How to find local influencers for a Shopify brand
Say you run a Shopify store selling leather care kits, and you are booking a stall at a Saturday market in Leeds. Ten local creators posting from that market can suit you better than one big account in another country. This guide shows how to find them by hand.
This guide is about the place angle only. For finding creators by size, read how to find micro influencers. For the tier itself, see nano influencers.
Why would a Shopify brand want a local influencer?
A local influencer is a creator whose audience mostly lives in one town, city or region. Their followers can walk into the same shops and use the same delivery zones as your buyers.
That fits some brands better than others. It suits a brand with a pop-up, a stockist, a studio or a delivery area. It also suits any brand whose product is tied to a place, such as a coastal skincare range or a city-run club kit.
For an online-only store that ships everywhere, a local creator is one more small voice. Plain "local" is not a reason on its own. You need a reason a local audience cares.
Where to search for local influencers
Use these five places. Start with the first two, because they show who is nearest. We would start with a list of about 20 names.
- Location tags on Instagram. Search a neighbourhood, a market, a café or a gym. Look at recent posts tagged there. A venue tag is worth trying alongside a city tag, because it narrows the area.
- City plus niche hashtags. Combine your city with what you sell, such as #manchestercoffee or #austinfitness. Browse recent posts and note any account that repeats.
- TikTok search. Type what a local buyer would type, such as "best dog walks in Leeds". Open the accounts behind the videos that answer it.
- Tagged posts on local businesses. Open the tagged photos of a nearby shop or gym that sells to your buyer. Accounts that tag it again and again are worth a look.
- Local press and community pages. Read the lifestyle pages of city magazines, neighbourhood newsletters and community groups. Creators they feature are worth checking.
| Where to look | What it finds | Effort |
|---|---|---|
| Location tags | People posting from named venues | Low |
| City plus niche hashtags | Active accounts in your niche | Low |
| TikTok search | Creators who answer local questions | Medium |
| Tags on local businesses | Possible regulars | Medium |
| Local press and groups | Creators with some local standing | Medium |
One tag proves little, because anyone can tag a place once. Look for a person who appears in two or three of these places. Those repeat names are your shortlist.
A local search checklist
Run the same checks on every name you find. It keeps the list honest.
- Place. Does the bio, a pinned post or the tags name your city or a district?
- Radius. Pick a distance, such as 30 minutes by car or one postcode area. Drop anyone outside it if you plan an in-person event.
- Rhythm. Do they post about local things every week, or only once a month?
- Fit. Would their followers buy your product, or only like the photos?
What about Shopify Collabs?
Shopify Collabs has a recruiting section that searches by location. It also filters by platform and audience size. Shopify's help page says you pick locations from drop-down filters, and the filter finds creators who list their location in their profile. You can invite up to 100 creators in any 7-day period (Shopify Help Center, recruiting creators, checked 27 October 2026).
Shopify's Collabs help page also says Collabs "isn't accepting new creator signups at this time" (Shopify Help Center, checked 27 October 2026). So the local pool there may shrink. Treat the location filter as a starting list, not proof. Our page on Collabs limits shows where finding stops.
How do you know the audience is really local?
A creator can live in your city and still have followers all over the world. Check three things before you write.
- Ask for their audience split. Ask the creator for a screenshot of the cities where their followers live. It is a normal request.
- Read the comments. Look for replies that name a street, a shop or a local event.
- Check the last 10 posts. Do they post about places and products near you, or is the city only in the bio?
Then check how engaged the account is. Work out their engagement rate. It is how many people react per post, as a share of followers. The micro influencer guide shows the sum and a yardstick to compare against.
Open each account yourself before you write. Hand-found lists have gaps, and a bio can say "Leeds" without the audience being there.
Shipping and tax
Local can be easier on the parcel. A creator inside your own shipping zone may need no customs form.
Send a creator abroad and the rules change. UK government guidance says a gift from abroad only counts as a gift if it is sent between individuals, for personal use (GOV.UK, gifts sent from abroad, checked 27 October 2026). A parcel from a company does not fit that. The creator may have to pay VAT or duty before the parcel reaches them. Nobody wants a surprise bill for a free product.
So keep your first batch inside your own shipping zone. Keep two more points in mind.
- Free product has a cost. Count what it costs you to make and ship, not the shelf price.
- Tax rules depend on where you sell. Ask your accountant how free stock and creator codes are treated in your region. We can't answer that for you.
For a worked plan on sending product, read product seeding for a Shopify brand. It covers what to put in the box.
Write to them about the place
Mention the place. That is the one thing a local message can do that a generic one can't.
Hi Priya, I saw your post from the Saturday market on Church Street. We're Fieldwork, and we make leather care kits. We're running a pop-up there on 12 December. Would you like to come, and take a kit home? If you post about it, please mark it #ad. Your code is PRIYA10.
The brand, the street and the date are made up. Copy the shape, not the words.
Two other local angles are worth trying:
- An in-person event. A pop-up, a class or a tasting gives a local creator something to post from. Invite a few at once, so the room feels busy.
- A pitch to local press. Send a city magazine or newsletter a short note about the place your product comes from. Name the person who made it, and offer a sample.
The gifting note examples show how to word the card. The influencer outreach email template has a cold version and a follow-up.
Do you have to tell people it is a gift?
Often, yes. In the UK, the ASA says a post must be "obviously identifiable as advertising" when it counts as an ad. A free product can make a post one. The ASA names "Ad" as the clearest label. A label that only says "Gifted" may fall short (ASA, recognising ads on social media, checked 27 October 2026).
In the US, the FTC's guide tells creators that disclosing is their responsibility, and that anything of value given to mention a product counts. Free product is included (FTC, Disclosures 101, checked 27 October 2026). So brands and creators both have a part: you ask for it, they do it. The disclosure should sit with the post and be hard to miss.
Put the wording in your note, so the creator isn't guessing. Our disclosure examples for brands have lines you can copy.
Tracking what each one sells
Give each creator their own discount code or link. Keep one row per creator in a sheet, with where you found them, what you sent and their sales after 30 days. The micro influencer guide has a tracking table you can copy.
After 30 days, keep the two or three best. Thank the rest and move on.
How can you do this faster?
RecruitAffiliates.ai finds the websites, blogs, review sites, podcasts and creators already promoting your rivals. It ranks the best fits first and shows the page where it found each one. Use it to build the wider list, then pick the local names by hand. It looks up their email and shows whether each address was checked (what each result means). The 7-day free trial includes 20 email lookups and needs no card.
If your local search runs dry, widen it. Local blogs and review sites are worth trying too. The guide on UGC creators covers another route that does not depend on place.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find local influencers for free?
Search your city and nearby venues on Instagram and TikTok, and follow city-plus-niche hashtags. Keep the people who appear more than once.
Do local influencers need a lot of followers?
No. Check the audience split and the comments, not only the follower count. A smaller account whose followers live near you can suit a local offer better than a large one spread across the world.
Should I send products to local influencers for free?
Yes, for the first batch. A free product has a cost, but it is small and fixed, and sales on the creator's code can show whether their audience buys. Send a free product with a code and ask for a clear gift disclosure. Count sales per code after 30 days.
How many local influencers should I contact?
We would start with 10 to 20. Send a product to those who say yes, then keep the best two or three.
Find the people who fit your brand
Try RecruitAffiliates.ai free. The 7-day trial includes 20 email lookups, and it needs no card.
Sources
- Shopify Help Center, Collabs (checked 27 October 2026)
- Shopify Help Center, Collabs: recruiting creators (checked 27 October 2026)
- FTC, Disclosures 101 for social media influencers (checked 27 October 2026)
- ASA, Recognising ads: social media (checked 27 October 2026)
- GOV.UK, Gifts sent from abroad (checked 27 October 2026)