One of the most tried and true methods for getting an influencer brand deal is actually probably more simple than you think. If you want to work with a brand, just shoot them an email and see if they’re interested! Lots of brands spend a significant amount of time, money, and effort trying to find the perfect influencers to work with. You can actually be making their life easier by initiating the contact.
Now, we’re sure that “sending an email” probably isn’t’ the groundbreaking idea that we make it seem like. If you have tried sending emails before and still had little luck, these 12 tips will help to tip the scales in your favor.
These are 12 rules to keep in mind when you’re crafting cold-emails to brands. They will most definitely get an influencer brand deal.
12.) Make sure you have the right point of contact
Have you ever gotten an email about something that doesn’t relate to you? Maybe an offer for a deal on electricity/gas when you don’t pay that bill? Or maybe an unsolicited job interview offer in a field you don’t work in?
This is the situation that we want to avoid and is definitely the first thing you’ll want to double-check. If the person that you’re emailing doesn’t handle influencer marketing for that brand then every other tip on this list is pointless. You can write the most epic cold email of all time but if it’s being sent to the wrong person, it’s going to end up in the trash 100% of the time.
The right point of contact will ideally a title that says influencer marketing, which will make it easy. These are all good titles:
-Director of influencer marketing, Head of influencer marketing, influencer outreach manager, etc.
If their title isn’t “influencer marketing” it should be something marketing related. The higher the title, the harder it will be to contact that person but it will be a more valuable contact. These are the titles you should be reaching out to:
-Head of marketing
-Director of marketing
-Marketing manager
-Marketing coordinator/analyst/specialist
11.) Make sure they use influencer marketing
If possible, make sure that this brand actually uses influencer marketing. If influencer marketing isn’t part of their strategy, they won’t be buying what you’re selling. A few ways to check if they use influencer marketing are:
-Looking for someone with “influencer” in their title.
-Scanning their social pages for influencers.
-Scanning their website for an ambassador program.
10.) Keep it short and sweet
This is a more polite way to say “get to the point quickly”. If someone opens your cold email, you’ll only hold their attention for a few seconds. Whatever you send has to catch their attention and inspire them to keep reading and respond.
So what are some things that you can send?
9.) Send value
This might be the most important tip on this list. What you send in the body of your email should be valuable for the person reading it. To help figure out what that may be, just put yourself in their shoes – if you were leading an influencer marketing strategy for a brand, what type of email would catch your attention?
Here are a few ideas of things that might be valuable:
– Examples of your work
– Ideas you have for a collaboration
– Examples of past collaborations you’ve done
-Ideas on how you can help increase sales/brand awareness/followers/etc.
The idea is to bring something to the table that will help them. One of the best ways to prove that you can help them is to provide proof.
8.) Send stats where possible
To increase your chance of landing a brand deal, you should focus on your engagement rate (or clicks, likes, views, and comments). Engagement is generally what’s the most valuable to brands because it’s the most tangible way to show that their campaigns are working.
However, we’d only recommend sending your stats if they’re impressive. If you’re nervous that your stats aren’t where they need to be, it’s okay to take some time to work on that first.
7.) Send visuals
Aside from stats, we’d also recommend including a few visuals. This can help them put a face to the name and visuals are much more effective at catching their eye. It’s an old saying but it’s true: “a picture is worth 1000 words.”
If you’re really excited about working with this particular brand, try putting together something that is custom to them. Show them what they can expect if they decide to move forward with a collaboration!
6.) Know what you’re asking for
Try to take the initiative of the conversation and be sure to include your rates and request the type of arrangement you’re looking for.
5.) Never use “Best” as an ending
This is a smaller tip but it can still make a big difference. Try to refrain from using the following:
Best,
The SIJ Team
“Best” is probably the most widely used email sign off. Nearly everyone uses best. Set yourself apart by using something else. Some of our favorites are:
– Talk soon
– Excited to connect
– Look forward to hearing back
4.) Make an introduction
Remember, the purpose of an introduction email isn’t to land a brand deal (although that would be ideal). Landing a brand deal off of a single cold email would be the equivalent of landing a job offer by emailing your resume to the hiring manager.
Instead, think of your cold email as a way of getting a foot in the door. You just want to introduce yourself and open up the possibility of a collaboration. Sometimes the timing just isn’t right and you may need to wait a few weeks or months.
3.) Speak their language (be professional)
Make sure that you keep the phrasing in your email professional. If you want brands to take you seriously as an influencer, you’ll need to present yourself as a business-savvy professional.
2.) End with a question
Every cold email should end with a question (also known as a call to action). Doing this will dramatically increase the likelihood of getting a response because it gives them an incentive to respond.
Your call to action should be clear and concise so that if a person only reads the last sentence, they will still have a sense of what you want. The best call to action are open-ended questions instead of a simple yes/no.
1.) Follow up
This is incredibly critical when sending cold emails. In fact, don’t even send the first email if you don’t plan on following up. It’s incredibly common for people to read your email, possibly be interested, and simply forget to answer. Once the notification is gone and your email gets buried in their inbox, it’s over.
That being said, you definitely don’t want to harass them. We’d recommend waiting at least 3 business days before following up on your email. Here are a few of our favorite “follow up” emails:
– ”Hello So & So, just wanted to bump this to the top of your inbox in case it got buried.”
– ”Hello So & So, I wanted to follow up on this to try and catch you before the weekend.”
– ”Hello So & So, I never heard back on this and wanted to bump it to the top of your inbox.”
After your follow-up phrase, repeat your initial question from the first email.
We hope that you’ve found this article valuable in understanding some of the ways to frame your emails when reaching out to brands!
If you’re interested in reading more quality content for influencers, you should check out our Influencer’s Guide On Selling Yourself To Brands – We go even more in-depth into sending emails as well as how to find brands to approach, finding contact information, and negotiating/closing a brand deal!
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