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How to Contact Influencers: A Brand’s Ultimate Guide

November 4, 2025

Word of mouth is one of the most powerful marketing tools out there. Consumers are far more likely to trust people they consider their peers who have tried a product or service and who say it’s good, rather than trusting what the brand itself has to say. This isn’t to say that traditional marketing doesn’t have a place, but it’s important to cover all of your bases.

Of course, the main issue of word of mouth marketing is that it can’t really be controlled by the brand itself. Or is that really the case?

Influencer marketing is a way for brands to make the best use of word-of-mouth marketing. As Tom Fishburne, the creator of Marketoonist, says, “the best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.” Influencers don’t feel like branding experts; they feel like friends.

Social media personalities have built an audience of thousands or millions of people who trust them, and they know how to reach more people. So, by reaching out to influencers, you’re able to reach their audience as well.

Of course, the first step has to be to contact the influencers in the first place. From there, you can work with them, push your brand, and also pay them for their services. So, how to get in touch?

Identifying the Right Influencers for Your Brand

If you want to reach more people, you want to connect with the biggest influencers possible, right?

Well, kind of. But this isn’t entirely the best way to work.

First, the biggest influencers possible often don’t need to work with brands to earn more money. They’re building their own commercial empires, and they might not be interested in sponsored or affiliate posts. You’d have to offer a huge amount to get their interest. But that’s not the only reason to just reach out to the largest influencers.

Would you listen to a makeup expert for advice about how to bake a treacle tart? They might happen to be really good at baking, but most people would rather listen to the professional baker standing right next to them. Influencers attract a curated audience who have interests that align with theirs.

So, a makeup influencer like Georgia Collins, who appeals to an audience of primarily female teenagers and young adults, would be ideal for a makeup or lifestyle brand with the same target audience.

<blockquote class=”tiktok-embed” cite=”https://www.tiktok.com/@georgiacoggings/video/7556655846533418262″ data-video-id=”7556655846533418262″ style=”max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px;” > <section> <a target=”_blank” title=”@georgiacoggings” href=”https://www.tiktok.com/@georgiacoggings?refer=embed”>@georgiacoggings</a> I love me some @thebeautycrop <a title=”beautycrop” target=”_blank” href=”https://www.tiktok.com/tag/beautycrop?refer=embed”>#beautycrop</a> <a title=”tiktokmademebuyit” target=”_blank” href=”https://www.tiktok.com/tag/tiktokmademebuyit?refer=embed”>#tiktokmademebuyit</a> <a title=”foryoudays” target=”_blank” href=”https://www.tiktok.com/tag/foryoudays?refer=embed”>#foryoudays</a> <a title=”ouicherie” target=”_blank” href=”https://www.tiktok.com/tag/ouicherie?refer=embed”>#ouicherie</a> <a target=”_blank” title=”♬ original sound – Georgia Coggings” href=”https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7556655830400043798?refer=embed”>♬ original sound – Georgia Coggings</a> </section> </blockquote> <script async src=”https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js”></script>

If you work with just any influencer, without thinking about their target audience and their content, the chances are that your brand is going to reach thousands of people who aren’t interested. Even worse, this type of marketing could seem disingenuous, as the influencer could be seen as selling out for collaborating with a brand that has nothing to do with their content. It feels like marketing and, worse, it feels like manipulation.

Instead, make sure to identify the right influencers whose content, values, and audience align with your brand.

So, what about size? The biggest is always best, right? Well, not always. Smaller influencers with thousands rather than hundreds of thousands or millions of followers do have their upsides. For starters, they’re more accessible for smaller brands. But they also curate a more dedicated and, in some cases, more niche audience. Smaller influencers are able to engage with their audience a lot more, and they’re less likely to have an audience that isn’t that interested in their niche.

The target audience is by far the most important thing to consider. First, the brand needs to be able to identify exactly what its target audience is. From there, you can find influencers who share the same audience. You can use tools like Heepsy to make this easier, or you can search more organically.

Crafting a Compelling Outreach Message

The downside to the rise of influencer marketing is that more and more brands are doing it. This means that larger influencers are often drowning in outreach messages, and yours might find itself at the bottom of the pile.

How can you create an outreach message that successfully reaches the influencer?

Finding the right influencer is the first step, of course. They’re more likely to be interested in a brand that makes sense for them, and if you aim for smaller influencers with thousands of followers, you are also more likely to get a response.

From there, it’s time to write a message and hopefully attract their attention. Here are a few tips:

Keep it short and sweet.
Use simple and easy-to-understand vocabulary. Not everyone understands or even likes buzzwords.
Sound like a person. AI isn’t your friend here. While it can craft competent-sounding messages, it does have its limitations. Use a conversational tone, as though you’re talking to a real person face-to-face.
Be personal. Influencers probably receive loads of generic spam, so don’t add to it. Use their name. Do a bit of research, watch some of their content, talk about what you enjoy and what actually stood out to you. While templates are handy, they shouldn’t be the actual message.
Use a call-to-action. This is a tool in marketing and it also works when you’re trying to get someone to work with you. Something as simple as “please reply or get in touch” works.
Build a relationship, don’t write a contract right away. All you’re doing in the outreach message is introducing yourself and your brand.
Respect their time. Explain how working with your brand can benefit them. While you don’t need hard numbers yet, you need to sell it to the influencer before they can sell it to their audience.

Utilizing Social Media Platforms to Connect

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So you have your outreach message drafted, but how to get that message to the influencer?

While emails are a great way to get in touch, social media can also be a helpful tool in making a connection. These messages should be short and friendly, literally just a “we love your content and wanted to reach out” type message can work.

The best social media platform to connect with the influencer would probably be the platform they’re most well-known for. Many influencers have accounts on TikTok, Instagram, X, and YouTube, but they likely focus on one of these platforms over the others.

Use this primary platform to send a message. If you want to engage with other platforms, perhaps because your target audience uses them more often, then it might be a good idea to use those platforms to get in touch. But ideally, the influencer’s biggest platform should be your target audience anyway.

If you have a brand account, make sure to follow the influencer. Some platforms screen messages to prevent spam or direct messages from thousands of followers, so it can be helpful to have a sizeable presence on social media to start with. Also, don’t be afraid to comment on their content to build a relationship with them.

Best Practices for Email Communications

While direct messages can be a great way to get in touch, email communication is still the gold standard for professional messages. You can usually find the influencer’s email address in their social media bio or about section. There’s nothing wrong with using both methods, although the email should probably be more formal and professionally laid out.

The best practices for any professional remain the same, although remember to still sound like a human being. You don’t need to be robotic, but you do need to be clear.

The subject line should explain what you want in just a few words. So “X brand marketing/sponsorship”, “X brand would love to work with you” or similar should work well.

In the body text, your first sentence should be short and clear. Essentially, you want to summarize the email in twenty words or fewer. Use active voice, not passive voice. It’s more interesting to read and sounds less like an AI.

Remember to keep it personal. If you say you like their content, be specific about a certain post.

The email should be short and to the point. Make sure to ask for a response and give them an appropriate point of contact.

Timing Your Outreach for Maximum Impact

When is the best time to send your outreach message? While there’s no wrong time to send your outreach message, you can improve the impact by timing it properly

Some influencers have a posting schedule, while others post at random. Bear in mind that most videos and images will have been edited and worked on for a while, even on platforms like TikTok that seem more authentic.

If you keep an eye on their content, you can work out their schedule, as well as which posts are more successful. If a creator has a successful post, they’re probably expecting outreach messages to roll in. You also have something specific to talk about, such as why you liked that post so much and how it shows the influencer is a good fit for your brand.

Following Up: When and How to Do It Effectively

So, you’ve sent your message and got nothing back. What next?

Well, this is common. The internet is full of people reaching out and getting no reply. People are busy; they might not have checked the message, or even if they have, they just might not have thought about it. A lack of response doesn’t mean the outreach has failed.

You can follow up using different platforms at any time. Remember, if you’re using a DM, keep it very short.

As a general rule, you want to find the balance between reminding someone of an opportunity and just being annoying.

Send your first follow-up email after three days, as this gives them a bit more time. Then wait another seven days for your next email. After the third email, people are less likely to respond, but there’s no harm in sending further follow-ups each month, especially if they don’t ask you to stop.

Evaluating the Success of Your Influencer Partnerships

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So, you’ve connected with an influencer and you’ve worked on a campaign together. How do you know that the partnership has actually benefited your company?

This is where data comes into the picture. You want to look at how much engagement the content has had, as well as how it’s benefited your brand. Good numbers to check out include:

Content views, likes, comments, and shares
Website visits from content
Conversions and sales
Return on Investment

So, how can you know if you’ve sold more due to an investor? An increase in sales during that period is a good indicator, but if you give the investor a code or a link for people to click, then it’s much easier to see their direct impact on your sales during the campaign.

Take Your Influencer Marketing to the Next Level

Now that you’re connecting with influencers and building relationships, what’s next?

Simply put, keep on expanding. One influencer might not make a massive difference, but more and more influencers, all with their own audiences, can quickly add up. Everyone who takes in their content will also learn about your brand.

You can use different strategies with influencers as well. Sponsored posts are the most obvious, but you can also offer giveaways for shoutouts, which is a low-cost way to get your brand seen by a larger audience.

As your brand grows, you’ll be able to reach out to larger influencers with a more general audience.