Subscribe now to our weekly marketing newsletter, where top experts share their top-notch strategies.
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter
You can unsubscribe at any time!
We've sent you a confirmation email. Don't forget to check your inbox to complete your subscription!
Gen Z influencers are transforming the marketing industry with their authenticity, creativity, and powerful social media presence.
With 44% of Gen Z making purchase decisions based on influencer recommendations, they have a unique ability to connect with their peers in ways that traditional marketing can't.
For brands, this presents an incredible opportunity to tap into the influence and reach of Gen Z, but finding the right influencers who truly engage this digital-native generation can be challenging.
In this guide, we’ll explore effective strategies to help you identify and collaborate with the Gen Z influencers who will take your brand to the next level.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
P.S: Struggling to find the perfect Gen Z influencers to resonate with your young audiences? Check out inBeat.co, an influencer discovery platform that helps you discover influencers effortlessly! Plus, our free toolkit allows you to assess their authenticity and engagement rates to ensure every dollar of your ad spend hits the right mark. Book a FREE Demo Now!
Gen Z influencers are quickly rising to prominence as they shape trends and connect with audiences in ways previous generations couldn't imagine.
As brands increasingly look to connect with younger consumers, their key strategy is to partner with these influencers.
Unlike older influencers, Gen Z has grown up in a digital-first world, which makes them fluent in social media use, relatable, and culturally aware.
They don't just follow trends, but they create them.
Sydney Maloney is a prime example of a Gen Z influencer known for her exceptional engagement rates. She consistently captivates her audience with authentic content in the cosplay niche.
Looking to connect with the next generation of trendsetters?
Our inBeat experts have curated powerful strategies to help you find Gen Z influencers who align perfectly with your brand’s voice and values.
Let’s dive into how you can discover the influencers that will take your brand to the next level:
Dedicated tools can help you sift through millions of social media users to find the perfect Gen Z influencer.
Some of the expert tips to use them effectively are:
Pro Tip: When finding Gen Z influencers, make sure to compare their rates to find those that fit your campaign budget. inBeat.co offers an easy-to-use collaboration cost calculator, which gives an estimate for every Gen Z influencer partnership based on their performance.
Gen Z influencers thrive on specific platforms that cater to their fast, engaging, and visually-driven content style.
To find and connect with the right influencers, it’s important to focus on the social media sites where they’re most active.
For this, the following tips by inBeat experts can help:
Pro Tip: At inBeat, experts suggest looking at TikTok trend reports that highlight the latest viral challenges, popular hashtags, and emerging influencers. You can use this data to identify influencers who are driving trends and create campaigns that align with what’s currently engaging Gen Z audiences.
Use hashtags and keywords to refine your hunt for Gen Z influencers on social media platforms and find emerging talent within your niche.
This method is especially useful for uncovering creators who may not appear in formal databases but have strong engagement.
Some tips for effectively using this strategy are to:
Pro Tip: inBeat experts recommend using hashtag combinations that reflect Gen Z’s unique language and slang. For instance, instead of searching for #Fashion or #Style, explore hashtags like #OOTD (Outfit of the Day) or #DripCheck. Gen Z often creates and engages with content using trendy, evolving terminology.
One of the most effective ways to find Gen Z influencers is to partner with talent agencies that specialize in influencer marketing.
These agencies have established relationships with influencers, which makes it easier to partner with creators who align with your brand values.
Let’s see how you can collaborate with talent agencies effectively:
In addition, ensure that deliverables, timelines, and payment structures are clearly outlined.
A transparent contract helps set expectations for both parties and minimizes the risk of miscommunication.
This approach ensures that every decision is backed by real insights and allows for more targeted influencer partnerships and measurable outcomes.
Pro Tip: When choosing an agency, look for those that showcase case studies from previous clients. These reveal key details like campaign goals, the types of influencers they’ve worked with, and measurable results, which help you evaluate if the agency is capable of meeting your needs.
University campuses are hotbeds for discovering up-and-coming Gen Z influencers.
Many students create content that resonates with their peers, and partnering with them can give your brand direct access to this engaged demographic.
You can tap into this opportunity effectively by:
These influencers can integrate your brand into their event-related posts, which maximizes exposure and engagement among the student community.
This approach adds value to the collaboration by showing that your brand is also about supporting their personal and professional growth.
Pro Tip: inBeat experts suggest working with student influencers who have leadership roles in university clubs or organizations, such as student government or sports teams. They usually have a strong social media presence and can also influence a broader network through in-person events and activities.
While social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok are popular for influencer discovery, Gen Z is also highly active in community-driven spaces like Discord and Reddit.
Reddit, for instance, has 42% of Gen Z users aged between 18 to 24.
The following strategies can help you tap effectively into these spaces to find modern-age influencers:
Pro Tip: inBeat experts suggest that when searching for Gen Z influencers on Discord and Reddit, look for moderators or community leaders. These individuals often have significant influence and respect within their communities and are trusted by their members. If you build relations with them, your brand can directly access highly engaged audiences.
Podcasts have become an increasingly popular medium among Gen Z, as 47% of them are monthly podcast listeners.
Many Gen Z influencers host or are featured in these podcasts, where they share their expertise with a loyal audience.
You can identify them by exploring this medium.
Let’s see how to find podcasts with Zoomer influencers:
Pro Tip: We recommend checking out podcast guest directories like Podchaser or Podcorn. These platforms allow you to filter podcasts by trending creators and top categories so you can find Gen Z influencers who are related to your niche.
These actionable tips, shared by inBeat experts, will help you engage with Gen Z influencers more effectively and create meaningful connections:
When reaching out to Gen Z influencers, it's crucial to go beyond generic messages.
Personalization is key here; therefore, you must take the time to tailor your outreach.
This generation is savvy enough to spot inauthentic outreach, so make sure you come across as someone who’s familiar with their content and believes in building a genuine connection.
For this:
To streamline this process, you can also use our pre-made outreach templates. They offer a great foundation and structure for your messages so you can craft an efficient and personalized outreach.
One of the most important aspects of working with Gen Z influencers is knowing where they are most active and how they prefer to communicate.
Instagram, TikTok, and even emerging platforms like BeReal are common spaces where these influencers grow.
Emails may be seen as formal or outdated for some Gen Z creators, so consider reaching them through Instagram or TikTok DMs.
To effectively connect with Gen Z influencers, creative freedom is key.
Gen Z influencers prefer to create content that matches their personal style and connects with their audience.
Strict guidelines can limit this, so it's essential to trust their expertise in developing formats that engage their followers.
The video by @goodwill_ng is a fantastic example of how giving creative freedom to influencers can result in engaging and memorable content.
In this particular video, the Gen Z influencer was given the liberty to edit the video in their own unique style.
This led to a fun, rapid-paced clip with numerous cuts that kept viewers hooked.
@goodwill_ng We've definitely got things😊
♬ original sound - Goodwill of North Georgia
Gen Z influencers are passionate about aligning with brands that reflect their values.
Whether it's sustainability, inclusivity, or mental health awareness, this generation is keenly attached to the causes they care about.
When pitching to Gen Z influencers, emphasize how your brand's mission and values align with theirs.
Also, showcase real examples of how you support these causes.
The point is to build trust, which makes them more likely to collaborate with you and advocate for your brand authentically.
While payment is important, Gen Z influencers are often driven by more than just monetary incentives.
They seek meaningful collaborations that allow them to grow, expand their audience, and access unique opportunities.
Consider offering:
This way, you position your collaboration as one that values the creator’s input beyond a transactional relationship, which results in long-term partnerships.
There is a pool of Gen Z influencers on platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
But are they really genuine and engage their followers effectively?
For this, we tested the following of a few influencers through inBeat.co’s calculators. Let’s have a look at the results:
Sara Lugor is a fashion and lifestyle Gen Z influencer.
inBeat.co’s calculator revealed that she has a modestly engaged audience with an average engagement rate of 1.44%.
Natalie Lynn is a Gen Z influencer who shares pranks, comedic skits, and reaction videos frequently.
She has a follower count of over 214 thousand, but are they all organic? inBeat.co’s fake follower checker revealed insights into the quality of her followers, which indicates that all of her engaged audience is real.
An emerging director by profession, Julian Bass has around 98 thousand followers on his Instagram account.
The way Gen Zers resonate with his content is displayed in his high engagement rate, i.e., 23.76%, as disclosed by inBeat.co’s engagement calculator.
To wrap up, discovering the right Gen Z influencers is key to building authentic connections with younger audiences.
Focus on influencers who have genuine engagement within niche communities, leverage social media platforms, and seek talent agencies.
Using creative strategies, as highlighted in this article, will help your brand form meaningful relationships with Gen Z and lead to stronger brand awareness and impactful results.
Key Takeaways:
Finding the right Gen Z influencers is just the first step.
To drive real results, you need to ensure your campaigns are optimized for performance.
With inBeat.co's Paid Marketing Calculators, you can easily measure key metrics that matter most to your campaign’s success, like CPM, CTR, CPA, ROAS, and bounce rates.
