12 Best Practices When Reaching Out To Influencers on Instagram
What are the best practices to keep in mind when reaching out to influencers on Instagram?
To help you reach out to influencers on Instagram, we asked marketers and business owners this question for their best advice. From avoiding overly professional language to setting clear goals from the start, there are several best practices that may help you approach and partner with an influencer through Instagram.
12 Best Practices When Reaching Out To Influencers on Instagram
When initially reaching out to influencers on Instagram, you may want to consider avoiding overly business-like language. When utilizing wording that you would regularly use in business communication, you run the risk of sounding out of touch with the influencer’s brand. Influencers connect with their audience, and you should aim to do the same by using the kind of language that they use. Check their posts and content to see how they interact with their audience, and use that information when drafting a message.
Don’t make the mistake of approaching Instagram influencers with the assumption that they just care about money. Most have spent a lot of time and energy building up their personal brand, and they care more about maintaining that brand than they do about a few extra dollars. Their focus may be on helping their audience, being selective and exclusive or supporting a cause. A blank check might not always be their motivation, so make sure you don’t start by just focusing on money.
Start engaging with influencers on Instagram about 2–3 weeks before you start your outreach to make it simpler to engage with them! You can do this if the influencers’ other social media channels are active. It will demonstrate that you have done your homework and are curious about what they produce. When the time comes to contact an Instagram influencer, they may already be familiar with your company due to your interactions with them. It will facilitate discussion starters for you and increase the likelihood that your outreach efforts will succeed.
You should make a contract with social media influencers, so everyone agrees on the cost and expectations ahead of time. When the arrangements for your influencer campaigns are on paper, there’s little danger of losing track of what you’re trying to accomplish. It’s an effective way of keeping track of expenses and ensuring that your efforts are achieving the results you want to see.
There’s every chance that social media influencers have several different pages on different social media platforms. Make sure you get the right contact information ahead of time, so you can be sure of reaching them. Most social media influencers have Linktree profiles that have all of the information you need to get in touch. Check if they prefer you to contact them via email before just shooting them a DM. This will increase the chance of potential influencers responding to your inquiry.
Influencers are inundated with direct messages on a daily basis. If you’re reaching out via Instagram in the hopes of a collaboration, following this approach could waste you a lot of time. It’s better to contact their agent via email instead. Almost every influencer has an agent in charge of their business affairs, acting as a middleman separating low-level offers from serious partnerships. Most of the time, their contact details can be found with ease inside of the influencer’s bio or social media landing page.
To set the groundwork for a productive conversation, start by qualifying your decision to get in touch. After you introduce yourself and discuss the prospect of a partnership, make it clear why the influencer would be a suitable brand ambassador for the campaign. Tell them exactly why they should support your company’s efforts, and what objectives you’re working toward. If the influencer is interested in moving forward with your proposal, they’ll promptly let you know.
Compose a list of potential influencers to reach out to, and then narrow it down. Segment your influencers based on follower count, brand alignment, experience working with brands, niche expertise and audience engagement. Pick your top 5–10 based on these criteria. This helps you develop a strategy for the best way to reach out to these influencers.
Companies should seek out those influencers who have a track record of aligning their own values with those of a particular brand. We have been very fortunate to find the right influencers because we have been clear about our messaging: we do more than sell luxury products—we are a company committed to sustainability. It isn’t a question of how many followers you have or how famous your influencers are; it’s a matter of finding the right partnerships. Your audience will see how organic and authentic that relationship is. The key is to reach out to influencers who share your brand’s values and causes.
Like any business professional, influencers are inundated with messages, so beating around the bush could mean you’re left on read. Getting to the point, presenting critical information that matters to them and making it short will keep their attention locked and help improve your chances of getting a response. That being said, remember to be personal. We are all humans at the end of the day, so remember to treat them as such. A robotic and dry reach-out could make the influencer feel disconnected from your brand from the get-go, which is never good.
While it’s important to have a baseline benchmark of followers for any influencers you work with, you need to remember that more followers do not always equate to a targeted reach.
As a small business owner in particular, your focus should be on influencer relevance and true engagement across their social channels. Judge influencers based on their engagement with what is clearly a real audience, rather than potentially inflated follower numbers. Yes, you’ll be targeting a smaller audience this way, however, your conversion potential is much higher due to the audience being both real and highly likely to make purchase decisions in-line with what the influencer is putting out there.
Brand alignment is critical when evaluating influencers. This means you should look for influencers who hold similar values to that of your brand. If you don’t, you stand to confuse your buying audience and cause them to question your convictions. This is especially true of Gen Z buyers.
Also, consider the influencer’s voice—how they communicate—when evaluating which ones are a good fit. Make sure it fits with your brand image. For example, if your brand caters to kids, you don’t want influencers who use bad language or discuss inappropriate topics.
Leverage a very strong creative brief. Explain what the brand is trying to achieve and most importantly – help your client or brand understand that co-creation results in a more successful and authentic campaign rather than overly prescriptive direction. Creators want to retain lasting brand partnerships, and the best way to achieve an evergreen or always-on relationship is to be a great partner with specific and measurable goals.
Use These Best Practices When Reaching Out to Influencers on Instagram
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