6 Influencer Outreach Email Templates To Build Powerful Partnerships

What is influencer outreach?

Influencer outreach is the process of identifying and reaching out to influencers with the purpose of collaboration and/or product promotion.

But it can quickly become a long, winding path to nowhere if you miss any of the half-dozen minute steps that can dramatically alter its outcome. 

To help you avoid that, we’ve put together: 

• A templatized sequence of emails you can use to woo the best influencers
• Explained what makes them click so that you can adapt 
• Answered all the questions about the extra tasks you’ll have to cross off to make your outreach a success

But first, let’s start with:

How to find an influencer’s email?

Influencers receive hundreds, if not thousands, of messages a day. Unless you have a verified account, or they follow you, your message might go unnoticed. 

The influencers know this, which is why so many Twitter, TikTok and Instagram movers and shakers display their (or their manager’s) email address in their profile bios. Some might include a Linktree containing links to their website and/or email. In this case, you can just scrape their Instagram profiles and get a list of emails in a minute.

If they haven’t posted anything, Hunter’s domain search feature can help. Just paste their or their company’s website in the domain field and click on Find. 

It’ll show you a list of email addresses associated with that website. 

If you’re sending out a cold email at scale, there’s a quicker alternative. Compile a list of influencer names and their managers, if any, in a Google Sheet. And create another column containing the website URL. 

Then, use the Hunter for Sheets Google Chrome extension. When you click on ‘Find Email Addresses’, it automatically populates cells with results. 

If the email address is not in the database, set up an alert. Hunter sends you an email when the address is added, and eliminates the need for you to remember to check again or risk losing out on the right influencers.

What should your emails say? 

Before we go further into the technicalities, here are the basic rules of thumb for doing influencer outreach:

Convince them of product fit

Influencers are finicky about the brands they endorse. They wouldn’t want to jeopardize their audience connection by promoting a product that isn’t true to their online personality. 

Your primary objective during initial outreach is to convince the influencer that they and your product are a match made in social media heaven.

To win them over, show them how your product can appeal to their audience. 

For example, if you’re trying to sign a home improvement YouTuber to promote your adhesive tiles, discuss how their audience might look forward to “fuss-free” alternatives to re-tiling their walls. 

Give them adequate product information

Research-driven content creators might scour your website later or wait till they’ve tried the product hands-on. But at the preliminary stage, you have to get them excited about partnering with you.

Don’t put the burden of researching your product on them. 

Prepare a dossier containing: 

• Product name
• Salient features or USP
• Use cases 
• Testimonials, 
• Video tutorials of any specific features you want them to highlight in their content

Find ways to tie in your product with their usual activity

Personalize your influencer collaboration email template with mail merge to mention another product they’re already promoting and explain how yours complements/substitutes it. 

If they haven’t done this sort of thing before, give them a couple of ideas about the kind of content they could create.

E.g., a protein powder brand that has only previously worked with fitness enthusiasts could bring a mommy influencer on board by demonstrating the benefits of protein supplements for recouping after breasfeeding. 

Give social proof

Influencers, like the rest of us, need external validation to reassure them.

Give credible proof that you and your business are trustworthy. 

In your email copy or sign-off, include:

• A website link 
• Social media profile links 
• Your Google listing
• Your outreach manager’s LinkedIn or Twitter handles, etc. 

Cite previous collaborations with other influencers to convince them yours is an authentic business that values both them and their audience.

If you can’t secure the deal, secure brand awareness.

An influencer might not take you up on your offer right away, or at all. But, even if that fails, influencer outreach doesn’t have to be a dead loss. 

While you’re waiting for the influencer to agree to the collab, interact with their account as often as possible. 

Leave comments on their posts, and repost and share their content on your profile and stories. 

This will: 

1. Build deeper connections with the influencer
2. Let you piggyback on their popularity and be noticed by their followers and visitors.

6 Fail-Safe Influencer Outreach Templates

Take inspiration from (or steal) these winning influencer outreach email templates and secure the brand collabs that set your cash registers ringing.

Template 1: The Bare Basic Influencer Outreach Template

1. Always mention that there are no strings attached or that it’s a free sample or gift with zero expectations.
2. Use a clear call-to-action (CTA) to streamline communication, something like:

• Send me your address, or
• Reply to this email address if you’re interested

1. For larger influencer campaigns, send them a link to an onboarding form to save time.
2. But if you’re a newer organization still finding its footing, the time spent going over the terms can help build better credibility.
3. Use an email signature. Make it easy for them to check you out.

Template 2: The No Strings Attached Template

Product seeding is a great ToFu action to get your product into as many hands as possible. The no-strings-attached gratuitous gesture is aimed at creating goodwill and the foundation for a long-term relationship with collaborating influencers.

This template also has a unique format in that it banks on the end, instead of the beginning, of the email to get the influencer’s attention.

After receiving the delivery notification, monitor the influencer’s feed or set up alerts to know if/when they upload a post or send you a message about your product. 

If they do, get their permission to repost or share the content. 

Template 3: The Nitty Gritty Template

If you’re launching a bigger campaign, you can’t afford to waste time going back and forth with multiple influencers. Right away, this template makes its intention known through the subject line.

The upfront disclosure of compensation and perks shows influencer you mean business. 

By mentioning you’ve previously worked with other influencers, you’re letting them that you’re a reputable brand and capable of following through on your offer. 

You can also include an explanation of the campaign goals and your expectations — product reviews, product promotion, affiliate program, x number of posts, channel, etc.

Template 4: The Giveaway Template

For companies that don’t want to dig deep in their pockets for sponsored social media posts, or are looking to build a UGC portfolio, giveaways can get the content mills churning on a budget.

This template lays out why they want to work with the influencer with a personalized compliment. 

The four free product samples can be motivation enough for micro-influencers, and secure you visibility in front of their (usually) highly-engaged audience. 

Template 5: The Event Invite Template

A product giveaway might not be appropriate for every brand. Also, if the influencer is already something of a big deal in your industry, this invite is a good way to show them you recognize and value their expertise. 

During the event, you can establish closer ties with them than you could with a more rigid outreach strategy. This also increases your chances of landing a collaboration in the future.

Template 6: The Follow-Up Email Template

The brand link in the template furthers efforts to establish authenticity. The influencer can visit your website and socials, where they’re almost certain to see your following, tagged posts, etc. 

If they’re suitably impressed, it won’t take them long to act on the conveniently implementable CTA of getting on a call with you.

Even the best emails can go unread or land in spam folders. We recommend sending a maximum of 2-3 follow ups but if you’re in a competitive industry, or dealing with a bigger infuencer, be prepared to send up to 5 follow-up emails interspersed with direct messages. You can also leave a comment on posts or stories to catch their attention.

If it’s an influencer you really want to work with, in your last follow-up, leave the door open for future collaborations at a time of their choosing.

Conclusion

Tweak these outreach message templates to suit your brand voice. You can personalize the templates with brand colors, a signature design or layout, and images. 

Use a reliable email automation platform to test and deliver your emails to influencers. It enables you to track campaign metrics and launch nurturing/onboarding sequences with minimal effort.

Track which content performs well, which negotiation tactics worked best, and which influencers you enjoyed working with to select brand ambassadors and advocates.

We appreciate you chose this article to know more about email templates for influencer outreach. To read more articles on related topics, follow Mailrap Blog!