Let’s just be honest here. Not the least of which is reaching out to influencers, which is sometimes awkward. You know you have to go for it, but of course, in there resides always that nagging doubt: What if they ignore me? What if I say something inappropriate?
Image Source: https://influencermarketinghub.com/how-to-reach-out-to-influencers/
Take a deep breath. You are not alone in your opinion. But good news-there: approached influencers do not have to be awkward or uncertain. Actually, it could be fulfilling if done the right way. And that is if you are trying to reach an influencer for promoting your product, or are starting off a collaboration, or just want to get the word out. In fact, reaching out to influencers is certainly an art when done right.
They are human beings, managing their own businesses, who want to reach their audience and then the brand. It is incredible that they get a thousand messages from companies, most of which sound like bad solicitations because they just reflect as mechanical, out of touch or impersonal.
In this blog, we’re going to break down exactly how you can reach out to influencers within your niche organically, naturally, in a way that feels organic and strategic and not pushy or like for the millionth time. And by the end, you’ll know exactly what you need to do to make all the right moves and build connections that could last well beyond your first campaign.
1. Know Your Why: Define Your Objective
Before you send out that email or DM slide, step back and take a pause. In influencer outreach, getting clear on your ‘why’ is the first and most important part of the process. Why are you reaching out to that particular influencer? What’s at stake when you work with them?
Think about it this way: Influencers are storytellers. You’ve invested time into voice, brand, and audience, so your outreach needs to resonate with their vision or values. Not sure why you want to work with them, or worse, fuzzy goals-it’s unlikely your message will resonate.
Do you want to:
- Build brand awareness?
- Boost sales through a new product launch?
- Amplify engagement for a campaign?
- Promote a specific event or partnership?
You now know what you want; now, you need to ensure you know what you are asking for. Whether it’s a blog feature, social media shoutout, or long-term partnership, it will serve as a way to ensure that the influencer knows how best to respond and whether he or she is suitable for your brand.
FAB Framework (For Entrepreneurs)
Feature: You will be presenting your brand to an audience that already trusts them.
Advantage: This way, you will be defining your objectives right from the beginning, and targeted outreach makes it easy for an influencer to understand your offer.
Benefit: A defined objective opens doors for smooth communication and successful collaborations.
2. Do Your Homework: Identify the Right Influencers
Now that you have detailed out your objectives, the next best thing to do would be to identify the proper influencers to work with. In most cases these are often forgotten by the brands in an effort to reach out to as many people as is possible. But what’s the sense of an influencer if all influences are equal? Just because the influencer boasts a large following doesn’t necessarily mean that your campaign is going to be a hit.
Start with people who are authentic to your niche and brand value. You are looking for people that will have the same audience, interests, and goals. Quality over quantity. Is that content valuable to your audience? Are they authentic with the messaging?
Tools to Find Influencers:
BuzzSumo: It helps in looking for prominent content creators on a particular niche.
Followerwonk: It makes comparisons of followers based on topics through the Bioresearch of tweets.
Influence.co: This can allow you to reach out to influencers in your niche.
NinjaOutreach: One of the more powerful influencer finding and outreach tools.
Don’t get it on reputation superficially proven with followers. It’s going to be the level of engagement, the tone of the user, and does the content that they’re posting relate to your niche? That’s such a significant distinction in terms of value in one person who has 15,000 engaged followers versus someone with 500,000 followers, but they barely touch comments.
And micro-influencers! Micro-influencers are niche and more targeted- in the range of 5,000 to 50,000 followers, which tend to be a bit more engaged. Micro-influencers are ideal for brands catering to small, specific communities or requiring authentic storytelling.
3. Personalized Outreach: The Art of Crafting an Authentic Message
Ask yourself: How do you feel when you get some spam reply along the lines of messages? I bet probably ignored and unimportant. Well, influencers think the same way. They can spot a copy-paste pitch from a mile away.
If you want to be noticed, then your outreach must be personal. Now that’s where most companies screw up. So, if you simply write something like, “I love your work; let’s collaborate?” then it’s headed for the can.
Instead, be thoughtful about how you demonstrate that you have put in effort. Refer to specific posts they might have published, tell them why you like their content and describe how your brand lines up with their values. The idea should be that you really get their brand, and this would be a win-win.
How Not to Do It:
Hey [Name]! I’m really enjoying your Instagram feed. Really loved it. Happy to reach out and say maybe we can collaborate? Let me know if you’re in.
Yikes. There is no personalization or tailoring here. It really feels like this could have been sent to 50 other influencers.
How to Do It Right:
Hello [Name], I’ve been reading your blog/Instagram for years now, and I especially loved your last post on [specific topic]. It just happens to be something very close to my heart because [reason]. I feel we surely would come up with something exciting together. Would you like to talk about how we could work together in practice on a [specific idea]? Feel free to let me know if that interests you”. This message does three primary things.
- It shows them you have the ability to familiarize yourself with their content.
- It gives a clear, tangible idea of collaboration.
- Direct yet friendly, with a clear call to action.
Personalization will make you stand out from the dozens of generic pitches an influencer receives each day.
4. Lead with Value: Make It About Them
The Golden Rule #1 for Influencer Outreach: Stop being all about you. Far too many brands write emails to influencers with a “what can you do for me?” mentality and very little consideration for what’s in it for them.
In most cases, it is businesses. They’ve had a long time building that audience and that brand, creating that trust; they’re not going to jeopardize that for a partnership that doesn’t bring them actual tangible value.
Pay attention to their needs when you reach out: what they will gain from the partnership. That they’ll get access to content or products no one else will?
- Will it make them money: commission, affiliate links?
- Will this collaboration do something for their content and or bring value to their audience?
Remember, they care most about their community and credibility. You have higher chances of getting a favorable response when you offer something that can benefit them as well as their audience.
5. Brief and Clear: Keep It Simple
You’ve personalized your outreach and written a value-driven proposal so far. Now, it’s time to send the message. Influencers are really busy. They are creating content, managing partnerships, engaging with their audience, and maybe juggling a hundred other things at once.
That means that they do not have time to read a long pitch. Make your outreach short and, sweet and to the point.
Ideal Structure of Your Message:
- Introduction: Refer to the work they do and why you enjoy it.
- Specific Ask: One sentence where you’ll ask them to do something – perhaps review your product, sponsor a post, or let’s partner on this.
- Value Proposition: What’s in it for them?
- Next Steps: What is next (“Let me know if you’re open to discussing this further!”).
Here’s one simple message structure:
Hello, [Name]; I’ve been following your blog for a pretty long time, especially regarding the newly published post on [topic]. I would really appreciate the opportunity to discuss potential cooperation of your brand with us on [specific project]. It would definitely be beneficial for your audience by [reason]. If interested in discussing further, Id be more than happy to connect and chat with you to get further details. Thanks!
The notice is very direct but thoughtful of their time and chock-a-block of information without being a blow to the psyche.
6. Non-Technical Follow-Up (Don’t be pushy)
No reply? No problem.
These influencers sometimes miss or forget an email or message. Quit beating yourself up in despair, though, for a gentle follow-up might just remind them of what they forgot —and at this point, the reply comes through.
Always respect their time and workload. Don’t be shrill or snappish when you’re following up. Try something like this instead:
“Hi [Name], I just wanted to follow up on my last message to see if you had a chance to consider my proposal. I’d love to chat further if this is something that interests you. Thanks again for your time!”
That is just the simple, respectful, no-nonsense kind of thing.
7. Not only Transactional but Relationship Building
Takeaway: Treat your influencer outreach not as a transactional kind of activity but to build long-term relationships-you are not looking for one period away but long-term relationships.
While operating with an influencer, never ghost someone after the project. A relationship built in cooperation is forever kept. You see and like their content, support new ventures, and stay connected with the person. These continued contacts might bring an even better opportunity in your way, such as an exclusive partnership, an affiliate deal, or even ambassadorship.
8. Measure Success and Adjust Your Approach
Analyzing results would be the final step after you’ve been successful with an influencer partnership. You’d want to track performance by examples of engagement conversions and ROI across your influencer campaigns. Did your campaigns work? How did the audience in the influencer react to communications?
It would allow you to use learnings from here in calibrating future outreach strategies. What worked for you? What did not? Just by continually fine-tuning your approach, you can improve over time and create ever more potent influencer partnerships.
Wrapping Up
It does not need to be nerve-wracking or overwhelming to get in touch with influencers in your niche. Research them, personalize your outreach, lead with value, build real relationships, and the confidence will take you straight into the arms of the influencers whose help you can utilize to amplify the voice of your brand and its message.
And the thing is that this means that influencer outreach is not a one-way street. That is to say, therefore, in placing all of this together with your approach by using the rightness, authenticity, and obvious value proposition, you are setting the stage for a successful and meaningful collaboration as mutually beneficial to both parties.
Go out there and build those connections!