How to Boost Influencer Email Response Rates with One Change

An influencer’s first point of contact with you and your brand is the first email or DM you send them. Making a great first impression is important as it creates an unshakeable perception about you in their mind. Read along to know how to make it count.

A lot of brands miss the point of influencer marketing. They focus too much on transactions instead and end up with a subpar, unprofitable, influencer program. Your goal must be to build relationships with influencer partners, not pay them to post and never see them again.

It takes slightly longer, but it’s worth it.

Mistakes you should avoid

Sending too many details

The first email should be short and sweet, the goal is to just gauge interest, not to get the yes.

The basics of cold emailing apply when you’re emailing influencers too.

Send too many details upfront about your brand, your product, your mission, and how much you’ll pay them and so on... and risk being ignored. The worst thing that can happen to you is not a rejection, the worse thing is being ignored. And that’s exactly what’s going to happen if you send them a lot of stuff to read.

Keep it short and simple.

Just asking for a post

Brands will simply reach out to influencers, offer to send them a product and ask them for a post. You aren’t going to get many people saying yes to this. It feels a lot like a transaction, as if you only care about them if they post about your brand. You don’t want to leave a first impression like this.

Lead with giving without expectation, and you will win. More on this in the best practices below.

Not following up

Never following up to your initial email or message ensures you don’t get as many replies as possible. Follow up at least 2 times after your first message.

I estimate half of the replies I get are on the followups I send through the SARAL influencer email tool. You’re leaving money on the table if you don’t do this.

Offering to pay per post

Never send them a creative brief or a budget in the first email. They don’t even know you. It’s like showing up to a first date with a ring and asking them to marry you. Why will they say no? Because they don’t even know you yet!

If you offer to pay per post., you will get some influencers to post about you, but you aren’t getting any good ones if you just pay per post.

The kind of creators that would shill any product for money aren’t the kind you want to associate with. Sending them an offer to pay per post weeds out the good ones, and leaves you with the shill types. Avoid!

Now that we’ve covered what NOT to do, here’s what you should do instead.

Influencer outreach best practices

Keep the first email concise

The goal of the first email is to gauge interest, not to get a response. Keep the email simple and end with an “Are you interested?” or “Sounds like something you’d be interested in?”

It’s permission-based marketing. Once you know they’re interested, you can work out a deal that works for both parties. Sending too much info in the first email is a deterrent to replies.

Lead with a give

Influencers get many emails every week that ask them to promote their products. It’s annoying how everyone wants to use them for their followers, with nothing to offer.

Be the breath of fresh air that they crave. Offer them free product and don’t ask for a post. Imagine if you simply offered to send a free product with no expectations?

They’re likely to say yes, and also more likely to post about you if they like your product and if you choose the right creators to reach out to.

Follow up

Send at-least 2 follow ups after your first message. I personally send 4. You’d be amazed at the number of responses I get after the 2nd and 3rd follow up.

Space the later follow-ups out by 7-10 days or so. Sometimes, influencers are busy with other projects or just life in general. Reaching them multiple times, across months, gives them an opportunity to reconsider your offer and reply back.

Here are some ideas on what to follow up with:

• More clarity on what’s in it for them
• Results from other partners
• Examples of your ambassadors in their niche
• More insight on why their audience will find your product useful

Don’t make it a generic “quick bump” email, not in the first couple of followups at least!

Have a bias for affiliate deals

Asking influencers to post for a fixed $ amount gives the whole relationship a transactional flavor. You don’t want this. You want to build a relationship with them that grows overtime.

Like I mentioned before, just send them product and see what they think. You can track your shipments directly in our CRM. That makes this whole process simpler.

The best way to start is to work with influencers who can work with affiliate commissions and/or special discounts for their audience. Starting off your program with pay-per-post deals will lead you in a wrong direction. If you're having a hard time convincing influencers to work with you on an affiliate basis, here's an influencer dealmaking cheatsheet I wrote.

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That's it, and it's very simple, as you just read. Keep the first email short, lead with a give, don’t ask for posts, and don’t offer to pay upfront. Focus on transactions and you’ll see see poor performance. Build relationships with people of influence, and influencer marketing becomes a natural byproduct.