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Calling all influencers! Is it time to turn your social media presence from a hobby to a paying gig?
You’ve got the look, you’ve got the audience, and your engagement is on point. The next logical step in your plan for online domination is a must: paid brand collabs.
While you’ll need thousands (if not millions) of followers to earn a massive $100,000 annual salary as an influencer, many influencers manage to earn $5,000 a month or more for a more modest following.
But you can’t go from $0 to $5,000 overnight. You have to start somewhere, which means you need to learn how to reach out to brands as an influencer.
How to Reach Out to Brands as an Influencer
Sure, you could wait for a brand to approach you, but that doesn’t always work out, especially if you want to be choosy about who you work with.
So why wait? Follow these six steps to reach out to brands as an influencer.
1. Nail the Basics First
Are you ready for brand collaborations? Or do you need to refine your brand first?
Brand partnerships put you in the big leagues, so you need to make sure you can handle the demands of a business relationship. That means you’ll need to have:
- A strong brand: You need a defined personality as an influencer. Plus, influencer fraud is a real thing, so the easier it is to verify that you’re a real person, the easier it will be for a company to say “yes.”
- A decent following: Brands want to work with micro influencers, so it’s not like you need 20 million followers. Micro influencers can have anywhere from 1,000-100,000 followers, so make sure you’re somewhere in that range.
- Terms: What do you want out of this relationship? Are you looking for freebies or payment? Just to give you an idea, 21% of influencers barter for products and 23% ask for payment.
- Capacity: You probably aren’t a full-time influencer (at least, not yet). Do you have the time and tools to do a brand partnership? It might mean pulling a few late nights or working weekends, so make sure you’re ready to play ball.
2. Do Some Brand Recon
You’ve done some soul searching, and you know it’s the right time to start partnering with brands. However, don’t let the dollar signs blind you—remember that this partnership needs to serve your followers!
Everything you do needs to serve your target audience. After all, if you lose their trust, you’ll lose everything.
That means you need to find the right brand for your vibe. So if you’re a travel influencer, you probably wouldn’t resonate with a mommy brand, right?
Do a little research to see if the brand partnership would be a fit before pitching the company. You can do that by:
- Looking at the brand’s About page to see if you align with their values or mission
- Verifying that the brand is active on platforms where you have an audience
- Learning more about the brand’s products (and making sure they’re a fit for what you do)
- Cyberstalking the brand’s social media
Never pursue a partnership without researching a brand first. The last thing you want to do is waste your energy pursuing something that isn’t going to work out. Plus, it’s unprofessional, which makes it less likely that a brand will want to work with you.
3. Prepare Your Media Kit
A media kit is a PDF that’s essentially a CliffsNotes on who you are and what you do as an influencer. Any brand worth its salt will ask you for a media kit before considering a partnership, so make sure you have one waiting in the wings.
Your media kit should include your:
- Follower demographics, including age, gender, and location
- Portfolio of your past content
- Metrics, like your engagement rates, pulled from social media analytics or Google Analytics
- References, if you have them
- Contact information
It might seem like an extra step, but producing a media kit will make you look more professional. It will also cut down on the back and forth between you and the brand, which is a win!
By the way, presentation matters here. Design a beautiful media kit that turns heads—use free templates from Canva if you feel stuck!
4. Butter up the Brand First
Brands get a lot of emails and DMs. While you’re free to start contacting brands, it’s a better idea to warm them up first. This way, they’re more likely to recognize your name and actually read your message.
Spend at least a week engaging with the brand on social media. At a minimum, follow them and comment on a few of their posts.
But if you really want brownie points, you can create an organic post all about the brand. This is free press, which brands love! As long as you remember to tag the brand and use the right hashtags, chances are good they’ll see your post and respond favorably.
5. Send the Brand an Email Pitch or Direct Message
Now it’s time for the main event! It can feel pretty stressful contacting a brand for the first time, but as long as you follow a solid email template, you’ll be golden.
We recommend following this outline anytime you’re pitching a brand, whether you’re sliding into their DMs or sending an email:
- Introduce yourself
- Explain your niche and your follower count
- Talk about your past work or achievements
- Explain why it makes sense to collaborate
- Suggest specific ways for you to partner up
- End with a call to action (CTA)
In practice, the formula looks like this:
“Hi there! I’m Sophia, a lifestyle content creator based in Brooklyn. [1] I post about all things beauty, fashion, and sustainable living on Instagram to an audience of 5,000 followers. [2] I have experience in graphic design, so I frequently post graphics as well as Instagram Stories. [3]
I saw that Acme Lifestyle just announced a sustainability initiative. After looking at your new mission statement and audience on Instagram, I realized we could be a great fit for a marketing campaign. [4] I’d love to do an Instagram Story about Acme each week for a month and touch on different aspects of sustainability—I think my followers would respond well to it! [5]
Do you have time this week to talk about a partnership? [6]”
You shouldn’t copy this template verbatim, but it should give you an idea of where to start.
Remember, keep your message short and sweet. Brands get a ton of messages, and if you overwhelm them with too much information, they won’t just leave you on read — they’ll leave you unread.
At the end of the day, you want to make it as easy as possible for a brand to say “yes.” That might mean doing a little legwork to outline a marketing strategy or provide content topics, but it’s worth the effort if it means scoring a partnership!
6. Keep the Relationship Going
Once you score a partnership (and you definitely will), the first campaign isn’t the end of the road for this relationship. If anything, it’s just the beginning.
The hardest part of influencer marketing is finding the right brand partnership. If you enjoy working with this brand, try to keep them around. They get more consistent content and regular exposure to your audience, so it’s a win for everyone.
But how do you continue a brand partnership? You can keep a brand interested by:
- Exceeding your metrics: Brands hire influencers because they need results. The more eyeballs and purchases you get for the brand, the more likely they are to see the value in hiring you again.
- Suggesting campaign ideas: After your initial campaign ends, stay in touch with your brand contact. Look ahead to the next quarter or season and suggest a few ways you can partner up. They might say no, but you can’t say you didn’t try!
- Staying in touch: Even if a brand says “thanks, but no thanks” to a second collaboration, it doesn’t mean it’s goodbye forever. Set a reminder on your phone to touch base with brands from time to time. Do this 3-4 times a year to keep the relationship with the brand alive.
Reaching Brands Has Never Been So Simple
You worked hard to grow your audience and create awesome content. Isn’t it time to monetize your hard work?
Influencers have clout, and brands want it. You can make serious bank by partnering with the right brands, but you need to follow a proven process to score better collaborations. Follow these six steps to expand influencer marketing from a side hobby into a thriving career for yourself.
We know finding brands that want to partner with you can be tough. That’s why influencers go with Markerly. We make it easier to find partnership opportunities, matching you with brands who need your skills for their campaigns. Are you ready for partnerships to come to your door? Sign up for Markerly now.
