Influencer marketing is the best thing to happen to brands since social media.
Influencers have over 22 times more conversations about product recommendations than your average consumer.
82% of consumers said they’re very likely to follow an influencer’s suggestions.
For every $1 spent on influencer marketing, you earn $23 back.
There are so many reasons to invest in influencer marketing. But what do you do when it’s time to pull the trigger?
After locating the influencer of your dreams, it’s time to put on your bravest face and get in touch with them.
But these outreach emails are fraught with social anxiety.
“Will they ignore me?”
“Will the influencer demand weird terms?”
“Will they talk crap about my product?”
If you’re nervous about influencer outreach, take a deep breath.
With the right knowledge on your side, you’ll ace influencer outreach and finally get some much-needed ROI.
Use this guide to write the perfect influencer outreach email and avoid common missteps. We’ll even share 5 outreach templates for inspiration.
3 components of a great influencer outreach email
Picture it: you’ve found the perfect influencer. You sit down at your laptop to write the email and …
You have no clue what to say.
If influencer marketing’s got your tongue, make sure your email has these 3 components to get the juices flowing.
1 - Subject lines
35% of email recipients open emails solely based on the subject lines. So, if you want an influencer to notice your email (and you probably do), you’ve got to write eye-catching subject lines.
Pique the influencer’s interest by including their name in the subject line. This personalizes the message and grabs their attention.
Something like, “Melanie, we’d love to work together” or “Your followers will love this product, Melanie” will get an influencer's attention.
But keep it short and sweet: the best subject lines are just 41 characters (that’s 7 about words). Emojis can increase email open rates, too, so throw in a few thoughtful emojis to get more eyeballs on your emails.
Don’t be afraid to get quirky or funny here—subject lines are supposed to be cool! Here are some of our faves.
2 - Friendly greeting
Start the body of your email with a friendly greeting, the Instagram influencer’s name, and a short introduction.
A quick, “Hi Melanie” at the beginning of your email works like a charm.
Keep your introduction super short. The bulk of your email should detail the influencer partnership itself.
Your introduction should read like, “I’m Todd, the brand strategist at Beauty-R-Us.”
3 - Helpful content
The body of the email should include the juicy deets of your campaign.
Use this formula to write an effective influencer collab email:
What you’re offering. Money? Samples? Commission? Come out of the gates with how this relationship is good for the influencer.
Give context. Why is this a smart partnership? Mention specific posts that show this.
The campaign deets. This should include important dates, your goals, and what you need out of the campaign.
This sounds like a lot, but we’re living in a tl;dr kind of world. Keep your email less than 100 words or nobody will read it.
Swipe these 5 influencer outreach email templates
So here’s the thing: influencers are only accepting 25% (or 1 in 4) collaboration requests. Simply asking for a partnership isn’t going to snag a coveted influencer for your brand.
You’ve got to say the right things to get an influencer to choose you over everyone else.
While you should craft every email to the individual influencer (more on that in a bit), here are 5 outreach email templates to get you warmed up.
1 - Short and to the point
Looking for a standard influencer relationship? Start with a short, effective email that won’t overwhelm them with a wall of text:
Hi [influencer name],
I’m Erica with Acme Anvils. I came across your post on Wile E. Coyote and thought you would be a perfect fit for our latest campaign.
I’m giving away free anvil samples, as well as samples to give away to your followers, in exchange for 2 social media posts promoting your experience with our brand.
Are you interested in participating?
Let me know,
Erica
2 - Asking for a broader relationship
Sometimes you need an influencer for a one-and-done campaign. But what if you want them to stick around for a hot minute?
Use this email template to ask an influencer for a more long-term, brand ambassador-style relationship:
Hi [influencer name],
I’m Andres with Initech. I’ve been following your account since [date] and especially loved your post on [example of a post you legitimately liked].
Based on your content, I think our audience would love to hear more from you. I wanted to get in touch to see if you’re interested in an ongoing collaboration with Initech?
Let me know if you’re interested and I can send over more details!
Talk to you soon,
Andres
3 - Releasing a new feature or product sneak peek
Influencers are the queens of creating buzz online.
When you need to drum up some press on your latest features or sneak peeks, send this template to your prospective influencers:
Hey [influencer name],
I’m Jessa from Exampleco.
I’m reaching out because we’re rolling out [name of product / feature] this summer, which helps [who your product helps and why].
I noticed you talk about up-and-coming brands on your Instagram and wanted to see if you were interested in promoting [new product / feature]?
You’ll get perks like [list perks like free samples, new features, the pay rate, etc.] in exchange for your time.
Let me know if you’re interested!
Talk soon,
Jessa
4 - Stroke their ego
Hey, everybody wants to feel special. If you’re having trouble getting influencers to reply to your emails, give them something first!
Feature an influencer’s latest content in a roundup on your Instagram and then send them this message:
Hey there [influencer name],
I’m Jamal with Soylent Corp. I just wanted to let you know that you’re featured in Soylent’s latest post on nutrition in the New Year!
Feel free to check out the post here [link to the post] and share with your followers.
Best,
Jamal
5 - The FOMO event invite
Whether you’re hosting an in-person or virtual event, you can boost attendance and build deeper connections with influencers by inviting them to attend:
Hi [influencer name],
I’m Alice with Umbrella Corp. I’m reaching out because we’re hosting a virtual awards show next month celebrating content creators like you. I’d love to see you there!
Some of our speakers include [interesting person 1] and [interesting person 2]. In addition to awards, we’re giving away swag, discounts, and more to all attendees.
Are you interested in attending?
Let me know!
Alice
Don’t make a faux pas—5 collab email best practices
Okay, so you’ve drafted your email. But you’re not sure if it’s 100% yet.
If you’re feeling less-than-sure, put your influencer collaboration email through these 5 best practices before you tap “send.”
1 - Have a goal
Don’t fire off collaboration emails all willy-nilly.
What do you need from this collab? Reach, engagement, or sales?
How do you want this collaboration to work? Do you need user-generated content, reviews, or something else entirely?
It’s important to highlight what the influencer gets out of this partnership, but at the end of the day, it’s about your needs, too.
Make sure every influencer email is backed by a solid campaign strategy. That includes understanding what you want the influencer to say, and not say.
Otherwise, you’re putting your marketing budget at risk.
2 - Work with the right influencer
Do your research before contacting an influencer.
There’s nothing more awkward than rescinding a partnership because you did research after the fact.
Influencers need to have:
Relevance. Don’t try selling carpet cleaners through someone like Selena Gomez. Her followers don’t care! Get in front of followers who need your product.
Enough followers. “Enough” is a hard number to pin down. But influencers need, at a minimum, 2,000 followers to be worth your while.
Some experience. You don’t want to work with a totally green influencer. Try partnering with people who know what they’re doing to spare yourself the headaches.
If an influencer doesn’t meet your criteria, move on. There are plenty of fish in the sea.
3 - Don’t use a standard template
Please, oh please, don’t borrow an influencer collaboration email from the internet. Everybody else is using them, so guess what?
Influencers know when you’re being lazy and copying other people’s emails. It ain’t a good look.
Resist the temptation to use templates. It’s okay to use a formula, like the one we shared earlier, but you’ll stand out if you speak from the heart.
Here’s the truth: personalized emails get more results. If you want an influencer to hear you, write each email fresh, customized specifically for that influencer.
4 - Speak their language
Literally.
If you want to sell more stuff in Poland and reach out to Polish influencers, you better write that email in Polish.
You might need to spend a little money translating an email, but this shows the influencer you put thought into the message.
No matter what language you’re speaking in, use jargon or slang. Have fun! You’re probably reaching out to a young, hip influencer. A formal-sounding letter will put them off immediately.
Oh, and we shouldn’t have to say this, but please: proofread your stuff. Get their name right, spell words correctly, and use proper grammar. When in doubt, download Grammarly to proofread your emails for free.
5 - Follow up
You’ve put a lot of love into writing this email. And guess what?
The influencer probably won’t read it. At least at first. These folks are busy, and you’ll need to fight to get their attention.
Don’t feel disheartened if an influencer doesn’t reply to your collaboration email within 24 hours.
Consider following up with:
Another email, at least 3-7 days after your first email
Instagram or social media DMs
Tweets
But don’t turn into an online stalker. Be reasonable.
If you don’t hear from them after a while, they’re not interested. That’s your cue to move on to another influencer on your list. Here's a list of some of the best email marketing services you can use today
Conclusion
Influencer marketing takes a lot of effort, but it’s worth it. Instead of using a bland, templated email to contact your potential influencers, write it yourself.
Of course, this can still take a ton of time.
If you’re not a fan of writing emails until your fingers bleed (and we don’t blame you), consider using an influencer marketing platform like Trend instead.
We match you with a shortlist of qualified, experienced influencers who reach out to you. Instead of fishing for leads, get them in your inbox and have your pick of the litter.
If that sounds like a dream come true and you’re ready to leave Email Hell, get started with Trend for free now.
