Influencer Outreach Email Templates: How to Contact Influencers At Scale and Get Replies
Discover effective influencer outreach strategies with our comprehensive guide. Learn how to craft personalized emails, find influencer contacts, and utilize templates for successful collaborations. Boost your influencer marketing efforts and achieve better ROI today!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Art of Influencer Outreach: Example Emails Templates & More
Effective influencer outreach is crucial for executing a successful influencer marketing strategy.
Without knowing how to contact influencers properly, brands risk wasting valuable time with no return on investment.
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How to Do Influencer Outreach: A Step-by-Step Guide
1. Pre-Outreach Preparation
Before reaching out to influencers, it's crucial to have a clear strategy in place. This preparation will increase your chances of success.
Define Your Target Influencers
Pre-vetting influencer profiles ensures you're only contacting creators who are a good fit for your brand. This saves time and improves your response rate.
- Influencer size: Micro, macro, or celebrity influencers based on your budget and campaign goals
- Niche and audience: Ensure their followers align with your target customers
- Performance metrics: Specify ideal engagement rates, follower growth, and authenticity scores
- Content style: Look for creators whose voice and aesthetic match your brand organically
Define Your Offer
Be clear about what you can offer influencers before reaching out. This clarity will help you move quickly if an influencer responds positively to your collaboration request.
- Deliverables: Specify the type and number of posts you expect
- Timelines: For long-term partnerships, outline the frequency of sponsored content
- Compensation: Will you offer products, affiliate deals, or monetary payment?
- Budget: If offering paid partnerships, know your price range
- ROI expectations: What results do you hope to achieve through this collaboration?
Establish Your Communication Process
Plan out your workflow for when an influencer agrees to collaborate. Consider:
- Contract details
- Briefing process
- Content approval steps
- Payment procedures
Finding Influencer Emails
Most influencers prefer to be contacted via email for professional inquiries. Here's how to find their email addresses:
- Check their social media bios. or "About" section of YouTube
- Look for a dedicated "email" tab on Instagram (app only)
- Check LinkTree or other bio link websites, usually in bio
- Do a Google Search for their name
- Use an influencer email tool like Creators AI
Crafting Personalized Outreach Emails
When writing your influencer outreach emails, follow this general structure:
- Start with a personalized compliment showing you've researched the influencer
- Briefly introduce your brand
- Close with a simple yes/no question to encourage a response
Influencer Outreach Email Templates
Template 1: Short and Sweet
Hey {{fname}}, I'm [Your Name] from [Your Brand] đź‘‹. We're [brief description of your company and unique selling point]. [Personalized comment about the influencer's content or recent post] Since your content & values align so well with ours, I'd love to have you on board to help spread the word. I've attached a short brand booklet for context, and there's an access code on the last page so you can try our product/service. Would you be open to collaborating with us next month? Best, [Your Name]
This template works well for busy influencers who appreciate brevity.
Template 2: Detailed Collaboration Proposal
Hey {{fname}}, I'm reaching out from [Your Brand] — [brief description of your company and mission]. We'd like to invite you to join our newest campaign as an ambassador! We recently launched [campaign name]. The aim is to [explain campaign goals]. You can learn more about it here: [link]. We'd love to work with you on some social content similar to your [mention specific content that aligns with your campaign]. Here's what the collaboration would involve: - [Type of content expected] - [Usage rights information] - [Any other relevant details] Are you interested in hearing more about this opportunity? Looking forward to your response, [Your Name]
This template is great when you have a specific campaign or collaboration in mind.
Template 3: Cause-Related Partnership
Hey {{fname}}, I'm [Your Name] from [Your Agency/Brand]. I think you might be a great fit for a paid collaboration with our client, [Client Name]. [Brief background on the client's cause or mission] I was particularly impressed by your [mention specific content that aligns with the cause]. Your approach to [relevant topic] really resonated with our team. Given the alignment between your content and our client's mission, I believe this could be a meaningful partnership opportunity. Would you be open to a quick 15-minute call to discuss the project details? Best regards, [Your Name]
This template is effective for cause-related marketing campaigns.
Tips for Successful Influencer Outreach
- Personalize your messages: Show that you've taken the time to understand the influencer's content and audience.
- Be clear and concise: Respect the influencer's time by getting to the point quickly.
- Highlight mutual benefits: Explain how the collaboration can benefit both parties.
- Follow up thoughtfully: If you don't hear back, send a polite follow-up after a week or two.
- Be flexible: Be open to the influencer's ideas and suggestions for the collaboration.
Choosing the Right Communication Channel
While both email and DMs can be effective, many influencers prefer professional communication via email. Here's why:
- Emails allow for more detailed information
- They're easier to track and reference later
- Professional email addresses lend credibility to your outreach
Pro Tip
Using a professional email address (not @gmail or @yahoo) can significantly improve your credibility and reduce the chances of your message being perceived as spam.
Direct Messages (DMs)
Should you utilize direct messaging on Instagram to contact influencers?
DM Downsides
- It can be a highly manual process, of course there are some DM automation tools available however instagram often changes their access policies and things break
- Direct messages have daily limits. This makes it a less scalable strategy than email.
- Getting lost in the noise - DMs on Instagram usually get sent to the “Hidden Requests” folder, or if you contact someone popular it simply won’t get seen
DM Best Practices
There are a few differences when it comes to sending DMs vs email
Keep it casual
Instagram can be a fun, informal, expressive place—so let your message and tone match that.
Of course, you'll always want to maintain some professionalism, but that doesn't need to prevent you from sending an energetic, inviting message, or even throingw in an emoji or two.
Keep it super short
Don't copy and paste your email outreach template and send them via DMs. This tactic will likely be too long and appear like a giant wall of text. Get the gist of it in there, and include a call to action.
Engage with their content beforehand
You can put your brand on the influencer's radar even before a DM simply by liking or commenting on some of their recent content.
Send a personalized video message
If you have the confidence, a less common and more creative way to spark conversation is with a personalized video. Say precisely what you would in your text-based message but film yourself (or your colleague) and send it as a video.
Time consuming, yes, but can really pay off for more popular or desirable creators
Reply to a Story
In addition to sending a cold DM, replying to an influencer's IG Story is another tactic. Depending on the story's context, you can initiate a conversation with something relevant to something the influencer is already discussing or doing.
Move it to email
If you've successfully gotten an influencer's attention and are messaging back and forth, eventually, you should suggest moving the conversation to email.
Email Strategies & Best Practices
What is a good response rate?
According to Creators AI data, we generally see average response rates from 8-15% and positive response rates (influencers who are interested) ranging from 4-9%.
This range is not by any means absolute and varies widely based on:
- Influencer-brand fit
- Influencer account size & platform
- Attractiveness of compensation offer
- Brand niche (be thankful if you are not in crypto, rates are wild!)
Set up an automated email sequence
An email sequence (sometimes called a drip campaign) is a series of automated emails you arrange to send on a set schedule. Why give up after just one email?
- Open rates for drip campaigns are about 80% higher than single send emails.
- If your first email is not opened or replied to (your choice), have an automatic follow-up "check-in" a few days later. A period of three days works well.
- A third and final attempt would be to remind them of the proposal.
Monitor outreach metrics. Optimize any inefficiencies.
What is your deliverability? Open rate? Response rate? Are you frequently getting the same questions asked? Or are you just constantly waiting for responses?
You should analyze, iterate, and test regularly.
Troubleshooting may not just be limited to your email copy either.
Perhaps your offer simply isn’t good enough and you should change your compensation structure. Review standard influencer rates to get a good idea of this beforehand.
Learn from every influencer response
Even if not positive, gather learnings from how influencers are replying. But at the same time, don’t take a single data point to heart.
If one influencer asks for an insane rate, it doesn’t mean that’s the standard, or that you should agree just because you got a response.
Make it into a process and be impartial and realistic about what the data is telling you.
Automating the Influencer Outreach Process
While the methods described above can be effective, they can also be time-consuming, especially for larger campaigns. For brands looking to scale their influencer marketing efforts, AI-powered solutions like Creators AI offer significant advantages:
- Full AI Automation of influencer discovery & outreach
- AI analysis of content for close brand alignment and optimization for key stats like high recent views and view-to-follower ratio
- Daily outreach to new influencers with personalized emails
- Try it for free, no credit card required
Such tools can dramatically reduce the time and effort required for influencer outreach while maintaining a high level of personalization and targeting.
Conclusion
Effective influencer outreach is a crucial skill in today's digital marketing landscape.
By following this guide and utilizing the provided email templates, you'll be well-equipped to start building valuable relationships with influencers.
Remember to track your results closely and take an honest look at what may or may not be causing any issues.
With a bit of persistence, you'll be contacting influencers at scale and onboarding successful partners every week!