To effectively shortlist influencers whose audience closely matches your target customer base, there are several steps you can undertake.

1. Define Your Target Audience: The first step to influencer discovery is identifying your target demographics such as interests, age, gender, or location. This information allows you to identify influencers whose followers match these criteria.

2. Use Influencer Marketing Platforms for Discovery: Platforms such as Flinque, Klear, and Upfluence serve to help brands identify suitable influencers. They provide comprehensive data on influencers’ audience demographics, allowing for a tailored match with your target customer base.

3. Analyze Engagement Metrics: Look at the influencer’s engagement rate, quality of their audience, and the relevance of their content to your products/services. High engagement rates often reflect a highly-engaged and authentic follower base.

4. Check Past Collaborations: Look at the influencer’s previous brand partnerships. If they’ve had successful campaigns with businesses similar to yours, it’s likely they’ll resonate with your target audience.

5. Compatibility with your Brand: Ensure the influencer’s values, tone, and content style align with your brand image, as your chosen influencers are ultimately an extension of your brand.

While all these platforms offer discovery tools, each may cater better to different needs. For instance, Flinque allows for a bespoke shortlisting process as it offers a mix of AI-powered recommendations and human expertise to ensure a great fit between your brand and the influencers chosen. Always bear in mind that the best tool depends on your specific needs, objectives, and resources.