Outreach emails are an extremely important part of any influencer campaign. The content of the email will set the first impression about your brand, and will greatly impact whether or not an influencer will respond. This email needs to be at the same attractive and concise.
Keep in mind that the core of influencer marketing is centered on human-to-human relationships. The goal is to open the conversation and generate interest.
📧 Crafting the First Email
The first email you send to potential creators sets the tone for your collaboration. It should be inviting, concise, and attractive.
Think like this: Imagine if you were an influencer, and you just started your day, holding a cup of cafe and browsing collaboration emails - what elements interests you most?
The structure we recommend:
1. The introduction paragraph:
Introduce yourself to build a personal connection, then your brand and your product, keep it personalised.
2. The second paragraph:
One sentence about the influencer and why you contacted him/her
3. The main Paragraph:
Outline the collaboration, what you expect, and what you offer.
One call to action attracting them to click on your application form.
Example of a Compelling Email
Why do we like it?
👍 Personalized:
The information is tailored to each influencer, addressing them by first name while using merge fields.
It initiates by introducing the sender's role, establishing a personal connection with the creator, and showcasing an understanding of their content style and audience.
💡 Feel free to use any merge fields created on your own (click here).
Ex.
One pet food brand successfully recruited dog parent influencers by personalizing their outreach. They incorporated the creators' dogs' names and ages, previously collected as merge fields, into the invitation emails. This personalized approach resulted in an exceptionally high response rate from the influencers.
👍 Brand Link:
The brand is hyperlinked, attracting influencers to visit the e-shop. This encourages influencers to test her product.
👍 Concise and Clear:
The intentions, goals, and campaign expectations are clearly communicated with creators.
👍 Irresistible Offer:
An appealing offer that influencers find difficult to resist is presented, utilizing bullet points to ensure it is easily captured by creators' eyes.
💡 Keep in mind, on average influencers spend no more than 10 seconds on browsing each collaboration email.
👍 CTA Inclusion:
Encouraged influencers to hit on the “apply here” button to visit their unique {{application_form}}, to get to know more about the campaign and apply for it.
Those elements can help you gain a satisfying reply rate.
Example of a not so Compelling Email
Why we don't like it?
🙅 Basic Subject Line:
We shall always pay attention to our email subject line. If it's too generic or lacks intrigue, influencers may overlook or dismiss it. But that’s not the biggest issue in this email👇.
🙅 Spam Keywords in Subject:
Be mindful of spam filters that might flag your email.
Money mentioned is one of the red flags, words like “Free”, “payment”, “Paid partnership” etc, including in the subject of your outreach will reroute your email directly into the spam folder. Check the full list of keywords here.
Some of our favourite subjects:
[Your Brand Name] x {{Influencer_name}}: Exclusive Partnership Offer
Your followers will love this product - {{influencer_name}}
EXCLUSIVE [Your Brand Name] AMBASSADOR INVITATION: {{influencer_name}}
We would love to work with you! {{influencer_name}}
🙅 Lack of Personalization:
This email feels generic and doesn't demonstrate a genuine understanding of the influencer's content and audience, they may not see the relevance of your collaboration.
🙅 Unhighlighted Incentives:
Again, an influencer might take 4-6 seconds on each email. Try to put your value proposition by bullet point. If influencers don't see them at first sight, they may be quickly passed to the next email.
🙅 Questionable Application Link:
Ensure that your influencer application link is professional and trustworthy, we suggest you add it as a hyperlink. If it looks sketchy or raises concerns about legitimacy, influencers may hesitate to click or respond.
💡 Additional Tips:
👍 Use a Professional Email Address:
Avoid using personal email addresses (e.g., xxx@gmail.com); instead, opt for a professional domain to enhance the trustworthiness of your invitation.
👍 Warm-Up a New Email Address:
If your email address is new, before sending lots of emails from a new address, it's a good idea to warm it up. (link)
Start by sending to a small group, slowly send to more people, and make sure they engage with your emails. Keep an eye out for any issues, like if people mark your emails as spam. This helps your future emails not end up in spam and makes sure more people see them.
👍 Avoid Attachments in Initial Outreach:
Steer clear of including attachments in your initial outreach emails. This practice helps prevent your emails from being flagged as spam, ensuring a better chance of reaching your recipients' inboxes.
👍 Use merge fields in your subject and core email:
To personalize your contact and decrease the change your emails going to SPAM.
For example, use {{first_name}} to have the influencer name display. It will make your email less cold.
👍 Create your own email templates
Within the Upfluence, you have access to email templates, you can use as a framework. To see them, you just need to open the template menu with the Email editing window
Additionally, you can visit the following article for additional free templates: How to Master Influencer Outreach
Learn more on The Art of Reaching Out to Influencers.
If you have any additional questions, feel free to reach out to us at support@upfluence.com or through the chat!