finding-instagram-ugc-creators-for-brands

Finds Instagram UGC creators for brand campaigns using apidojo's Instagram scraper on Apify. Triggers when the user asks to: find Instagram UGC creators for product campaigns, discover micro-influencers posting organic product reviews on Instagram, identify creators for paid partnership posts or product seeding on Instagram, find authentic lifestyle creators in beauty food fitness or home decor, build an Instagram UGC creator list for a DTC brand, or find creators posting about a product category with strong engagement. Returns creator handle, follower count, avg likes, engagement rate, niche hashtags, and bio link. Ideal for DTC brands, e-commerce companies, and influencer campaign managers.

Discovers Instagram micro-creators who produce authentic product content. Nano (1K–10K) and micro (10K–100K) creators on Instagram drive 3–5× higher engagement than macro-influencers on sponsored content.

Prerequisites

• APIFY_TOKEN environment variable set
• Optional: Apify MCP server installed

Inputs

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Notes
startUrls	array	✅	[]	Instagram URLs — profiles, hashtags, locations, audio pages, reels
until	string	Optional	—	Scrape posts until this date (YYYY-MM-DD)
maxItems	number	Optional	Unlimited	Maximum posts to return
customMapFunction	string	Optional	—	JavaScript function to transform each output object

Workflow

text

Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Search niche hashtags on Instagram
- [ ] Step 2: Collect and deduplicate creator handles
- [ ] Step 3: Enrich profiles
- [ ] Step 4: Score UGC fit
- [ ] Step 5: Deliver creator list

Step 1: Search Niche Hashtags

Target hashtags that UGC creators use (not brand accounts):

text

Primary: #[niche]review, #[niche]recommendations, #honest[niche]review
Supporting: #[niche]community, #[niche]lover, #[niche]obsessed
Broad: #[niche], #[niche]gram, #my[niche]

Recommended — run_actor.js (handles waiting, output, and file saving automatically):

bash

# Quick answer (prints table to chat)
node scripts/run_actor.js \
  --actor "apidojo~instagram-scraper" \
  --input '{"param": "value"}'

# Save as CSV
node scripts/run_actor.js \
  --actor "apidojo~instagram-scraper" \
  --input '{"param": "value"}' \
  --output YYYY-MM-DD_results.csv --format csv

# Save as JSON
node scripts/run_actor.js \
  --actor "apidojo~instagram-scraper" \
  --input '{"param": "value"}' \
  --output YYYY-MM-DD_results.json --format json

APIFY_TOKEN must be set in environment or .env file.

If Apify MCP is available:

text

Tool: apify:run-actor
Actor: "apidojo~instagram-scraper"
Input:
{
  "keywords": ["#[niche]review", "#[niche]recommendations", "#[niche]community"],
  "maxItems": 100
}

REST API fallback:

bash

curl -X POST   "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/apidojo~instagram-scraper/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN"   -H "Content-Type: application/json"   -d '{
    "keywords": ["#skincarereviews", "#skincareobsessed", "#honestskincarereviews"],
    "maxItems": 100
  }'

Collect unique ownerUsername values from results.

Step 2: Profile Enrichment

If Apify MCP is available:

text

Tool: apify:run-actor
Actor: "apidojo~instagram-scraper"
Input:
{
  "usernames": ["[username1]", "[username2]", "..."],
  "maxItems": 12
}

Step 3: Score UGC Fit

text

engagement_rate = (avg_likes + avg_comments) / follower_count * 100

authenticity_signal = (is_not_verified ? 1 : 0) * 0.20
                    + (follower_count < 100000 ? 1 : 0.5) * 0.20
                    + (posts_with_product_content >= 3 ? 1 : posts/3) * 0.30
                    + (engagement_rate >= min_engagement_rate ? 1 : engagement_rate/min_engagement_rate) * 0.30

Tier: TIER 1 ≥ 0.75 | TIER 2 0.50–0.74 | TIER 3 < 0.50

Step 4: Edge Cases

• Brand ambassador accounts appear (always using product): Check for #ad or #sponsored in every recent post — flag as ALREADY_CONTRACTED
• Private accounts appear: Skip — cannot assess content quality
• Follower count doesn't match scrape: If follower_count = 0 in scrape output, retry profile fetch; Instagram sometimes throttles profile data
• Location filter not matching: Instagram bio location field is free-text — use contains match: bio.lower() contains country/city name

Output Format

text

# Instagram UGC Creator List: [NICHE]
Creators evaluated: [N] | TIER 1: [N] | TIER 2: [N] | Date: [DATE]

## TIER 1 — Prime UGC Creators
| Creator | Handle | Followers | Avg Likes | Avg Comments | Eng Rate | Authenticity Score |
|---------|--------|-----------|-----------|--------------|----------|-------------------|
| [name] | @[handle] | [N] | [N] | [N] | [X%] | [0.XX] |

## TIER 2 — Worth Testing
| Creator | Followers | Avg Likes | Eng Rate | Location |
|---------|-----------|-----------|----------|---------|

## Top Performing Hashtags for This Niche
| Hashtag | Posts Found | Avg Likes per Post | Creator Quality (High/Med/Low) |
|---------|------------|-------------------|-------------------------------|

Troubleshooting

Hashtag returns only brand posts: Add "review" or "honest" to hashtags to anchor on consumer voice. All creators already contracted: Common in saturated niches — search adjacent sub-niches. Engagement rate < 3% across results: Hashtag may be too popular and dominated by low-engagement accounts. Switch to long-tail hashtags like #[niche][city] or #[brand]community.