You need influencers to promote your brand. You are targeting the local market and already have some social personas in mind. The next step is contacting the influencers and agreeing on collaboration details. But the step is not the easiest one. In fact, most of the influencer marketing strategies get stuck on an influencer outreach stage.
The outreach program involves regular communication between the brand and the influencer. You need a plan, a very targeted list of influencers, an influencer collaboration email template, and a communication strategy. It sounds like a lot, but no worries. We provide detailed guidelines on local influencer outreach tips and best practices for any skill and expertise level.
Types Of Influencers And How To Reach To Them
When choosing an influencer to work with, you need to understand the different options available. There are many different types of influencers and the factors that categorize them can range from follower size and engagement metrics to niche and expertise. In general, influencers can be categorized into:
Mega Influencers
You got it right. Mega influencers are big players in the market. There is no handbook on the characteristics of mega influencers but usually, marketers classify them as accounts with one million or more followers. For example, Kim Kardashian and Christiano Ronaldo are mega influencers. Now, unless you have a budget of several million USD, you can skip this part and move to the next category of influencers.
The benefits of mega influencers and collaboration with them are obvious – you have a reach to millions of people. And it is not only about the reach – your product promoted by mega influencers will get ten times more trust score than any other promotional method. While mega influencers are the most effective promotional tools in influencer marketing they are super expensive. On top of that it is nearly impossible to reach them unless you are a big established brand and have tons of contacts who can transfer your message to mega influencers.
Macro Influencers
After the mega influencers, the next category is the macro influencers. These are the influencers who have made a good reputation online. The majority of them still have merits in society and have certain skills that make them popular. But some macro influencers are simple online bloggers who got through with viral marketing. Macro influencers usually have between 100k followers and 1 million followers.
While they are more affordable than macro-influencers, they still have a considerable influence. Their followers are more or less engaged with their content: like their posts, watch their stories, and join in the live sessions. Macro influencers are big industry players such as Instagram personalities, YouTubers, and bloggers.
To work with these influencers, you must have a product that fits their profile. They will not work with just anyone. Usually, these types of influencers are very picky in terms of collaboration projects. Macro Influencers are an excellent choice for increasing brand awareness, visibility, and ultimately sales. They usually charge between $500 and $5000 per post or story.
Reaching macro-influencers is never easy. They typically have representatives and people responsible for their inbox management. So they are not directly receiving your offers and collaboration proposals. This means that your email must be very professional-looking and include all necessary details. Often these people will have their brand managers who will be your point of contact during the outreach process.
Micro-Influencers
Micro-influencers are mostly online personas and bloggers. They have newer accounts and can usually be found on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Many of them became influencers overnight with a few viral videos and afterward established their brands. Micro-influencers have followers ranging from 1k to 100K. However, they can still be effective even with small numbers as they have an engaged community. Their followers engage with their content and trust their recommendations.
When working with a micro-influencer, you can expect to pay between $100 and $1,000 per post. They are also easier to reach than macro and mega influencers. Very often micro-influencers will be handling collaboration proposals themselves. Hence you can expect more casual communication with them. But take into account that micro-influencers still receive plenty of offers throughout the day, so you do have to stand out in their inbox.
Nano Influencers
These influencers usually have the lowest follower count, ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 followers. In the past, they were disregarded for influencer marketing purposes due to a limited reach over an audience. However, nowadays, brands are realizing the power of these small influencers with a highly engaged community.
Nano-influencers are excellent choices for creating a solid engagement. They are easier to reach and are often ready to work with brands. They are almost always the only point of contact during the communication and are open to various ideas and promotional strategies. Their downside is that they often have a small audience and may not be as professional as the bigger categories of influencers. But if you have a product that fits well with a very specific niche market then don’t hold back.
Which Influencer Category Is Best Suited For Your Brand?
Understanding the pros and cons of each influencer category will help you decide which is best suited for your online business. Remember that there are lots of factors you need to consider, such as:
- Budget
- Unique business situation
- Niche
For example, if your business is a small startup with not that big budget, you may decide to work with a nano or micro-influencer. On the other hand, if you have a large budget and want your brand to be noticed by a large group of people within a short time, you should consider working with micro or mega influencers.
We advise that you work with different influencer tiers for the best results. This will enable you to enjoy the benefits of the different tiers and mitigate the downsides.
Top 5 Influencer Outreach Tips
Now that you understand the right influencer to work with, how do you reach out to these creators? Here are our top 5 tips to ensure they accept to promote your brand.
Create Your Outreach Program
You should create a systematic approach to finding the right influencer. This could be through:
- creating a database of the potential influencers
- keeping track of the interactions
- monitoring the results of the collaboration
This is a plan that will help you navigate the influencer outreach process.
Connect With The Influencer
An influencer outreach program doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be as simple as sliding into their DM and asking them to partner with your brand. This can especially work if you are targeting the macro or nano influencers.
But before you do that, you must connect with them. Like and follow their pages. Make sure you regularly comment and share their posts. This will enable you to build rapport with them so that they will be ready to respond when you contact them. When they feel valued, they will likely agree to work with you.
Make Your Outreach Message Personalized
Remember that behind every influencer, there is a human face. So, you don’t have to treat them like a billboard. Instead, understand that these are individuals with personal interests and unique personalities.
It doesn’t matter if you are contacting them through DM or email. It’s important to use a personalized message. If you use a generic message, the influencer will likely ignore it. When crafting the message, make it clear that you follow their pages and like their content.
Make them understand how collaborating with your brand will work for both parties. Remember that you are requesting to collaborate with them. Therefore, make it feel like a collaboration and not a transaction.
Show The Value You Offer
The only reason an influencer will agree to collaborate with you is the value they will get from the collaboration and not just how your brand will benefit. While this doesn’t have to be monetary, you must convince them you are ready to compensate for their time and effort. This could be through exclusive access to your products and services.
Be Consistent
You should ensure that you are consistent in your communications and follow-ups. Remember that influencers receive many such requests every day. Therefore, you do not have to lose heart if they don’t respond immediately. Follow up politely without being too pushy.
Final Thoughts
Influencer outreach may not be complicated. But if you need a response from your target influencer, you need to reach out to them in a way they will appreciate. You can see success with your brand by following the influencer outreach tips above.
