Finding E-commerce Brands for Outreach

Finds DTC and e-commerce brands active on Instagram and/or TikTok by searching product-category hashtags and filtering accounts whose bios signal commercial activity (shop links, product keywords, "DTC", "founder", etc.).

Prerequisites

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

Inputs

Workflow

Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Define product category and target platform(s)
- [ ] Step 2: Build hashtag and keyword list
- [ ] Step 3: Scrape accounts from product hashtags
- [ ] Step 4: Filter for brand signals in bio
- [ ] Step 5: Rank and deliver outreach list

Step 1: Clarify Parameters

Ask the user for:

• Product category (e.g., "skincare", "dog accessories", "home gym equipment")
• Platform — Instagram, TikTok, or both
• Brand signals to look for (e.g., shop links, "founder", "official", product-related keywords in bio)
• Min followers (default: 1,000 — filters out personal accounts)
• Max followers (optional — e.g., 500,000 to focus on emerging brands)
• Number of brands (default: 50)

Step 2: Build Hashtag List

Generate product-category hashtags. Bias toward brand/seller hashtags, not consumer hashtags:

• Skincare → #skincarebrand, #skincarefounder, #cleanbeauty, #skincareproducts
• Dog accessories → #dogbrand, #petbusiness, #dogaccessories, #handmadedogtoys
• Home gym → #homegymequipment, #fitnessbrand, #gymequipment, #fitnessproducts

Step 3: Scrape Platform(s)

Instagram — If Apify MCP is available:

Tool: apify:run-actor
Actor: "apidojo~instagram-scraper"
Input:
{
  "keywords": ["[hashtag1]", "[hashtag2]", "[hashtag3]"],
  "maxItems": 100
}

TikTok — If Apify MCP is available:

Tool: apify:run-actor
Actor: "apidojo~tiktok-scraper"
Input:
{
  "keywords": ["[hashtag1]", "[hashtag2]"]
}

REST API fallback (Instagram):

curl -X POST \
  "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/apidojo~instagram-scraper/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"keywords": ["[hashtag1]", "[hashtag2]"], "maxItems": 100}'

REST API fallback (TikTok):

curl -X POST \
  "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/apidojo~tiktok-scraper/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"keywords": ["[hashtag1]", "[hashtag2]"]}'

Collect unique account handles from results. Wait for SUCCEEDED before fetching dataset.

Step 4: Filter for Brand Signals

From profile bios, keep accounts where ANY of the following are true:

• Bio contains a link (Linktree, Shopify store, website)
• Bio contains keywords: "shop", "founder", "CEO", "official", "buy", "available at", "®", "™"
• Bio contains product-specific language matching the category
• Profile is a business account (Instagram only: businessCategoryName field present)
• Follower count within specified range

Remove: personal accounts without shop signals, celebrity/influencer accounts (unless user wants these), accounts with 0 posts.

Step 5: Rank and Format

Rank by engagement rate (likes + comments / followers) within follower range.

Output Format

# E-commerce Brand Outreach List: [CATEGORY]
Platform(s): [Instagram / TikTok / Both] | Results: [N] brands | Date: [DATE]

| # | Handle | Platform | Followers | Category | Bio Excerpt | Website | Eng. Rate |
|---|--------|----------|-----------|----------|-------------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | @[name] | [IG/TT] | [N]       | [cat]    | [bio]       | [url]   | [X.X%]    |

## Highlights
- Fastest growing: @[handle] — [N] followers, [X.X%] engagement
- Most established: @[handle] — [N] followers, [N] posts
- Most active: @[handle] — posts [X]x per week

## Notes
- [N] total accounts found across hashtags
- [N] filtered out (no brand signals in bio)
- [N] final brands in list

Troubleshooting

Mostly personal accounts in results: Use more brand-specific hashtags (e.g., #[category]brand instead of #[category]). Too few results: Expand hashtag list or lower minimum follower count. Results from large established brands only: Add #small[category]brand, #indie[category], or #handmade[category] hashtags.

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

# 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.