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Not sure how to write a message to a micro-influencer?
Great, your search for tips ends here.
First thing’s first: influencers do want to work with you.
Collaboration with brands isn’t a passion, but their job. If their audience could find your products useful, they’ll be likely to accept your offer.
The way you make that offer is a tricky thing, though. Micro-influencer marketing is on the rise, with many brands trying to sign one person every day. If your proposal doesn’t resonate with that chosen person, they might ignore it.
But guess what – they won’t!
Here, you’ll find the best practices combined with some positive energy and consideration, they’ll help you write a compelling message worth a reply.
Micro-Influencer Outreach: a Quick Intro
Micro-influencers are social media users who have between 1,000 and 100,000 followers, who often rely on them to make buying decisions.
Brands choose to partner with micro-influencers instead of macro-influencers (those with 100,000+ followers) because their audience is more engaged.
A micro-influencer is more likely to achieve an Engagement Rate than superstar influencers with a multi-million audience.
Here’s the data to back this up.
Source: HypeAuditor
So, partnering with an influencer with smaller audiences makes more business sense.
That’s why 77 percent of businesses work with micro-influencers, says The State of Influencer Marketing report.
Source: The State of Influencer Marketing 2020 report
Micro-influencers working in health, fitness, beauty, and food niches are generally considered the most effective. In fact, influencers were a major driving force behind the lifestyle industry growth in recent years.
We’re interested in collaborating with the right micro-influencer, too.
Finding them is the first step to generating sales and getting loyal customers.
Before Contact: Fact Check
“I’ve no idea if micro-influencer I’ll find is right for my business.”
This is the mindset of many business owners when they decide to engage in influencer marketing.
That’s completely fine. Influencers don’t have keyword-optimized resumes and portfolios you can check out.
So, to help you be more confident in your choice, you can do a quick fact-check.
Ask yourself:
- Is the micro-influencer from my niche?
- Does the influencer have between 1,000 and 50,000 influencers?
- Does the influencer post at least once a week?
- Are the posts they publish relevant to my brand?
- Does the influencer’s content generate a number of comments and shares that I like?
Was your answer “yes” to all?
If that’s true, it’s great!
If at least one answer was negative, then keep looking. We’d hate seeing you working with someone who won’t bring you many potential customers.
We can now move on to writing your message.
How to Reach out to Micro-Influencers
So, you’ve found a few accounts that meet your criteria. It’s time to write that outreach message. Here’s how to approach them and sound like the awesome person you are.
1. Write a Compelling Subject Line (For Outreach Emails)
Read this if you’re sending your influencer an email, too.
The first step to writing a great email is the subject line. The micro-influencer you’re contacting might be getting tens if not hundreds of emails daily, so they can’t read each one every time.
A compelling subject line, however, is a great reason to read an email. 47 percent of email users say they open emails based on the subject line alone.
Source: SuperOffice
So, making it irresistible is a must.
How exactly?
An irresistible subject line:
- Is personalized, i.e., mentions the name of the influencer and contains relevant information.
- Benefit-focused. The point is to let the micro-influencer know that opening the email will be beneficial to them.
- Captures attention. One way is to ask a relevant question.
- Is to-the-point. Sometimes, it’s better to explain the purpose of the message, i.e., “Collaboration Offer.”
You can try these different options. If you’re messaging multiple people, go for a question in one email and benefit focus in another.
Yet one thing should be true for all emails: each one should have a unique subject line. Here are a few examples to inspire you:
- I think your followers will like this…
- We like you. Are you up for a collab?
- Can we feature you in a blog post?
- Do you mind if we send you freebies?
- Really enjoying your content!
2. Always Use the Influencer’s Name
Using their name in the subject just makes sense.
The names of influencers are out there, freely accessible, so there’s no reason to use a generic greeting. Besides, an influencer can also perceive a lack of their name as proof that you didn’t do your homework.
3. Explain Why You Chose Them
“Hi, my name is Brain; I was wondering if you’d be interested in promoting our product.”
So, what’s wrong with this message?
The sender doesn’t explain why they thought the influencer was right for their brand. They might not be into learning about the influencer’s audience, too.
Any influencer that agrees to an offer like this isn’t worth your time. They’re in for the commission, which is a recipe for a disastrous campaign.
That’s why going straight to the big question is a sure-fire way to get ignored. You’ve surely done your research on that influencer. Why not mention it?
Here are a couple of options.
- Tell them you’ve been checking out their blog. “Your recent blog posts about [topic #1] and [topic #2]resonated with me because…”
- Find something you have in common. “Of the many posts you’ve written, [topic] resonated best with me. I agree that [topic] is something most people choose to ignore, and we need more people to speak out. What struck me the most is how you processed that lesson to a deep, personal level…”
Both of these aren’t pushy and demonstrate an interest in their content. So, forget about eCommerce writing for a day and focus on building a relationship.
4. Make Your Offer
Now, the ice has been broken! Time to move on to making an offer. Here’s what to keep in mind when writing this part.
Give Them the Best Offer
You want the best person to work with you. So give them the best offer you can.
Try giving the best possible conditions and mention what you offer in return (commission, free products, discounts, etc.)
There’s no shortage of good micro-influencers, but great ones are often hard to find.
Be Concise
Many people struggle with making the offer part brief.
“I want this person to work with me. Just a couple more details…”
The result: a message that sounds like a contract between Tesla and NASA. Or worse, like a meeting request email between the influencer and everyone in your office.
Resist the temptation to share more details. Writing a long message is a bad idea because an influencer is likely to skip it.
How?
- Write a draft of the message
- Keep the offer part to five sentences
- Reread it in a few hours and cut the length to three sentences.
The secret is to focus on the value proposition. Here’s an example:
“Our brand [describe what you do/sell]. Since [add the topic that the influencer is passionate about and how you can contribute with your products], I thought I’d reach out to see if you’d like to try out our product and do a collab.”
Short and sweet, right?
That’s the effect you should go for, too.
5. Try Tone Matching
Tone matching is a practice of aligning the tone of the message with the person you’re communicating with.
Brands use tone matching to build rapport with customers.
For example, read this review below by a satisfied customer on Facebook. The language tone is positive and upbeat – perfect for presenting a good mood after visiting the restaurant.
Then, give the business’s reply a read.
Notice the similarity of the tone?
Both are super positive because the reply uses the same emotions and tone.
Why try tone matching when writing an influencer outreach message?
Because it’s a great way to make them comfortable about replying. Besides, it’s an empathetic practice that shows that your brand cares.
So, here’s how to do it.
Go to the chosen influencer’s social media pages and/or blog and start reading.
Your goal is to get a sense of their “typical” tone.
Here’s an example. Read the text in this Instagram post from a micro-influencer nicknamed Man for Himself. How would you describe the tone?
Here’s our answer. The text’s tone is:
- Confident
- Analytical
- Fun
Did you guess any?
If yes, then you’re ready to write the outreach message. If not, give some more content a read. It’s easy to master.
Writing a collaboration message to this influencer using this tone is a good bet.
“The same technique applies to blog articles,” advises Tristan Barett, a social media writer from EssaySupply. “But, social media posts work better because they show how an influencer communicates with people directly.”
Important! Tone matching doesn’t mean 100% tone mirroring. If you find a micro-influencer writing content in different tones, stick to the most positive one.
6. Identify With the Goals of Their Audience
The influencer you’re trying to partner with knows quite a lot about their followers.
They chat via DMs, comments, and even maybe meet occasionally.
From food preferences…
Source: Simply Food by Mandy, Facebook
… to brand preferences in specific product categories.
These preferences are fundamental to know what kind of brand vibes and identity has worked well for past social media campaigns.
Source: Brontekingg, Instagram
Interactions like these give the influencer a good idea of the needs and goals of their followers. Mentioning them in your outreach message gives you a significant advantage over other businesses trying to sign that influencer.
Why?
It shows that you’ve done your research and understand them.
Profit-wise, it means your product is likely to be well-received and generate conversions. That’s a win-win for both the influencer and you!
Here’s how you can do it.
“I think your followers will love [your product] because they’re interested in quality and affordable skincare products.”
“Here at [brand], we create vegan and eco-friendly makeup brushes that last for years, which we think your audience will be interested in.”
That one-two sentences can make a world of difference in deciding to work with you.
7. Follow-Up with a Direct Message
One reason why you’re not getting a response might be… Well, the influencer might be busy, or your message got lost in a crowded inbox.
Following up with another message is a good idea. You can try a message like this:
“Hi [influencer’s name]! It’s [your name] from [brand name]. Just following up to see if you had a chance to read my offer. I’m here if you have any questions!”
How many times should you follow up?
Once or twice is a good idea, but no more.
8. Improve Your Brand’s Content Marketing
“Okay, this sounds good… Let me see what this brand is all about…”
This is how a micro-influencer might think after reading your message. There’s a lot of consideration involved in choosing brands to partner with, so they will want to check out your brand’s social media pages, website, etc.
If they don’t love your content – or you don’t have any – that’s a goodbye.
To make them want to collaborate with you make sure your brand has decent content, ready for people coming to you via the influencer campaign.
Micro-Influencer Marketing: Final Thoughts
Are you feeling more confident about contacting an influencer?
You should because now you know what it takes to write a compelling message.
One last thing: give the chosen influencer a couple of days to respond. They’re busy people, so writing a nice message and a follow-up is enough.
That’s it, over to you now!
Go ahead and write that message – you’ve got nothing to lose.
AUTHOR BIO
Dorian Martin is a freelance writer specializing in digital marketing. He is a regular contributor to marketing blogs for small businesses and likes to share his expertise on lead generation and sales. Before getting to content writing, Dorian has worked with the best dissertation writing services, advertising agencies, and startups.
