You probably already know that the right influencer can turn your brand from a hidden gem into the next big thing in food and beverages. The right partnership can put your product in front of the exact audience you want in a way that feels authentic, exciting, and shareable.
We’re talking Instagram stories, TikTok trends, and maybe even that elusive viral moment. But before any of that happens, you need to find the right creators for your brand.
In this guide, we’ll walk through how to discover food and beverage influencers across Instagram and TikTok. Whether you’re a startup building awareness or an established CPG looking to shake up your social strategy, you’ll learn how to identify creators who align with your audience and brand voice.
By the end, you’ll know how to define your ideal audience, discover influencers on Instagram and TikTok, evaluate potential partners, and build campaigns that drive real results for your CPG brand.
Ready to find the creators who can help your brand stand out? Let’s dive in.
Table of Contents
- Why Are Influencers Important for CPG Food & Beverage Brands?
- Before You Start Looking for Influencers, Follow These 6 Steps
- How To Find Influencers To Work With on Instagram
- How To Find Influencers To Work With on TikTok
- You’ve Carefully Crafted a Short List of Potential Influencer Partners: Now What?
- Ready To Start Building Your Influencer Marketing Strategy?
Why Are Influencers Important for CPG Food & Beverage Brands?
Let’s start with some numbers, because who doesn’t love a good statistic to kick things off?
- Food is one of Instagram’s top five most-followed categories.
- On average, businesses generate $5.78 in revenue for every $1 they invest in influencer marketing.
- 78% of TikTok users have purchased a product after seeing it featured in influencer content.
Here’s the thing: people trust people. When influencers talk about how much they love your gluten-free brownies or your refreshing elderflower cordial, their followers listen. And they’re not just listening; they’re relating, engaging, and (drumroll, please) converting.
Imagine having someone with the influence of a celebrity but the relatability of a friend singing your praises. That’s what an influencer brings to the table.
The best food and beverage influencer partnerships happen when there’s mutual love and respect. The influencer genuinely enjoys your product, and their audience shares their taste (literally). This isn’t just a marketing strategy; it’s a relationship, and like all good relationships, it needs care, attention, and a sprinkle of magic. Okay, maybe not magic, but certainly a lot of smart decision-making.
If you need help with food and beverage influencer marketing, The Missing Ingredient is here for you. We’ve partnered with tons of CPG brands to help them launch successful campaigns with lasting effects.
Before You Start Looking for Influencers, Follow These 6 Steps
#1: Define Your Target Audience
So, you’re sold on the food and beverage influencer idea. Fantastic! But before you slide into any DMs or draft any contracts, there’s a first crucial step to tackle: defining your target audience.
Think of it as laying the foundation before building a house. When you understand exactly who your product is for, it becomes much easier to identify influencers whose audience is likely to care about (and buy) what you’re selling.
Interested in learning more about identifying your target audience? Check out our latest article on the topic.
#2: Create a Customer Avatar
Who is your ideal customer? Are they a busy parent looking for quick yet healthy meal options? A college student searching for eco-friendly snacks? Or a fitness enthusiast always looking for protein-rich foods?
Creating a customer avatar helps you define exactly who you want to reach. This persona will guide you toward influencers whose followers are most likely to get excited about your products.
#3: Understand the Demographics That Matter
Age, location, gender, and interests aren’t just spreadsheet categories. They’re the building blocks of your target audience.
Different social platforms attract different demographics, and even within platforms like Instagram and TikTok, audiences can vary widely. Understanding these factors helps you narrow your search to influencers who already reach the people you want to connect with.
#4: Look at Lifestyle and Values
Demographics are just the starting point. Psychographics (things like lifestyle, values, and behavior) often matter just as much.
Is your ideal customer focused on sustainability? Passionate about cooking? Looking for convenient meal solutions? Identifying these traits helps you find influencers whose content naturally aligns with your brand.
#5: Find Influencers Who Truly Align With Your Brand
The influencer you choose becomes an extension of your brand, at least temporarily. Their lifestyle, values, and even their food preferences should resonate with your ideal customer.
When that alignment exists, the partnership feels natural to the influencer’s audience. Instead of feeling like an advertisement, the recommendation feels authentic, which is exactly what drives engagement and sales.
#6: Determine the Right Size Influencer for Your Campaign
Do you need a micro influencer or a macro influencer?
Micro influencers typically have 10,000 to 100,000 followers and are often known for having higher engagement rates than larger creators. Because their audiences are smaller and more niche, they’re often able to build stronger relationships with their followers, which can lead to greater trust and more authentic product recommendations.
For many food and beverage brands, micro influencers offer several advantages:
- Lower collaboration costs, making them accessible for most marketing budgets
- Ability to partner with multiple influencers at once
- Strong engagement with a dedicated audience
- Potential to drive product discovery and sales
The tradeoff is reach. With smaller audiences, micro influencers won’t deliver the same visibility as larger creators. Their content may also be less polished, which can mean less control over presentation and consistency.
Macro influencers generally have 100,000 followers or more and can offer significantly larger reach. A single post from a macro influencer can introduce your brand to a wide audience very quickly.
Benefits of working with macro influencers include:
- Greater visibility and brand exposure
- Fewer creators to manage within a campaign
- Typically more polished, professional content
However, these partnerships usually require a much larger investment. Depending on the influencer’s reach and reputation, collaborations can range from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands per post. While the reach is higher, engagement rates are often lower than those of micro influencers.
Choosing the right fit for your brand depends on your campaign goals.
If you’re focused on authentic engagement, niche audiences, or working within a limited budget, micro influencers can be an excellent fit. If your priority is maximizing reach and brand awareness, a macro influencer may deliver stronger results.
Many successful food and beverage campaigns use a mix of both, leveraging the reach of larger creators while tapping into the trust and engagement that micro influencers bring.
How To Find Influencers To Work With on Instagram
With over three billion users, Instagram is like the grand ballroom of social media: elegant, popular, and full of potential dance partners for your brand. Let’s explore how to find this platform’s influencers who could be a perfect match for your food and beverage company.
Use Insta’s Tools To Find Your Perfect Match
Instagram’s built-in search tools can help you discover influencers who already create content in your niche.
- Use Built-in Search Functionality: Instagram’s built-in search feature is not just for stalking your ex or finding the latest viral meme; it’s a powerful tool for scouting talent. Start with broad keywords like “food blogger,” “beverage reviewer,” or “vegan chef.” (Pro Tip: Once you’ve identified an ideal influencer, explore their “Following” list and the “For You” recommendations within it. This reveals a curated list of similar creators, allowing you to quickly uncover more great fits without extensive searching.)
- Filter It Down: Instagram lets you filter your search results by categories like “Tags,” “Accounts,” and even “Places.” For influencer scouting, stick to “Accounts” and skim through the profiles that pop up. Look for high-quality images, a decent follower count, and genuine engagement.
- Leverage Hashtags: If keywords are the appetizers, hashtags are the main course of your Instagram influencer search. Use hashtags like #BeerGuru, #VeganChef, or #HikingMom to find posts that align with your niche. And remember, the more specific you get, the better; generic tags like #food can be oversaturated.
- Explore Meta Creator Marketplace: If manually searching Instagram isn’t your jam, you’re in luck. Meta offers businesses access to their Creator Marketplace, a centralized hub for connecting brands and creators. You can filter by location, category, size, and more. The marketplace allows you to build your list and message influencers from within the platform, but it’s also a great place to find influencers who check all your boxes quickly.
Thoroughly Vet Influencer Partnership Prospects
Once you’ve narrowed down and have a list of potential influencers, how do you know they’re as good as they appear?
Third-party insight tools like HypeAuditor, Phlanx, or even Instagram’s own Insights feature offer analytics that can help you validate your choices. Look for metrics like:
- Engagement rate
- Audience demographics
- Quality of followers.
Most social media marketers agree that an engagement rate between 1–5% is considered good on Instagram. You can also check the engagement quality by browsing the comment section to ensure they come from genuine followers, not bots.
How To Find Influencers To Work With on TikTok
TikTok is a platform that has been stealing the spotlight (and quite possibly your free time) for years now. With its explosive growth and novel formats, TikTok offers a refreshing perspective on influencer marketing. Here are some tips to help you find your brand’s next big advocate among its sea of content creators.
Use TikTok’s Discovery Features To Look for Your Perfect Pairing
These include:
- For You Page: The famed “For You Page” (FYP) is a good starting point. The FYP algorithm dishes out popular videos based on user interaction, video information, and device/account information. Keep an eye on this page to scout influencers who consistently hit the mark.
- Specific Keywords: Much like Instagram, start your search with specific keywords related to your niche. Terms like “quick recipes,” “craft beverages,” or “sustainable eating” can lead you to influencers who align with your brand.
- Video Quality and Engagement: Skim through some of the videos to assess quality and engagement. TikTok offers quick insights into comments, shares, and likes, right below each video. Are people interacting in a meaningful way? That’s a green flag.
- TikTok Creator Marketplace: Like Meta, TikTok also offers a robust creator marketplace to help streamline your search. Filter results by price, size, niche, location, and more to unlock an excellent starting point to find creators that align with your brand and campaign goals.
Take Advantage of Analytics Tools
Built-In Analytics
TikTok’s built-in analytics provide valuable insights into an account’s performance, including follower demographics, engagement rates, and video views. Once you’ve narrowed down potential influencers, ask them to share this data so you can evaluate whether their audience aligns with your target market.
Third-Party Tools
While TikTok once had limited third-party analytics options, the ecosystem has grown significantly. Platforms like Upfluence, Sprout Social, and more now offer TikTok influencer discovery, engagement analysis, and campaign tracking tools. These platforms can help you compare creators, analyze audience authenticity, and make more data-driven partnership decisions.
You’ve Carefully Crafted a Short List of Potential Influencer Partners: Now What?
You’ve scoured the social landscapes of Instagram and TikTok and created a list of potential influencers. The hard part is over, right? Well, not so fast. The next phase involves reaching out, making a compelling offer, and keeping tabs on how things unfold.
Prepare the Perfect Pitch
Initial outreach needs to be compelling, friendly, and professional. Whether you’re using DMs, emails, or an influencer platform, your message should grab their attention in the first sentence.
Create a brief that gives an overview of your campaign goals. Clearly state what’s in it for them. Is it a long-term partnership? A hefty discount on your products? You may even want to consider giving equity in your burgeoning food startup. Make the incentive attractive.
Negotiate Your Terms
Money talks, but it isn’t everything. Many influencers value long-term relationships over quick payouts. Define your budget and align it with your expectations, such as the number of posts, format, timing, etc.
Don’t forget to get everything in writing. Define KPIs, establish payment terms, and include a clause that gives you rights to the content they produce for your brand.
Track Metrics and Analytics
Most social platforms provide tracking pixels or unique URLs to monitor traffic and conversions. Use them to assess the efficacy of your campaigns.
And don’t forget softer metrics like likes, comments, and shares. A high engagement rate is a solid indicator of a successful partnership.
Finally, ROI isn’t just a buzzword. Calculate the return on your investment by analyzing the metrics and comparing them to your initial goals.
Ready To Start Building Your Influencer Marketing Strategy?
Influencer marketing can be one of the most powerful ways to build awareness and drive sales for your food and beverage brand. But like any successful marketing strategy, it requires the right approach: understanding your audience, identifying creators who genuinely align with your brand, and tracking the performance of your campaigns.
It’s also a constantly evolving space. New influencers emerge every day, trends change quickly, and platforms like Instagram and TikTok regularly update their algorithms. The brands that succeed are the ones that stay informed, adapt quickly, and build authentic partnerships with creators their audiences trust.
If you’re ready to explore influencer marketing for your CPG brand, you don’t have to figure it out alone. The Missing Ingredient specializes in helping food and beverage brands connect with the right creators, develop effective campaigns, and turn influencer partnerships into measurable results.
Contact our team today to learn how influencer marketing can help your brand reach new audiences and grow faster.