How to Contact Influencers

Contacting influencers can be difficult when you don’t know the best way to ensure a response. If you have already found the right influencers for your brand, or you still need to find influencers with the help of a platform like Heepsy, then deciding how to reach out to them will be your following step.

Response rates

Before outreach, it’s good to be aware of the common response rates seen. You are likely to see less than half of the influencers contacted to actually respond, which is why it is important to determine how many influencers you want to work with and double this number when sending out requests.

From initial requests, it is typical to see response rates of:

• 70-80% of emails are opened.
• 50% of emails where links have been clicked.
• 30-40% of emails are responded to.

Although these response rates can seem discouraging, this is why we have worked hard to help you to understand the best method of contact, depending on the type of product you are offering, and the type of influencer you are trying to attract.

Below, we will take a look at the three most commonly used ways to contact influencers.

1. Direct email

Sending an individual, direct email to influencers can be effective when you are only contacting a very small amount. Let’s say you are a small business, looking to contact local nano influencers in your area, or you may have determined specific influencers that you already know. This method could be great for you.

2. YAMM

So, you’re looking to contact a lot of influencers to ensure a suitable number of responses? There are plenty of tools out there, such as YAMM, which can be used to help you create automated outreach, without needing to write individual emails for each influencer request.

Yet Another Mail Merge (YAMM), is a free Google add-on that allows you to create personalised templates for contacting several influencers at once. You can then follow the progress of your outreach through Google Sheets, seeing who has opened and responded to your email.

3. DM

There are a couple of reasons why you may choose to contact an influencer via direct message (DM). Primarily, if you are unable to source the email address of an influencer or their team, then this may be your only option.

But sometimes businesses will choose to DM an influencer in order to go straight to them, and to avoid a manager picking up the email. An influencer’s manager will always request a fee however, if you go directly to the influencer via DM, the product may be attractive enough to them without a fee.

Tips for a successful response

No matter which contact method you decide to use, the important thing is making sure that you get the message right. So, here are some tips to follow once your contact channel has been selected:

• Make your message attractive – remember, if you received this email, would you keep reading?
• Be brief – maybe write an introductory email that summarises your request.
• Make the message personalised – you can use YAMM to help personalise emails going to many influencers at once.
• Use clear subjects – have a concise subject line that indicates the content of the email.

It’s not just the content of your email that makes it appealing, but the structure is essential to making it easy to read and attractive to influencers. Think about including these points in your email:

• Introduction – keep this short, giving a clear description of the brand.
• Objective – why would you like this influencer to work with your brand?
• Incentive – how brands pay influencers, thinking about what payment you can offer.
• Quantity and type – type of content expected from them to promote your brand.
• Publication guidelines – any special instructions you require, such as mentions or hashtags.

This is where the importance of YAMM comes in. It’s one of the most popular tools out there for a reason! By creating an email template, you can ensure that all of the above points are included in every email that you send out, whilst also having it personalised to each influencer. If you take a look at Heepsy’s Influencer Marketing Guide, you will find a step-by-step process for reaching out to influencers, and example email templates to help get started.

Conclusion

In short, you will almost always end up negotiating with influencers through one of these three channels. But, don’t be discouraged by the low response rates because with these helpful tips, you will be collaborating with influencers in no time!