In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, influencer outreach strategy has emerged as a powerful tool for brands looking to connect with their target audience. This method combines the credibility of celebrity endorsements with the authenticity of personal recommendations, creating a win-win scenario for businesses, influencers, and their followers. An effective influencer outreach strategy not only enhances brand visibility but also builds trust and drives engagement. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the essential steps to create a successful influencer outreach strategy that aligns with your brand’s goals.
Understanding the Role of Influencers in Marketing
Influencer marketing is more than just a trend; it’s a strategic approach that leverages the influence of individuals who have built a loyal following in their niche. These influencers can be industry experts, passionate consumers, or content creators who resonate with their audience. The key to a successful influencer outreach strategy lies in identifying the right influencers whose values and audience align with your brand.
When selecting influencers, consider their engagement rates, the quality of their content, and how well they represent your brand’s ethos. A well-chosen influencer can significantly boost your brand’s credibility and reach, making them an invaluable asset in your marketing efforts.
Identifying the Right Influencers
Finding the right influencers requires a combination of research, creativity, and strategic thinking. Here are some effective methods to identify potential influencers:
-
Utilize Social Listening Tools: Tools like Mention allow you to monitor conversations about your brand, products, or industry. This not only helps you discover relevant influencers but also provides insights into what people are saying about your brand. This context is crucial when crafting personalized outreach emails.
-
Master Google’s Advanced Search Queries: By using advanced search techniques, you can find influencers who contribute to relevant publications. For example, you can use the “related:” operator to find similar websites or the “site:” operator to locate contributors on specific sites. This method can uncover a wealth of potential influencers who write authoritative content about your industry.
-
Stalk Social Media for Leads: Social media platforms are goldmines for finding influencers. You can start by perusing your own list of followers for engaged fans and customers. Additionally, check out your competitors’ followers to see who they are engaging with. Look for anyone who is being discussed by top brands and trusted publications. Searching for hashtags related to your niche can also help you find active users with a larger-than-average following who share quality content relevant to your business.
By employing these tactics, you can build a list of relevant, high-value contacts who are likely to resonate with your brand and audience.
Building a List of Relevant Contacts
Once you have identified potential influencers, the next step is to build a list of relevant contacts. This involves gathering their contact information and other pertinent details. Here are some key points to consider:
-
Email Addresses: Influencers often make their email addresses available online. Start by checking the “Contact” section of their LinkedIn profile, Twitter or Instagram bio, and the about page of their website. If you can’t find their email, try using Google searches with formulas like [first name] + [last name] + email or [first name] + [last name] + @[domain].
-
Social Media Accounts: Record each influencer’s full name and social media account details alongside their contact information. Include their professional title or company name, their platform of choice, and the size of their audience (if visible).
-
CRM Integration: As your collection of contact information grows, it’s essential to keep it organized. Use a CRM platform to store and manage your contacts. This allows you to track interactions, set reminders, and segment your list based on criteria such as platform or audience size.
By maintaining a well-organized list, you can efficiently manage your outreach efforts and ensure that you are targeting the right influencers at the right time.
Crafting a Winning Campaign
With your list of contacts ready, it’s time to craft a winning campaign that resonates with your target influencers. Here are five essential steps to create an effective outreach strategy:
-
Define a Clear Goal: Before reaching out to any influencer, clearly define your objectives. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, promote a new product, or enhance your credibility? Knowing your goal will help you tailor your message and demonstrate why the influencer is a good fit for your brand.
-
Write Your Outreach Sequence: Craft a friendly subject line and keep your emails short and sweet. Personalize each message by addressing the influencer by name and referencing something interesting you read or watched during your research. Create email templates that you can re-use and tweak as needed, ensuring that each message is tailored to the influencer’s content.
-
Run the Campaign Using a CRM Tool: A CRM tool like Propeller allows you to manage every aspect of your campaign from within Gmail. Track the effectiveness of your messages, pause campaigns automatically if needed, and easily upload, organize, and track contact information.
-
Schedule Follow-Up Emails: Influencers are busy, so it’s important to plan a series of follow-up messages in advance. Set reminders to follow up manually or use your CRM to automate the process. With tools like Propeller CRM, you can schedule a sequence of follow-up emails to be sent if you don’t hear back within a certain number of days.
-
Track, Measure, and Optimize Your Results: Once your campaign is underway, track and measure the results to refine your approach for future outreach efforts. Key metrics to track include open rate, click-through rate, response rate, bounce rate, and deleted or flagged emails. Experiment with different messages, subject lines, cadence, and timing to discover what gets a positive response.
By following these steps, you can create a compelling outreach campaign that effectively engages your target influencers and drives meaningful results for your brand.
Launching, Promoting, and Amplifying Content
Once your content or campaign is ready, it’s time to launch it and ensure maximum visibility. Don’t just hit publish and call it a day. A successful B2B influencer outreach strategy treats the influencer content as a centerpiece to be amplified across channels for full impact.
Cross-Promotion is Key: Coordinate closely with the influencer on the launch timing. For example, if a guest blog post is going live on their site, decide when you’ll both start sharing it on social media. Sync up so that when the influencer shares content with their network, your brand is also ready to boost the signal. This might involve providing them with suggested copy, tracking links, or hashtags while still encouraging them to put things in their own words.
Maximize Reach with Owned Media: Use your owned channels to spotlight the collaboration. Announce the partnership or content on your company’s LinkedIn, X, Facebook, etc., and link to the influencer’s contribution. Tag the influencer when appropriate to encourage engagement so that they can easily reshare. If the influencer created a piece of content on their own platform (like a video or article), you might feature excerpts or a teaser on your blog with a link to the full piece.
Amplify via Paid Channels: If budget permits, you can also amplify your collaboration via paid channels. In B2B, this could mean running LinkedIn Sponsored Content featuring the influencer’s article or using social ads to promote the collaborative webinar to a broader targeted audience. Another technique is whitelisting or dark posting, where you run ads through the influencer’s account (with their permission) to reach people in their follower demographic.
Keep the Momentum Going: Throughout the campaign, keep an eye on engagement and be ready to engage back. Respond to comments or questions on posts – both on your brand’s channels and the influencer’s posts – to foster conversation. If the influencer’s content sparks discussion in forums or communities, join in (or have a knowledgeable team member do so) to provide additional value.
By actively promoting and participating in the campaign, you can extend the reach of the content and deepen the impact on those who encounter it.
Working Together for Better Results
Finally, remember that successful influencer outreach is a collaborative effort. Remain agile and communicative throughout the campaign. If something isn’t getting the traction you expected, brainstorm with the influencer on a quick adjustment. Maybe a secondary social post, or a short follow-up video to address common questions, could help. Treat it like any marketing campaign – monitor, optimize, and encourage the influencer to do the same. They likely know their audience well and might have ideas to boost engagement (for example, hosting a brief live Q&A in the comments). When a brand and influencer work hand-in-hand to push the campaign, the results can far exceed what either could do alone.
In conclusion, building an effective influencer outreach strategy requires a combination of research, planning, and execution. By understanding the role of influencers, identifying the right contacts, crafting a compelling campaign, and amplifying your content, you can create a powerful marketing strategy that resonates with your audience and drives meaningful results for your brand.
About the Author
