Influencer outreach: The 5-step strategy guide

Influencers and creators play a pivotal role in global social media marketing. Many leading brands rely on influencer marketing to raise awareness about their products, build brand recognition and increase their overall sales.

Regardless of product, partnering with an influencer can get your business in front of the right audience. But the first hurdle can be challenging: influencer outreach.

To help you more easily secure the right partnerships, we’ve created a 5-stage influencer outreach strategy. Find out how to define your approach, source the right influencers and nurture long-term relationships so you can continue to succeed.

What is influencer outreach?

Influencer outreach is the process of contacting influencers for brand collaborations, and typically involves research and communicating via direct messages or emails.

While some marketing strategies can be transactional, influencer partnerships are relationship-focused and mutually beneficial. You gain access to their followers, and they get to try your products or services and get paid. And both you and the influencer get fresh content.

Whether you work with a smaller group of reliable influencers or with hundreds at once, depends on the resources you have to manage those relationships.

As of 2024, 38% of brands have partnered with 10 influencers or less, but the remaining 62% of brands have worked with 10 or more different influencers, and 15% of those have worked with over 1,000. Your outreach process is all about finding a few that you’re comfortable with, and then scaling as your budget and bandwidth allows for it. But always remember to focus on the individual relationship your company has with each influencer.

How to create a successful influencer outreach strategy in 5 steps

These five steps will guide you to influencer outreach success, no matter your business size or industry.

1. Define your influencer marketing strategy

Define your overall influencer strategy. List the main goals you want to achieve with your partnerships. Create similar goals for your upcoming campaign, and look at where these goals can be aligned.

Some common examples of influencer marketing goals include:

• Attract more UGC (user-generated content)
• Build trust in your brand
• Raise awareness about a new product or service type
• Generate more leads
• Encourage more user reviews
• Drive sales
• Boost website traffic or follower count

These goals will drive every part of your influencer outreach strategy and your campaigns. They’ll determine the type of influencer to look for, the budget you need and what defines success within your partnership.

2. Identify the right influencers for your campaign

To find the perfect influencers, start by considering their reach.

Influencers are categorized into four key segments depending on their audience size across platforms. These range from mega-influencers and celebrities with 1M+ followers, to nano-influencers with less than 10K.

Having a larger following doesn’t automatically mean an influencer will be a stronger partner. It’s better to work with influencers who share your company’s values and who have a target audience that closely resembles yours. It also depends on your campaign goals; smaller influencers can be better for engagement and conversions, while larger influencers grant you further reach.

It’s not all about size. You should also prioritize diversity during your influencer search, and make sure you work with a wide range of influencers and creators, including black creators and other BIPOC influencers. Partnering with influencers of different backgrounds allows you to create more varied content for multiple audiences.

Search for influencers based on their audience demographics, like:

• Age
• Gender
• Location
• Preferred social network
• Buying power

Influencers who have strong audience affinity with your brand will lead to more successful campaigns. For example, Biona Organic, a vegetarian food brand, collaborated with Christinasots, a UK-based vegan macro-influencer to create a unique recipe featuring Biona Organic products. This partnership resulted in more than 788,000 impressions for the creator and the brand.

Track the engagement metrics of any influencer you might partner with, particularly for an industry-specific influencer or creator. Sometimes, a smaller, highly engaged community will lead to a better campaign than a larger community that doesn’t engage much.

Some of this research can be done manually through social platforms, but it can be time-consuming. Save time by using a dedicated solution like Sprout Social Influencer Marketing (formerly Tagger).

With Sprout, you can filter search results based on brand affinity. This immediately reveals influencers who share the same interests and audience as your brand, through data-driven research. You can also assess audience authenticity, to make sure an influencer’s following is legitimate and engaged.

When identifying influencers, cater your strategy to different social networks. We’ve outlined how your strategy should change for each major network below.

Influencers for an Instagram campaign

The majority of consumers (61%) say that Instagram is their top social media network for product discovery, which is influencers’ bread and butter.

With Instagram influencer marketing, engagement rates are vital. Look for an engagement rate of at least 3%.

Also, pay attention to the type of content an Instagram influencer produces. If you’re planning a campaign that needs video, make sure your chosen influencer specializes in Reels.

Influencers for a TikTok campaign

TikTok influencer marketing can be an entry point into smaller subcultures. TikTok influencers often speak to very niche audiences who have specific content preferences based on their hobbies and interests.

Tracking TikTok subcultures can also be a useful way of determining an influencer’s niche audience. Tapping into these audiences can help your brand access some of the benefits of niche marketing, like having less competition and being able to optimize your marketing spend.

Influencers for a YouTube campaign

Several metrics are important for YouTube influencer marketing success, particularly subscriber counts, engagement rates‌ and watch time.

Track an influencer’s average video length and how often they post. This should give you a better idea of how long it takes them to make a video, and where your ad could fit into their usual video format.

Influencers for a Facebook campaign

Facebook influencers can help brands market to huge audiences; 83% of social users have a Facebook profile, and almost half (44%) of them have interacted with brand content through Facebook at least once a day.

Now that Instagram Stories and Reels are accessible within the Facebook app, it’s also possible to negotiate bundled content packages with your influencers. Your Facebook influencer marketing campaign can then reach more people while being more cost-effective.

Influencers for a LinkedIn campaign

When finding LinkedIn influencers, the most important metric is usually follower count.

Pay particular attention to audience affinity, as well as what an influencer is posting about. It’s also worth looking at whether a LinkedIn influencer has a newsletter on the platform or a substack. These materials can extend their audience, while also showing you the topics they’re known for talking about.

3. Prepare your compensation offer

Once you’ve created a list of influencers, decide how you’ll compensate them. Familiarize yourself with common influencer pricing figures. The amount you’ll offer will depend on factors like the influencer’s reach, the type and volume of content they’ll create and the chosen compensation model.

Common compensation models include pay per post, pay per subscriber‌ or pay per view, among others.  Don’t forget to factor in other payment strategies, like affiliate marketing, complimentary product/software access or long-term package deals across several months.

One example of a unique influencer partnership is SeaVees’s deal with inclusive food influencer Lahbco. SeaVees worked with Lahbco to design an exclusive shoe, based on his values and life experiences, made to appeal to his audience of followers. All the proceeds for the shoe also go towards the Ali Forney Center, who support homeless LGBTQ+ youth in New York City. This is a great example of an alternative compensation model where the company, influencer and the wider community all benefit.

All of this needs to work within your budget. If you haven’t already, download Sprout’s influencer marketing toolkit for a budgeting template that will help you make sense of influencer marketing spend within your overall social media budget. You’ll also get a campaign brief template, where you can further refine your campaign goals.

4. Craft a compelling influencer outreach message

Streamline your influencer outreach strategy by creating DM and email templates that allow you to contact several different influencers at once. However, avoid generic, mass-produced templates that influencers are likely to ignore.

To make your templates feel personal, include a handful of customizable sections where you can mention the influencer’s name, recent work or something specific that resonates with you about their content.

Some examples might be “I loved your recent campaign post with ____, we were hoping to create something similar”, or “It was great to see you raise so much awareness about ____ in your latest Reel.”

The more personalized, the better. You want to create a strong first impression and prove to an influencer that you genuinely appreciate their work.

Here’s a list of the essential information to include in your influencer outreach template:

1. Start with the influencer’s name and a personalized greeting related to their content.
2. Introduce your company and your brand. If possible, connect this to the personalization above.
3. Explain what your campaign is. Personalize further by linking this to a campaign they’ve done for another company if you can.
4. Outline the specifics of how you expect the campaign to work. Include deliverables and a timeline. You can refine these at a later stage, but make sure this information is accurate.
5. Explain your mutual value proposition and your initial offer of compensation.
6. End with a CTA requesting a meeting, or their thoughts on your campaign idea.

This could then look something like this:

Hey [influencer name], I saw your [previous content and thoughts].

I work with [brand] on [your role], and we’re looking to partner with an influencer on a new campaign.

The campaign is [campaign details]. After seeing your [recent content, awareness, work with or other personalization] I thought you’d be a perfect fit.

We’re hoping to offer [compensation and budget].

Please let me know if you have any thoughts or questions and I’d be happy to answer them. Thanks for your time, and I look forward to hopefully working with you,

[your name, title]

[your company]

Use this general template to create more specific messages for agencies or different outreach situations. To find more template examples, check our master list of influencer outreach email templates.

If you’re sending emails, don’t forget to create a subject line. Make this as short and clear as possible, like “Collaboration Opportunity with [Your Brand]”. You can extend this with more personalization, but it’s important that the influencer can see clearly what your email is about when scanning their busy inbox.

Following up on your influencer outreach messages

If you haven’t received a response to your initial outreach, don’t give up! Follow up within a couple of weeks.

Influencers are often busy, so a friendly follow-up can keep the conversation going. Keep this follow-up message short, to the point and polite. Here’s an example:

Hey [influencer name],

I’m just quickly following up on my last message about our upcoming [campaign name]. Would you be interested in partnering or discussing this further?

Thanks,

[your name]

[your company]

5. Nurture a long-term relationship with influencers

Building a long-term relationship with influencers is a win-win. For starters, you won’t have to invest in as much outreach for your next campaign.

Working with an influencer long-term is also perfect for boosting your brand’s credibility. Your audience will see regular campaigns with the same influencer, which proves you’re a company that people enjoy working with. You might also be able to agree on a package deal over a longer period, which usually works out better for your budget and for the influencer you’re working with.

The influencer’s audience will also continue to see your campaigns which will help build their awareness and trust in your brand.

Mega YouTube influencer NakeyJakey has regular channel partnerships with OperaGX and RocketMoney among others. He creates comedic skits which have become a regular part of his gaming videos. These skits have built a huge following and increased awareness around the tech companies he’s agreed to partner with.

To nurture your relationship with an influencer and foster a long-term partnership, focus on genuine connection and mutual support like:

• Sharing your results
• Checking in with them regularly, not just when you have a new campaign idea
• Celebrating your joint successes
• Highlighting where their ideas or content made a real difference
• Engaging with their content on your social accounts
• Treating them as creative partners, not just promotional tools
• Making sure they get paid on time
• Having admin processes in place that make their job (and yours) easier

If you invest your time and energy into your working relationship, that effort will translate into more successful campaigns.

Influencer outreach best practices

Though every influencer outreach strategy is different, these are three best practices that are always relevant.

Do your research

Research is a fundamental part of the vetting process. Without accurate research, you risk dooming your campaign before it even starts.

Make use of solutions like Sprout Social Influencer Marketing to make data-driven decisions on who to work with. Our solution aggregates the data available to help you track relevant metrics like engagement rates and brand affinity.

When you reach the outreach stage, research how each influencer likes to be approached. Some will have an agency that handles collaborations. Others may have a separate email address or might prefer DMs. Find these in their bio. Using an influencer’s chosen communication channel shows a level of respect that starts your relationship on the right footing.

In the example below, fair fashion campaigner and influencer activist Venetia La Manna’s bio states that she doesn’t look at her DMs and refers potential partners to her email address.

Communicate campaign needs clearly

Outline all of your campaign expectations before an influencer starts creating content. A lot of this information should be in your outreach messages.

Also, include your campaign needs in an influencer contract. Remember to outline who is responsible for any costs incurred by creating content, as well as usage rights.

Share your goals and expected KPIs with your influencer before a campaign starts. They’ll then not be surprised when you go through the results of the campaign later.

This is one of the most crucial stages when figuring out how to hire an influencer. Communicating clearly across every stage keeps your campaign on track and more likely to succeed.

Evaluate campaign results and continuously improve

Campaign results can be tracked using several influencer marketing KPIs.

The first of these should be your ROI. Calculate expected ROI while you’re preparing your initial compensation offer. To maximize this ROI, work to continuously improve your campaigns over time.

But the success of a campaign doesn’t depend solely on financial returns. Other KPIs worth tracking can include:

• Reach and impressions
• Earned media value
• Positive brand sentiment increases
• Increased awareness
• Leads generated or conversions made
• Follower or audience growth rate

Set a KPI against each of your campaign goals. This makes it easier to track the success of each objective and shows you where to modify your campaigns to improve in the future.

Evaluating your KPIs can be streamlined by using Sprout Social Influencer Marketing. Sprout’s solution helps you figure out if your influencer campaigns are actually working. We use modular analytics dashboards to help you track ROI and other metrics. This means you can easily see how well your campaigns are doing and prove their value to leadership.

Harnessing the power of influencer outreach

With your refined influencer outreach strategy, you can identify and work with the right influencers for your brand. By continuing to improve your campaigns and nurturing your relationships, you’ll be well on your way to achieving even greater success.

Refine your strategy using Sprout’s influencer marketing plan template. Start a 7-week schedule that streamlines your efforts while boosting your campaign performance.