Influencer marketing involves finding influential people to share your content with their followers. The key is building mutually beneficial relationships with influencers. If done right, you grow your reach while giving value to the influencer. This post is a step-by-step guide for an influencer outreach strategy. Let’s dive in!
Step 1: Research Influencers
The first step is finding the right influencers for your brand. Use tools to identify popular influencers in your industry niche. Their audience should be interested in your products/services. Partnering with irrelevant influencers is a waste of time for your brand as well as the influencer. You can use an influencer marketing platform for brands to identify and connect with influential individuals who have an engaged audience that aligns with your target market.
Step 2: Connect With Influencers
Once you’ve identified good influencers, start getting on their radar. Follow them across social media, like their posts, and comment on their content. This allows you to learn about their interests in a non-threatening way. The goal is to make your name familiar before reaching out directly.
Step 3: Tailor Outreach Messages
When contacting an influencer, craft a personal message showing you picked them for a reason. Don’t use a generic template – you’re trying to build a relationship. Reference your research to show you understand their interests. Test different outreach formats like email vs. social media DM.
Step 4: Be Upfront
Don’t hide that your goal is a business partnership. Influencers are busy and expect this. Focus the pitch on how you can provide value to them, not just what you want. Honesty and transparency build trust.
Step 5: Tap Their Network
If you already have good influencer relationships, ask them to introduce you to others in their circle. People are more likely to work with you when vouched for by someone they trust. This approach can increase your chances of gaining credibility and building new collaborations.
Step 6: Create Great Content
The content you want influencers to share needs to be extremely high quality. Poor content will make you look bad and damage your influencer relationships since it reflects on them too. Quality is essential when you are spreading awareness about your brand through an influencer.
Step 7: Segment Influencers
Different influencers have different motivations. Segment them by criteria like reach, engagement, interests, demographics, etc. Then you can customize your approach for each group instead of using one-size-fits-all.
Step 8: Look Beyond Followers
Don’t just judge an influencer’s value by follower count. Also consider engagement rates, audience relevance, and ability to drive real conversions. Nano and micro-influencers can sometimes outperform mega-influencers.
Step 9: Nurture Relationships
Influencer marketing is all about relationships. Don’t just contact influencers once for a campaign. Stay engaged, provide exclusive opportunities, and nurture the connection over time. Strong relationships breed loyal and authentic promotion.
Follow these 9 steps for an effective influencer outreach strategy. These steps help you to launch successful influencer marketing campaigns. You can also use the best influencer marketing software to level up your marketing game.