How to Reach Influencers for Collaborations (with Sample Templates) (2023)

If you've found the right influencers to collaborate with, it's time to get in touch. As with many other things in business, influencer reach can seem intimidating. After all, you're asking a complete stranger to help you with a business opportunity. With influencers, you're requesting a personal service that could affect your reputation. Fortunately, I've crafted this guide to help you learn how to reach influencers with confidence.

What is influencer reach?

Simply put, influencer reach is when you reach out to social media influencers with the intention of collaborating with them. Typically, this collaboration focuses on increasing brand awareness or sales for a specific brand as part of an influencer marketing campaign.

Scope can take a few different forms. The most direct way is to send an email or a message on social networks to the influencer and ask for his collaboration. Another method isused by amazonand some other big companies: having a page where influencers interested in collaborating can sign up. Many other companies do a combination of these techniques.

Also, keep in mind that sometimes you will reach out to an influencer to add them to a general list.influence program. In that case, you may not immediately intend to collaborate. Instead, you want someone you can count on later. Either way, knowing how to reach influencers is key. Here, we will focus on the direct scope method.

Step 1: Identify relevant influencers to reach

Before learning how to communicate with influencers, it's important to find the right people. In this case, you're looking for a shortlist because you're not sure who will respond favorably to your proposal. Fortunately, if you do this right, there is bound to be someone willing to help you out. I wrote extensively aboutinfluencer discovery, but here are some quick tips.

Determine relevancy based on your target audience

For an influencer marketing campaign to work well, you need someone who is influential with your target audience. This isn't always an example of the target audience, just someone they're attracted to. For example, you might choose a regional sports personality for your sportswear brand. That person might be older than your target audience and likely make more money than they do. However, their goal is usually to sell sporting goods to an audience that plays the sport. By choosing a successful competitor, you will attract this audience.

However, there are other niches where the best influencer will be very close to their target audience. In other words, it's more than just a common interest. If you sell beauty products tailored to a certain subculture, your influencers should be part of that community. Alternatively, if you're looking to expand your reach, choose someone who fits your new buyer persona.

Compare influence levels

Here, I'm talking about more than just follower numbers. Especially since some influencers have some fake followers, there's a lot more to influence levels. No, here I mean how far someone isinfluential in your industry.You wouldn't pick an athletic influencer to sell junk food to, would you? They will likely encourage healthy eating. To take a more nuanced example, let's turn to the travel industry. Some influencers offer cheap travel and I wouldn't use them to promote a five-star hotel.

How is this level of influence determined? First, look at the hashtags they are using. You want to make sure your hashtag trail is relevant not only to your industry, but the right industry segment. Also, you should check out what they recommend to make sure it's a good fit.

Make a list of priorities to launch

Ultimately, this information will help you narrow down your choices. Choose the best handful of candidates and learn how to communicate with influential people. Then have a few more groups if there aren't enough influencers to respond favorably the first time around.

Step 2: Preparing the Pitch

Next, you should prepare your presentation as this will help you decide how to reach influencers. While some aspects of outreach are the same for everyone, others need to be tailored for each influencer.

Confirm your marketing strategy

Choosing influencers requires you to understand your marketing strategy. This will allow you to ask for the right kind of help from a potential influencer. Nothing says "skip it" like a salesperson who doesn't know the details.

Know what to say when reaching out to influencers to collaborate

Writing that note to a potential influencer can feel like applying for a job, as it can make you nervous. However, if you know how to communicate with influential people, this will be less of a problem. Following these tips will help you succeed.

• Avoid starting your letter or message with "Dear Influencer" or "To Whom It May Concern". This impersonal approach has a 99% chance of being ignored, according toCrazyegg. com.Instead, be more personal.
• Tell them what's in it for them. In other words, what are the rewards? There may be some flexibility here, but make it clear that they will be compensated.
• Mention something about them or their content. It shows you're paying attention and helps build rapport. Do you personally have anything in common? You can use this if appropriate.

Mastering the secrets of how to reach influencers is surprisingly easy. Ask yourself what you would want someone else to do if they offered you an opportunity. Putting yourself in their shoes is a great way to increase your chances of success.

Before starting, show interest in what they have to say. This can include following your social media accounts, liking or sharing your content, and much more. By doing this, you are building a connection before communicating. This is a critical step: according to Backlinko, only8.5% of disclosure emailsnever get an answer. By connecting with an influencer on social media in advance, you show interest in a relationship.

Step 4 - Send your influencer outreach email

Now that you've built a relationship with your chosen influencers, it's time to use my tips on how to reach out to influencers. There are several scoping options depending on your preferences and the intended platform for collaborations.

Instagram

If you intend to use Instagram, the best way to communicate with influencers is to use Instagram DMs. They are easy to use and allow the influencer to quickly view their Instagram profile. Also, feel free to link the brand account if you are not using it to communicate.

Other social networks

Many other social networks have the ability to message someone directly. In some cases, like LinkedIn, you may have to pay for this. However, these are all relatively high visibility ways to try to get your message read.

Off social media

With bloggers, or when intranet messages are restricted, you can always email them. Of course, your first step is to find that email address. Sometimes they include you in social media profiles. If the influencer hasmedia kit,they will list their preferred contact on that document. There is often a link available in your profile.

Another option is to use Google. Depending on your off-network Internet presence, you may be able to find some form of contact information. Keep in mind that if you're a B2C brand, you probably don't want to use your workplace to submit collaboration proposals. This can cause them problems in their daily work.

Use outreach tools

If you're looking for a blogger or if you haven't found the contact information you need any other way, consider using tools. For example,Apolo.iois an email lookup service that might be worth a try. From there, I would follow the other steps of how to reach influencers. Alternatively, tryRespona.com. This is a blogger-specific outreach tool with strong automation features.

write your note

Once you have the correct contact information, it's time to write your presentation. There are two basic approaches. The first is to present a specific opportunity. For example, you can ask them if they would like to prepare a single Instagram post on behalf of your brand. The second approach is to be more open. If so, he'll ask if they're interested in discussing collaborations. If the intended influencer does a variety of collaborations, this may be the best option. Unless, of course, you have something specific in mind.

Step 5: Didn't get a response? How do you follow an influencer?

If you've sent out a bunch of resumes and never heard back, you know how it is. The problem is, like that hiring manager who ignored your application, influencers get more requests than they can handle. For some of them, the high volume of requests means that they do not respond to all of them.

For this reason, experts agree that it's okay to send a follow-up email or message. In fact, it's considered good practice to do so. That way, you show the influencer that you are really interested in working with them. Combined with their prior interest in the content they are already producing, this will set you apart from the competition. Finally, remember that some influencers have a habit of responding only after the second contact.

Step 6: Start your collaboration and build a long-term relationship

When you finally get an answer, you'll have learned how to successfully communicate with influencers. Now comes the fun part: collaborating! Once you've carefully negotiated the terms of your partnership, you'll be able to enjoy the result of all that hard work. We hope your influencer marketing campaign is a success.

However, just because the campaign is over doesn't mean you should end your relationship with your influencers. In fact, that's not really a good idea. Consider adding successful influencers to a formal influencer marketing program. That might mean making them part of your network and using them for future collaborations. Or it could mean an immediate and long-term commitment. Either way, both win.

Bonus: Influencer Outreach Templates

Do you suffer from writer's block? It happens to everyone. That's why I've put together these short templates to help you inspire your outreach efforts.

Instagram direct message example

email example

So what are you waiting for? Go there and start collaborating!

Photo bypriscilla dupreeze Unsplash

FAQs about communicating with influencers