The Definitive Guide to Influencer Marketing

Chapter 3: Campaign Launch

Now that you’re ready to reach out to some influencers, you need to know all about how to make contact, what information to include, and what to do and not to do.

Influencer Marketing Guide > Campaign Launch> 3.2. Tips for acing influencer outreach

GUIDE NAVIGATOR

0. Introduction
1. Campaign Definition
2. Campaign Setup
3. Campaign Launch
4. Campaign Monitoring
- 4.1. Detecting & collecting published media
- 4.2. Tips & tricks for following up
5. Campaign Analysis
- 5.1. Analyzing a campaign's results
- 5.2. Expectations vs. reality: the report
Glossary

3.2. Tips for acing influencer outreach

When reaching out to your selected influencers, do it in as appealing a way as possible! In order to help you do that, these are some things to consider when you’re ready to contact influencers.

Method of contact

As previously mentioned, there are several ways to get in touch, each best for a certain situation:

- Email - when you want to contact just a few influencers

- YAMM - when you need to contact a lot of influencers

- DM - when you can’t find an email or want to bypass managers

Message structure

You need to decide if you want to send a first short introductory email, or send all the collaboration info from the get-go. This depends on the urgency of your situation.

If you don’t have time constraints, it’s best to send out a short, attention-grabbing intro email. Influencers are busy and will sometimes just scan emails and messages. So make your first contact as attractive as possible to catch their eye.

But, if you’re working with tight deadlines, it’s best to send all the information from the start. This way, influencers who are available at the moment can respond, and you can find someone for the campaign ASAP.

Regardless, always keep your tone friendly and natural. Your email should include:

- Introduction to the brand

- The objective of the collaboration

- Incentive in terms of product and money

- Quantity and type of publications

- Publication guidelines (message, hashtags, mentions, aesthetics)

Templates

To save time, it’s a good idea to set up templates for your email communications with influencers. You should definitely create a template for your initial outreach email, and you may want to create 1-2 templates to respond to any answers you get from influencers.

How to create a template

To create a Template in Gmail, first make sure you have Templates enabled in Settings, under the Advanced tab.

After you confirm that Templates are enabled, open a new email and draft your text. When you’re ready to save it, look for the three dots at the bottom left corner of the email. Click it, choose Templates, Save draft as template, and then Save as new template.

When you want to send an email using a template, the process is the same. Go down to the three dots, find Templates, and you’ll see your template listed there. Choose the one you want, edit for any desired personalization, and send!

Sample templates

Here's a sample email. You can use it to get ideas for how to structure your own outreach emails and what type of info to include.

Hi {Influencer Name}!

Nice to meet you! I’m Kate from Heepsy, an influencer marketing agency that specializes in managing campaigns for different brands at the national and international level. I’m reaching out because I have a collaboration proposal that I think could interest you, and because we’d love to have you join our campaign!

The collaboration is with Jones Smith, a British eyewear brand that is opening its first store in the center of Madrid. Jones Smith offers stylish, high-quality prescription glasses and sunglasses. The brand also offers a personalized service that lets you try on glasses in the comfort of your own home. The goal is for the glasses to become your new favorite accessory. :) The brand liked your profile and your modern style, and they’d love to collaborate with you to promote their arrival in Madrid.

The collaboration would be that you live the brand experience and test out the at-home trial service for 5 frames that you choose (this way, you have plenty of time to choose, without any pressure). Later on at the store, choose the style that you like best and get your pair of glasses completely free (valued upwards of €100). In addition to the glasses, we’d like to offer you monetary incentive in exchange for promoting our brand on your Instagram profile.

I’d love to be able to explain the details to you further, and I’m sure that Jones Smith will become your eyewear brand of choice!

Let me know what you think, and I’ll send you the rest of the details and be happy to answer any questions you may have :)

Have a good one!

Kate

For more templates, check out our downloadable Influencer Outreach Guide. There you'll find lots of different templates to use for various ways to reach out to influencers.

International campaigns

If you’re staging your campaign in more than one country, be sensitive to cultural differences that may exist between them. You may need to set up templates in different languages. Also, keep in mind that purchasing power varies by country, so negotiating with influencers won’t be the same wherever you go. Be prepared, for example, to see that a French influencer’s fees are much higher than an influencer from the Philippines.