation so powerful.
• Who is their audience? Look at the profiles of people commenting. Are these the people you want to reach? If you sell vegan protein powder, you want to see an audience of fitness enthusiasts and health-conscious individuals, not spambots.

An influencer with 15,000 followers and 50 thoughtful comments per post is a far better partner than someone with 200,000 followers and 100 generic comments.

Building Your Outreach List and Making Contact

Once you've vetted your list, you need an organized way to manage outreach. BuzzSumo helps with this, too.

Organize Your Shortlist with Projects

As you find influencers who are a great fit, you can save them to a Project directly within BuzzSumo. Create a project named after your campaign, like "Sustainable Hiking Gear Launch." This keeps all your vetted influencers in one place, so you can easily compare them and share the list with your team.

Export and Prepare for Outreach

You can also export your influencer lists as a CSV file. This allows you to import them into your CRM, an outreach tool, or simply a spreadsheet. The export includes all the key data points like their social profiles, follower counts, and website URLs, saving you hours of manual data entry.

Crafting a Warm, Data-Informed Pitch

Don't send a generic, cold email. Use the information you found in BuzzSumo to make your outreach personal and compelling.

Instead of this:

"Hi, we like your profile and want to collaborate."

Try this:

"Hi [Influencer Name], I found you through BuzzSumo after seeing your article, '[Article Title],' was one of the most shared pieces on [your topic] last month. I especially loved your point about [specific detail]. We’re launching a new product that aligns perfectly with what your audience cares about, and I'd love to explore a potential partnership."

This approach shows you've done your homework. You're acknowledging their expertise and demonstrating that you understand their value, making them far more likely to respond positively.

Final Thoughts

BuzzSumo transforms influencer discovery from a game of chance into a strategic process. By leveraging real-world data on content performance and engagement, you can identify authentic partners who have already earned the trust of the audience you want to reach.

Once you’ve built those amazing relationships and your influencer content is going live across Reels, TikTok, and other platforms, the real work of community management begins. We created Postbase specifically for this moment. Instead of juggling a dozen apps to keep up with comments and DMs, our unified inbox brings all your conversations into one place, so you can engage with that hard-won audience without the chaos. Plus, our visual calendar makes scheduling your collaborative content feel organized and intuitive - not like a chore.