Want to learn How to Approach Influencers? Want to learn how to contact influencers?
It is natural that you struggle with something that you have little or no prior experience in. You simply have not developed the skills and tactics for doing it effectively.
One of the things that marketers who work with influencer marketing struggle with the most is approaching and connecting with social media influencers. At the same time, it is actually one of the most important parts of influencer marketing. Becuase without influencers, no campaign.
And reaching out to influencers can actually be quite tricky. How do you write your message in an appealing way? What information should you include? What should you avoid?
In this article, we will guide you through the process of how to approach influencers and how to contact influencers. With the help of these tips for approaching influencers, you’ll get responses more often, make a good impression of your company, and ultimately establish collaborations and strong long-term relationships with influencers.
Step 1 – Find their contact information
What information do you need?
When you have decided on which influencers you want to work with, it is time to start the actual work of activating the effort. The most common and usually the easiest way to contact influencers is by email. I’ll go into some other methods further on as well.
This for many reasons; Many influencers are multi-talented and entrepreneurs and have busy schedules with irregular times, they are not always sitting down at a desk ready to take a stand on collaborations. They may also have sponsors or other collaborations that they need to match an approval from before they can take a stand or simply have to check out their calendar or check closer to your company to know if they want to do a cooperation with you. But, of course, if you want to contact them through another channel, you can do so. Some of the alternatives are:
- Messaging function through any of their social platforms
- Calling
..and so on.
An email that goes through the details and conditions of a campaign you want to run gives the influencer a chance to do this research in peace and quiet and then return with questions or answers. If you instead take this directly over the phone, it is difficult to both know when they are available and also, for them to be able to answer with a definite answer without reading the details first, but it is also often a lot of details that will be difficult for the influencer to memorize, and it will often be most stressful and pressed. If you sent an email, you can always follow up with a call to see if they have received it and then hear whether they are interested or not.
Where can I find influencer contact information?
Most influencers who are interested in collaborations have their mail in their profile on Instagram, in “About me” in the blog or in their “About” tab on YouTube. In other words, normally you’ll find the contact information of an influencer in their social media profiles/bios.
Go through these and see if you can find an email address or contact information there. If you do not find an email address, you can, for example, try to send a DM on Instagram and briefly explain that you are interested in making a paid collaboration with the influencer. If you do this, it may be good to comment on one of their posts that you have sent a private message – it is common for it not to be checked frequently.
Many influencers also know each other, so if you have contact with one, you can ask for an introduction to the one you wish to reach and go that way. In one way or another, it is always possible to find contact information, but sometimes you have to be stubborn and purposeful and go several ways and do not give up if you do not get the answer the first time.
Step 2 – Write the email
How should I formulate myself when contacting influencers?
Once you have found an email address, it is time to start composing the first email. The rule of thumb is to keep it professional, simple and clear, yet with a personal touch. Avoid sending the same mail (generic ones) to everyone, because people will notice and it will show that you don’t really care and that you’re just spamming and seeing what sticks.
In your message, include something personal about the influencer’s channel or life in general, something unique is always to lift. Tell them about what exactly you like about their profiles and their personality. Don’t become too personal though, if you never met the person before, it will only be odd if you formulate yourself as a friend. Professionally, but with a personal touch! And do not send your email with “kisses, hugs etc.” – it is a business relationship you are initially building right now.
Keep in mind that influencers get lots of inquiries and often sit with overcrowded mailboxes, so be clear, concise, and have the details clearly so that these become easy to understand already in the first mail. The set-up should, of course, be open to discussion, and it is important to give the influencer room for personal creativity, but some form of guidelines and frameworks in a brief is preferable for the influencer to be able to decide whether it feels like a relevant partnership or not.
Questions that should be answered in the email:
- What are you and what products do you offer? Briefly!
- Why do you want to work with this particular influencer?
- What do you want to push for? Is it about a new launch or a summer campaign or is it branding that is the purpose?
- Which channels or channels are you interested in?
- To what extent do you want to cooperate? Are there multiple channels? How many publications and during how long? A long-term approach is preferable and is often appreciated
- When in time do you think your publications should go live?
- Discount code and link – will you want to link and or use your discount code (s)? Be clear about this early
- What are you willing to pay? Compensation is always a central issue, so offer a sum or ask what the influencer would want in compensation.
- What compensation should we offer?
Do you really have to pay an influencer, is it not enough with products? What you ask the influencer about is to carry out a work on your behalf, so offering a financial compensation is a matter of course, with few exceptions.
A serious influencer will spend many hours working on your cooperation, just like any content creating employee. And just like us, you need all the money to pay for rent and food on the table. A goodie bag with products is, of course, nice to get, but hardly anything that pays for food and accommodation, so always assume that the influencer must get an economic compensation.
If you have products with a very high value then they can be counted as part of the compensation, but you will sort that out with the influencer. Generally speaking, influencers ignore inquiries where companies want to cooperate without financial compensation, so think smart and avoid scaring off skilled influencers who can generate a huge ROI for you.
Worth to remember is that prices per posts are often lower if you buy several posts/campaigns at the same time, and do a longer collaboration, or if you buy publications in several channels. Listen to how the influencer can reduce prices if you book more posts and extend the collaboration.
Many influencers are only interested in long-term collaborations where a series of publications are made, then the credibility is built up post after post, and it often becomes more affordable for you. You also get the chance to build more of a relationship with the influencer, which increases loyalty and their commitment. In other words, win-win from many aspects!
If you feel that you have a good idea of what an influencer should charge for the co-operation then you are not afraid to offer a fixed price. But then do your research and take into account, for example, category, niche and engagement so that you do not give them a hostile bid that can scare away the influencer. To come up with a concrete offer shows that you are prepared to pay and gives the influencer something to take a direct position on, but if you are uncertain – ask! It is unusual for an influencer to set extreme overprices, they have their reputation and brand to think about and usually have a template or even price list from which they are based.
Step 3 – Building relationships during the course of the collaboration
Building up and maintaining a good relationship with an influencer is really no different from the relationships we have with colleagues and customers or other professional relationships. For example, responding quickly to questions, always being there if ideas need to be discussed, and acting fairly and honestly is as basic as always. It builds trust and creates mutual respect. See the influencer as a colleague who helps you in your marketing by stepping in with their skills and their channels and doing things that you do not actually have the opportunity to do.
Be transparent and honest
Always be as transparent as you can, without disclosing business secrets. Remember to never use a young and inexperienced influencer who asks for an unreasonably modest remuneration, instead build trust by adding some to the claim and expect to receive a grateful and loyal influencer in return.
If you have a very limited budget, be honest with it, then the influencer themselves get to decide whether it is possible to implement the cooperation for the money you have to offer.
Sit back and let the influencers do what they are best at
As long as you have submitted a clear letter to the influencer where specific details for the design of the text and image as well as the conditions regarding, for example, the publication date are shown, you should not really do too much regarding the campaign. Who do you think is the most experienced and skilled, and who do you think knows what the influencers’ followers resonate best with? The influencer, of course!
Therefore, sit back and let influencers themselves use their creativity and create personal content. Be included to the extent that if they want to discuss an idea or question, you are available. Also, follow the campaign closely to see how it is doing, and if there is something that you need to do.
Step 4 – Maintaining a good relationship after the collaboration
Few companies make their influencer partners feel involved, valuable, and appreciated.
To keep a relationship alive even after or between collaborations, make sure that the influencers are involved. Would you like to invite influencers if you have an even of some kind, should you open a new store, or launch any new product as the influencer can get a chance to take part before everyone else? Make the influencers feel important, valuable and included, it is always appreciated and keeps you top of mind with influencers!
Influencer Marketing is an exciting and incredibly fun industry! Partly because it happens so much and because things are constantly changing, but also because it means that you get the chance to work with so many talented and inspiring people who let their passion become their work. Influencers can become a huge asset for companies when the right match is done and when the partnerships are carried out in a good way, so nurture relationships with influencers and see them for the incredible resources they really are!
