Influencer marketing, how to pick creators with data instead of gut feeling

Choosing who to work with is the decision that matters most in a creator campaign. These are the questions worth asking, and how MVP's rankings help answer them.

Start with the audience, not the name

Before thinking about who, define where and whom you want to reach. Our rankings are split by continent, country, city and category for exactly this reason: if your customers are in Seville, the Seville ranking shows who leads there, and if you sell boxing gear, check boxing in Spain.

Big accounts and mid-sized accounts

• Huge accounts bring awareness and instant reach, but they are expensive and their audience is very broad.
• Mid-sized accounts (tens to hundreds of thousands of followers) usually have a more specific audience and a closer relationship with it. For niche or local campaigns they are often the better investment.

That is why every MVP ranking goes down to No. 50 and the entry threshold is 30,000 followers: talent that is just taking off counts too.

Check that the number is real

A follower count that does not match engagement is the first red flag. At MVP we only publish accounts verified on Instagram's official API and we flag profiles whose name does not match the person, but always check:

• That growth is steady and does not jump suddenly for no reason.
• That comments come from real people and talk about the content.
• That the audience's country matches your campaign.

Match the category to the message

An athlete works for performance and drive; a food creator for product and experience; a comedian for brands that want to feel close. Filter by category and look for consistency between what the person already shares and what your brand wants to say.

Measure results, not just reach

Ask for post data (reach, saves, clicks) and agree beforehand on what counts as success. A campaign that sells with a mid-sized creator is worth more than one that only piles up impressions with a huge one.

Do you represent a creator who should be in the rankings? Submit them.