Influencer marketing platforms have fine-tuned ways to identify rising or emerging creators. Here are a few strategies commonly used:

1. Social Media Growth Tracking: Platforms track creators’ follower counts, engagement rates, and other metrics over time. Rapid, consistent growth is a good indicator of a promising future influencer.

2. Niche & Trend Analysis: Platforms analyze content for emerging topics or hashtag usage to find creators who are innovating or leading in new areas.

3. Audience Demographics & Sentiment: Tools often analyze creators’ audience demographics and sentiment metrics to find influencers with highly-engaged, specific audiences.

4. Content Quality & Authenticity: These platforms also assess the quality of posted content and the level of authenticity, which can often predict a creator’s potential.

For example, a platform like HypeAuditor focuses on follower growth and engagement analysis whereas Heepsy offers a blend of social media metrics and content analytics. Flinque, on the other hand, provides a comprehensive approach by combining social media data, trend analysis, audience metrics, and content quality assessment. The platform you choose would depend on your specific discovery needs.

Remember, early discovery can be an excellent strategy to optimize ROI, but it’s not a guarantee of success. Factors like campaign strategy, content quality, and the brand-influencer fit also hugely impact the effectiveness of influencer marketing efforts.