Do you know how to contact Instagram influencers?
If you’re looking to expand your reach and gain the attention of your target audience, Instagram influencer marketing is without a doubt one of the best ways.
It’s quite surprising, but 6 out of 10 people take the advice of influencers when considering what to buy. That means that influencers truly have a big impact on what people in your target audience want!
With such strong bonds being built on social media, it’s important that you engage your audience in ways that they identify with. Engagement can increase up to 16 times when shared by an influencer instead of the company itself.
Influencer marketing has become increasingly popular among brands and businesses, but if it produces such results, why isn’t everyone using it?
Simply put: it can be confusing on where to begin with influencer marketing.
There’s no official guidebook on how to contract influencers for your particular audience and niche, and this makes it more challenging for businesses, especially those that aren’t as tech-savvy, to reach out to the right people.
What’s more, they don’t know what to expect in return and how to outline their expectations in a way that makes sense for both parties.
In this article, we’re bringing you all the most important tips on how to reach the best influencer partnership for your brand, including info on:
- How to contact Instagram influencers
- What not to do when you contact Instagram influencers
- FAQs related to Instagram influencer marketing
We’re sure that once you check out these points, you’ll be more confident than ever in seeking out an influencer marketing relationship that brings you more connections and ROI. Let’s go!
The Basics: How to Contact Instagram Influencers
Because Instagram influencer marketing is so broad and almost open-ended, it can turn out to be a bit complicated.
Influencers, concerned for their reputation as well as their audience engagement, have become more particular about what type of content they’re willing to share and what kind of brands they work with. Some won’t work with any brands that they don’t truly support in real life.
This means that some of them will refuse to work with you simply based on their own brand image and principle. You can shoot your shot, but it’s likely your DM will be rejected. #bumminghard
That doesn’t mean all influencers are like that, and you could still potentially score just the right one for you. You can make a good impression in a variety of ways, allowing you to nab the influencer that will be perfect for your campaign.
The best way to do this is to create some go-to DM (direct message) templates and know your numbers— you’ve got to show your value to influencers.
The subsequent 4 steps will help you in planning your approach to connecting with influencers. The rule to remember is to ensure your communication is:
- Brief
- Concise
- Engaging
Are you ready to sell your brand to influencers? Let’s do it!
Step 1: Find Relevant Influencers on Instagram
Choosing the right influencer for your brand makes all the difference, as you may have guessed. They are a third party representation of your brand, and they are your gateway to your target audience.
The first thing you want to do is to create a list of 20 Instagram personas that you feel can do this successfully. This can include anyone— local, micro-influencers, minor celebs, or any other personas with a solid following in your niche.
After creating your list, research these people in detail. Take a look at all relevant social media platforms outside of Instagram, visit their external websites or links provided in their bio; don’t forget to check out their comment sections to see what people are saying on their channels.
You want to ask yourself a set of questions when researching:
- Are they a good fit for my products/services/brand?
- Have they worked with brands similar to mine in the past?
- Are they trending / do they have reach in my niche?
It’s known that 80% of internet users look to Instagram to make buying decisions, and roughly 49% of consumers have made decisions based on influencer recommendations. You want to ensure that you’re getting the right attention from the right audience through your influencer for best results.
Begin to narrow down your list to a maximum of 10 top influencers; follow them on Instagram as well as any other social platforms. Start to view, like, and engage with their content so that they’ll take notice of you before you even reach out.
Step 2: Prepare Your First DM Template
Now that you’ve got a set of influencers that you’ve been eyeing and interacting with, it’s time to reach out to them directly.
You’ll make not only an important first impression through your first DM or email, but you’ll also create a foundational introduction that tells them who you are and allows them to become familiar with your brand or business.
The idea is not to message them and say, “Hey! Will you work with me on influencer marketing? Pretty please!” but to send a message that will break the ice and open the door to building a relationship.
This may look something like the following:
Hey [preferred name] — I love your page! Especially [the specific content] that you shared. [emoji] I’m reaching out from [your company] to see if we might be able to collab on something. I think you’d be a great fit for our content style and/or niche. Let me know if you’re interested!
Through this DM, you’ve:
- Introduced you and your company
- Showed that you actually looked at their content and been following for a while
- Demonstrated interest in involving them in social media marketing
It’s not pushy, but brief, direct, and engaging. Check, check, check.
Step 3: Promise Value in Exchange for Influencer Marketing
After reaching out, you’ll simply wait for a reply. If they do get back to you, that’s a great signal that there’s potential for you to bring the partnership home.
The key to this? Offer value.
If you are feeling confident and ballsy, you could even go so far as to include this in the initial message to set yourself apart from the other companies that may be sending them messages. Never underestimate the power of a good deal!
Influencers want to be on top of the latest trends. When you offer them the opportunity to be the first to try something out, they’re likely to take you up on the offer.
Giving freebies is also another common part of influencer marketing— don’t stress on it. It’s worth it! Your goal is to get a return on your investment, and it happens. Influencer marketing campaigns typically return $5.78 for every dollar invested.
Now that you’ve sent some messages out with your basic message template, you can tweak your initial DM message to reflect your particular product or service and value provided.
For example:
Hey, [preferred name] — we think you’d look amazing in [your latest product or offer to them]. Like it? If you do, we’d love to send one your way! No strings attached. [include a picture of product]
If they respond and are on board, get them your product ASAP. You want to make good on your word and show them that you don’t mess around.
You can then confirm that you’ve sent it out to them, including a picture and/or tracking information just to make sure that they can receive it without issue.
Step 4: Follow up Via DM
There’s a reason why brands and businesses have invested millions of dollars into influencer marketing— it works.
The only thing is that you have to make it work for you, since there is no consultant or marketer mediary that is managing things.
It takes a great deal of patience and perseverance to land the right deals, but it will certainly pay off when you get into the swing of things.
Know that you won’t get a response immediately, and you may have already written off the deal by the time they get back to you. If you’re curious to know where they stand, you can send a follow-up message to check, or even just remind them that you’re still there.
If you want to see about a potential endorsement on Instagram, send out a message such as:
Hey [preferred name]! Just sending a follow-up to see if you want those freebies I mentioned. We just need an address. Hit me up! Looking forward to it.
If you’ve already sent them an item and want to see what the verdict is, try:
Hey [preferred name!] Just wanted to make sure that you received our stuff. Hope you like it!
If they don’t respond, don’t take it to heart, and definitely don’t contact Instagram to complain, as it will diminish your brand reputation. Take it in stride instead and keep pushing forward with your next attempt(s).
What NOT to Do When You Contact Instagram Influencers
Now that you have the four key steps to contacting Instagram influencers for potential campaigns, we’re going to give you some insight on things to avoid when contacting influencers.
There are plenty of things that may scare away influencers or bore them, which is what you don’t want to do. We’ve been around the block a few times, so take our advice— don’t strike out!
Here is one template that didn’t work out so well:
Heyyy! We think you’d be a perfect representative for our new product. We’re just starting out and we’ve got some great women’s wear that we want up-and-coming influencers to model and take pics in. You can post it on your Instagram with our hashtag, or tag us in your story! What do you think? I’ll send you an outfit if you’re down!
One of the main reasons that this didn’t work is because it’s not direct enough, it’s all over the place, and it’s too long. It’s also a bit brave to say “up-and-coming” influencer— you don’t want to diminish or offend anyone!
Tailor your templates to be direct, fun, and memorable for your recipient. You want them to want to work with you! They get tons of messages, so don’t be one of the long-winded ones.
Instagram Influencers FAQ
Before we let you go to drum up some of your best templates for contacting influencers, we’re going to address some of the most common questions that we get about the topic. That way, if you can eliminate any doubts before you get started.
Here are 5 of the most frequently-asked questions about Instagram influencers.
Can I Contact Instagram Influencers Via Email?
The first thing you need to consider is whether or not you actually have (or can easily get) their email address. It may be available right in their Instagram bio. If an influencer has a business profile and provides their email, it’s likely that they’re expecting to be contacted.
They may even have a direct email for partnerships, which they’ll normally note in their bio or on their website as well. This is a good indication that you can contact them openly via Instagram.
Some influencers will also have an email button directly on their profile; you can click that and it will open your email application to send it out.
When you send an Instagram influencer an email, you should still be direct and straightforward, just like if you were sending them a DM on Instagram. Because you’re contacting them outside of Instagram, you should always let them know that you found them on IG.
Here’s an example email template for contacting influencers:
Hey [preferred name!]
My name is [your name] from [your brand/company]. I follow you on Instagram and I love your posts / content!
I wanted to see if you’d be interested in collaborating with us. Take a look at our page and see if we’d be a good fit for your content (link to page)
Look forward to hearing from you,
[your name]
This is a simple template but gets right to the meat and potatoes. The influencer will know who you are, how you found them, as well as the purpose of your email.
Ensure that you link to your email and don’t include any other information or links. If they reply, you can then send out more stuff, but you don’t want to jump the gun and overwhelm them when you don’t know if they’re interested in working with you or not.
This is just a basic template, as with all of the others we’ve provided so far; you can tailor them as you see fit to reflect your particular voice as well as your brand image.
How Do I Reach Out to The Top Influencers and Get a Response?
If you are serious about reaching out to heavy-hitting influencers, keep in mind that their inboxes are overflowing with offers, DMs from followers, as well as other pitches inviting them to collab.
The goal here? Stand out from the crowd.
The best thing you can do is begin engaging with your influencers consistently before you contact them via DM; you can do this for weeks or even months before reaching out.
You should:
- View stories
- Like/react/engage on stories
- Like posts
- Comment
- Share posts
These are some examples of how to engage on Instagram; even feel free to give them shoutouts in your own content to get their attention. You can help get your followers to follow them.
They’ll begin to see that you value them as a creator in your niche and that you find them to be an expert, building a relationship before you’ve even contacted them at all.
You can let an influencer know that you’ve featured them on your post; in the event that they missed it, they may go back and check it out, even sharing it and giving you a shoutout for the feature. This happens most frequently on IG stories.
The second thing to keep in mind when you contact a top influencer is to keep the focus on them. They want to know how the partnership will benefit them— there’s no doubt it will benefit you.
Talk about things like bringing in more followers and engagement, as well as any other benefits you see fit to mention. You’ve already been boosting their engagement and building followers through your content, so they may just believe you.
If you don’t get a response via DM, consider other alternatives— leave a comment on their Instagram post. Let them know you want to work with them and to DM you for more details.
You could even message them on another social networking site. If you know they’re super active on TikTok, try reaching them there. Whatever you do, show your enthusiasm, but don’t be too pushy.
How Can I Find Brand Ambassadors on Instagram?
Brand ambassadors are similar to Instagram influencers in that they will partner with your brand through sponsored content. Brand ambassadors, however, are more of a long-term representation, whereas influencers can be contracted for short-term campaigns or even a one-time post.
If you want a face to represent your brand for a while, you can do so by simply browsing Instagram and posting a few things strategically. Here’s how:
- Take a look at your followers. What users are your hype people? Who shares your stuff, and who brings in more followers and engagement?
- Reach out to promising users and let them know you’re interested in them becoming a brand ambassador.
- Create an IG story or feed post and let people know that you’re seeking brand ambassadors. Let them know how they can inquire or submit and that they’ll be compensated.
Having a brand ambassador is great because it gives you a go-to representative for your content, using them in a variety of campaigns. They will also help to build your reputation and post consistency.
You’ll also be able to partner more closely with them on what they post and how they post it, especially if you develop an awesome collaborative relationship with them.
Where Do I Find Instagram Influencers to Contact?
Still not sure where to get the right influencers? Don’t worry— there are plenty of other ways to find influencers that will fit your particular needs.
The first step is to check your followers and see if any influencers already follow you. If they do, how engaged are they? What is their following like? If you think they’d work well, send them a message!
Another way you can find influencers is to use a third-party tool that provides businesses with connections to influencers. You can find Instagram influencers in your niche; if the influencer is working with them, they are likely to be in search of a sponsor.
Here are some possible online tools you could use:
- BuzzSumo
- Influence.co
- HypeAuditor
- Upfluence
- FameBit
These are only a few, and you can find many different paid and free options— it depends on how serious you are about influencer marketing and what your budget looks like.
How Can I Improve the Instagram Influencer DM Open Response Rate?
We now understand the amount of contact an influencer is consistently receiving; the most successful influencers are always getting flooded with pitches and offers for collabs. They have an eagle eye for messages that may be worth it and ones that get deleted without so much as an open.
Influencers don’t open your message right away— they look at a few things first. They’ll take a look at your page to see what the brand is all about, and if they don’t think they’d be a good fit or it doesn’t work with their style, it’s a no from them.
They will also take a look at the first few words of your message, as that’s all they can see before opening it. This is the message preview, and it’s vital that you make an impact.
The message should undoubtedly be personalized; if it’s not, it’s probably just another generic collab message that means nothing to them. They want to know that you have done your research and have sought them out for a particular reason.
Finally, as we’ve already mentioned, you want to make sure that your message is straightforward and focused on the influencer. Tell them how it will benefit them— what’s in it for them?
If you find that your messages have been getting left on read a lot, it may be time to scrap it and try a new approach. Don’t get married to one particular message template and try out some new things to see what works best for you.
Final Thoughts: Instagram Influencers and the Word “Collaborate”
The deal with influencer marketing is that it’s supposed to be a mutually beneficial relationship. Yes, they’re users of Instagram, but their platform is how they make a living. This is why we have called it a collaboration— working together for a mutual benefit.
Both you and the influencer want to build a loyal follower base that leads to future opportunities and monetization. You can obtain customers who are connected to your brand through influencers, but they want something in return. They want to develop a following that trusts them and believe in what they recommend.
You both affect each others’ reputation, meaning that a collaboration has to be created with both parties in mind. You both can help each other— keep this perspective in mind and you’ll no doubt be able to build lasting and successful influencer marketing campaigns.
You won’t get a response from everyone, and that’s okay. Even if you send out the best message, you may still not get a response. Hang in there and keep moving forward— even after 20 “no”s, you may just get the most meaningful “yes.”
Now that you know how to contact Instagram influencers, the next step is to create an awesome DM template that gets responses from influencers.
