Influencer marketing is still generating excellent results for many companies, and there is no evidence that it will lose steam anytime soon. If you seek tips on how to reach out to an influencer about forming a brand partnership with them, there’s plenty of advice out there. Less talked about is how brands should engage with influencers who reach out to the brand first.
An influencer could have any number of reasons for wanting to collaborate with a specific brand—perhaps a brand’s ethos aligns perfectly with their content and their followers’ interests, or maybe the influencer just wants to earn a small piece of a brand’s big marketing budget. Whatever the motivations are, members of Forbes Agency Council have encountered both situations. Below, 13 of them offer their best tips to help brands have more productive conversations with influencers who make the first move.
Forbes Agency Council members share ways to engage with influencers who proactively reach out to your brand.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
1. Provide An Automated Digital Evaluation Form
A simple, scalable and time-saving way is to provide an influencer with an automated digital form to complete with certain parameters in order to evaluate the right fit for your brand. This way you’re not wasting time going back and forth manually with emails. If the parameters are right, you will then need to have a very clear and transparent influencer partnership agreement in place. – Azadeh Williams, AZK Media
2. Be Clear About The Business Goals Before Engaging
Before engaging an influencer in either scenario, the brand needs to be clear about the business goals associated with the partnership or campaign. If you don’t know what the expectations are for the partnership, you’re setting the influencer up to fail. Focus on the business goal first, then influencer metrics, and then have a conversation. – Vix Reitano, Agency 6B
3. Ensure Their Content, Values And Audience Align With Yours
Having influencers reaching out to you as a brand is great, but it doesn’t mean they’re a perfect fit for your brand. Before taking any official steps, make sure their content, values and audience align with those of your brand. Identify whether this person genuinely cares about your products/services and can generate meaningful and effective engagement with their followers. – Dejan Popovic, PopArt Studio
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4. Look At What They’ve Made So Far And See What Else They Can Do
If an influencer cares about your brand, they’ll already be producing content. Take a look at what they’ve made so far, and if it’s a fit, then ask what they can do beyond the standard influencer engagement—perhaps a special co-branded series, trade show support or a Twitter space. If it’s just the same old social content, you’re already overpaying them (and their new agent). – John Geletka, Geletka+
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5. Craft A Pitch That Benefits Both Parties Equally
In a world where connecting with influencers means going through various stakeholders and levels of conversations, it is always refreshing to see someone proactively reach out to a brand they wish to work with. It also allows you to craft a pitch that benefits both of you equally. Run your background check, and if the influencer fits your bill, go ahead and partner with them. – Candice Georgiadis, Digital Day
6. Understand The Influencer’s ‘Why’
Brands should understand the “why” of the influencer. One quick search will show if there are genuine collaboration opportunities or if it is a waste of time. Generally, brands should already have a profile built of the types of influencers they will engage with, and anyone falling outside of your ideal influencer profile should be told the reasoning behind why they are being used or rejected. – Neal Patel, Bruce Clay MENA
7. Analyze How Partnering With Their Brand Will Benefit Yours
The key is to analyze influencers who are willing to work with you. How will your brand benefit from it? Do your interests align with their audience? There are many questions to ask because it’s akin to partnering with another brand. You’re being approached by someone who will present your company, so you need to choose someone whose actions, audience and overall brand align well with your own. – Dmitrii Kustov, Regex SEO
8. Confirm What Kind Of Outreach They Are Offering To Do
In cases where you are approached by influencers, it is vital to assess their true market audience. Does their demographic match yours? Can you measure the purchasing intent of the influencer’s followers? Will they allow a test before you commit? Confirm what kind of outreach they are offering to do that will map to your brand—will they do in-person events, webinars or social media support? – Valerie Chan, Plat4orm PR
9. Review Demographics To See If Their Audience Overlaps With Yours
In cases where you are approached by influencers, there may be a great range of opportunities. But as with any promotional channel, the most important question is: To what extent does their audience overlap with your target market? Be sure to review audience breakdowns, demographics and other information an influencer can provide in order to make an informed decision. – Chris Martin, FlexMR
10. Never Close The Door Completely No Matter What The Answer Is
The influencer took the time to hunt down the right contact info and connect. So, take a look at their profile and see if there’s a match when it comes to audience, voice, engagement and so forth. Yes? Reach out and ask for their rates. No? Thank them for reaching out and let them know that your brand will consider them for future collaborations. Never close the door completely! – Bernard May, National Positions
11. Expand Your Tech Stack To Include An Influencer Marketing Platform
Influencer relations/marketing has become its own strategy. There are at least two ways to go about it. Pursue or respond to influencers, or expand your tech stack to include a solution such as Smartfluence, an influencer marketing platform. We have streamlined and strengthened our approach by leveraging all of the homework that we would have done manually. You can feel confident sourcing metrics that have already been vetted. – Dean Trevelino, Trevelino/Keller
12. Always Maintain Respect And Never Burn A Bridge
When any influencer reaches out to you about forming a partnership, the one word you need to keep in mind is “respect.” Most influencers will never be a fit, but that doesn’t mean you should blow them off entirely. After all, you never know what will happen with that influencer a year or two down the road. And, the last thing you should do is burn a bridge. – Roger Hurni, Off Madison Ave
13. Create A Strategy That Pulls The Influencer Into Your Brand Story
There needs to be a match of the product with the personality of the influencer. Create a strategy that will work with brand goals and marketing while also being engaging and intriguing for the influencer to take on. Pulling the influencer into the brand story will help them develop a meaningful journey and more powerful content for their followers and subscribers to enjoy. – Goran Paun, ArtVersion
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Author: Expert Panel®, Forbes Councils Member
