Perfecting your Influencer pitch
So, you're at the point where you believe that influencer content will benefit your brand. Great!
Next step: get out there and pitch! But don't just rush in, or your pitch will come across as disingenuous, inconsiderate and incomplete.
Follow these steps to ensure a well thought out pitch that will produce the perfect influencer partnership!
Research: This step involves identifying the right influencer for your brand, and will be the most time-consuming part of the process. You need to make sure you're looking for influencers who align with your brand's image, values and target and audience. The search will take you across multiple social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, or even Youtube, although you can narrow your search by starting to look at the platforms most used by your target demographic. Find out more here.
Engagement: Before you reach out to anyone, engage with their content. Like, comment and share. Show them that you are genuinely interested in their content, and really get to know it. You will need to reference it later to prove that you have a genuine interest in the influencer themselves, so don't skip this step!
Develop a clear proposal: This is where the pitch process really begins! Firstly, identify what it is that you want from a potential collaboration, and how it can benefit them. Be specific - suggest the number of posts that would be required to meet your goals, specify what type of content you need, on what platforms they will appear and when. The benefit to the influencer could be a free product that they get to keep, financial compensation or a commission based on conversions. If you already have your own social media following, you could also use your follow count as an added benefit, as their content will appear in front of new eyes too!
Craft a personalised message: When you're ready to reach out, make sure your message is personalised. Use all that research and engagement to your advantage, mention their content specifically and what it is about them that would make them a great fit for your brand. Talk about who you are and the benefits to both brand and influencer from a future collaboration, but make sure to make it exciting! Don't bore them with business jargon or throw too many statistics at them.
Outreach: Send your proposal through a DM to the influencer, unless they have stated otherwise. Try to find the single most effective avenue to contact them through, don't bombard them with requests from all directions!
Follow up: If you don't hear back from them after a week or so, it's OK to send a polite follow-up message. You could try emailing them directly, in case your original message got lost in their DMs.
Negotiate: If they're interested, agree on a content plan, compensation or incentives and agree on a timeline. The influencer may not agree with your original proposal right away, but use this negotiating phase to find a compromise that still achieves the goals you set out to achieve. They may even have their own suggestions on how they can support your brand - listen to their suggestions and be open to changes that could make the collaboration more effective! The end solution should be a win-win strategy that benefits everyone.
Finalise: Once an agreement has been made, make sure the deliverables are down in writing and signed off by both parties. This sounds like a boring business move, but it will help prevent any misunderstandings and protects you and them.
Now - get out there and pitch!