Influencer research is the foundation of every successful influencer marketing campaign. Without a structured approach, you end up guessing. And guessing costs money. Whether you’re a Swiss SME in Zurich looking to launch your first campaign or a seasoned marketing team in Zug wanting to scale, the process of finding and evaluating the right influencer has become more systematic than ever in 2026. Platforms evolve, fake follower detection has improved, and audience quality now matters far more than raw follower counts.
Market Analysis
One possibility here is the search in the customer journey, which involves researching one’s own products on Google, YouTube or other platforms. The aim is to find solutions to problems that others have encountered. In this way, it is possible to find out what matters to customers. A commissioned influencer could step in and answer questions from his or her followers, giving you a real-time window into what’s happening in your own topic area.
Another way to gauge how your market is performing is by subscribing to hashtags. This makes it possible to quickly identify who is commenting on which topics. Hashtag monitoring is platform-independent, so you can watch your competition simultaneously.
During a media analysis, other media channels can also help identify opinion leaders on specific topics. Trade magazines, podcasts, TV shows , no limits. RSS feeds or Google Alerts notify you when someone publishes something relevant to your niche.
Influencer research also includes sifting through accounts. Identified influencer accounts should be viewed and sorted manually before any tools are used for deeper analysis.
Then come the filter questions. What does the profile look like? In which language are the texts written? Are brand cooperations visible? Is advertising properly labeled? How many followers does the account have? Are there personal posts too? Who makes up the audience? Which posts generate engagement and what do the comments look like? Does the influencer fit the campaign? How often do they advertise paid partnerships? Our experience shows that Swiss brands often overlook this last point , and then wonder why campaign results are weak.
Tools and Databases , Recommended by Our Influencer Marketing Agency
The next step is setting up a database to store your research results. This simplifies work for future campaigns and keeps contact management clean. Various tools provide key figures such as engagement rate, follower growth and audience quality. Without these numbers, assessing an influencer’s real value is guesswork.
Likeometer
One of these tools is Likeometer. Filters such as country and follower count help narrow down results. The tool automatically updates results and shows engagement rates, posting time forecasts and follower count development. Users can also check competitor brand accounts and access hashtag trend data. TikTok statistics are now fully integrated as of 2026.
Socialblade
Socialblade provides statistics and remains free. It covers YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Dailymotion and more. Accounts are sorted into charts for easier comparison, and the tool visualises account development over time. You can compare up to three influencers directly against each other on several platforms.
InfluencerDB
InfluencerDB is a paid tool with a broader feature set. It covers accounts with 15,000 followers or more, delivering data on follower counts, growth and like-follower ratios. Smaller accounts can be added manually. The tool also shows geographic audience data, gender splits and media value per post , essentially what equivalent reach would cost via paid channels. For Swiss campaigns where budget accountability matters, this feature is genuinely useful.
Research Tools and Automations
Using platforms like Collabary is another way to identify the right influencer for a campaign. Users can plan and implement campaigns independently without a full influencer marketing agency. Filters help narrow down the selection, and the platform provides recommended pricing , useful for making realistic offers. Collabary works well for product placements and suits both branding and sales goals.
Step one: enter key campaign data, describe the brand, values and goals, plus dos and don’ts. The influencer receives this alongside the offer and uses it to frame their content.
Step two: matching influencers are displayed immediately. Additional filters allow further specification by age, country, city or interests. What we see in practice , the more you specify, the better the match quality, but the smaller the pool.
Step three deals with audience segmentation. Gender mix, age range, interests. Be aware: the more filters applied, the fewer results appear.
After filtering comes offer preparation. Include the price, legal requirements, deadlines, release terms and desired formats. Collabary handles communication and the approval process within the platform.
Advantages:
Collabary significantly reduces research effort and saves time. It’s particularly practical for smaller agencies or teams new to influencer marketing, minimising the risk of overlooking key planning points. Verified partners and transparent pricing are built in. Research, booking, communication, documentation and billing all live on one platform. Large pool of verified influencers across sectors.
Disadvantages:
Platform access comes at a cost. A Collabary licence runs approximately €399 per month (roughly CHF 430). No exclusivity with selected partners.
Interview with Carina Kockelke, Head of Marketing at F1-Generation
Carina Kockelke knows from direct experience what running an influencer campaign via tools looks like in practice. She used Collabary to raise awareness for a Canadian manufacturer’s nursing bras.
The nursing bra has a very specific target group that only uses the products for a short window of time. This means constantly searching for new influencers, making long-term collaborations nearly impossible in this niche. The goal is primarily brand awareness, with influencers serving across multiple platforms. That said, guidelines cannot be too rigid for a topic this personal. Expectant and breastfeeding mothers have other priorities than crafting a polished post. So the extent of product visibility is agreed in advance, with creative freedom left to the influencer.
Collabary is particularly valuable for smaller teams. The ongoing search for suitable influencers in a niche topic is time-intensive and almost impossible without support. The tool allows keyword search, engagement filtering and even image style matching. The limitation: Collabary cannot determine whether an influencer is actually pregnant or a young mother, nor whether breastfeeding is personally relevant to them. Manual account review remains essential. The tool reduces the research workload, not the need for judgment.
Pricing: Statement by Dr Stefano Balestra, Managing Director at Collabary by Zalando
Influencer marketing is now a fully established professional market. Early models paid per post. Then reach and engagement rate became the pricing benchmark. In 2026, audience composition is equally important , no brand should pay for an audience that has zero interest in the product. Performance is the deciding factor.
Base Price + Bonus
The influencer receives a base amount for posting, plus bonus payments tied to sales targets. This model increases influencer motivation and makes fake followers a non-issue , you only pay for real performance. Base amounts are trending downward as revenue-sharing arrangements become more common.
Affiliate Models for Existing Content
This model attaches affiliate links to existing content, with influencers earning commissions on sales. It’s the original form of influencer marketing. Only high-quality content earns links. High content rotation on Instagram makes this model cumbersome there , Pinterest and YouTube handle it far more cleanly.
Regardless of model, one thing stays constant in influencer-driven lead generation: a campaign only works if the influencer is genuinely enthusiastic and comes across as authentic. Soft factors matter enormously. The relationship between brand and influencer, the quality of the audience, the alignment of values , these are often the difference between a campaign that converts and one that just generates impressions. Which models will dominate long-term remains an open question, but performance-based structures are clearly gaining ground.
Brands working with SEO agencies often underestimate how influencer content can amplify organic search performance, particularly when influencers create long-form content with backlinks or generate branded search volume. The two disciplines reinforce each other more than most marketing teams realise.
This article was written by the ONELINE team. We have been supporting Swiss companies in digital transformation for over 10 years , from SEO and SEA to AI automation and lead generation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find the right influencer for my Swiss brand?
Start with manual research: customer journey analysis, hashtag monitoring and media scanning. Then use tools like Likeometer or InfluencerDB to validate what you find. For Zurich or Zug-based brands targeting Swiss audiences, always check the language of posts and the geographic breakdown of the audience before committing.
What does influencer research cost?
Free tools like Socialblade cover the basics. Paid platforms like Collabary run around CHF 430 per month. InfluencerDB is priced on request, typically higher. For one-off campaigns, manual research combined with a free tool is often sufficient. For ongoing programmes, a platform investment pays off quickly in time saved.
How important is engagement rate versus follower count?
Engagement rate matters far more. An influencer with 20,000 highly engaged followers in a relevant niche will typically outperform one with 200,000 passive followers. What we see in practice with Swiss SME campaigns: micro-influencers in the 5,000 to 50,000 range often deliver better ROI than macro-influencers, especially for regional or niche products.
Can I run influencer campaigns without an agency?
Yes, especially with platforms like Collabary that centralise research, booking and communication. That said, an experienced agency brings knowledge of pricing norms, contract terms and campaign structure that saves money and avoids mistakes. For first-time campaigns, at minimum a brief consultation is worthwhile.
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