TIPS BRANDS SHOULD CONSIDER WHEN REACHING OUT TO WORK W/ CONTENT CREATORS
As a content creator who often receives emails and DM's on Instagram from brands expressing interest in partnering on campaigns, I came across a few conversations that led me to write this blog post. I will be discussing tips brands should consider when reaching out to work with content creators. The tips are beneficial for small brands that are just now breaking into the influencer marketing space. The advice I provide will come from my perspective as a creator.
CONDUCT RESEARCH ON THE CONTENT CREATOR
Before you reach out to a content creator be sure to do your research. Take a look at the content creator IG profile/ portfolio to give you an idea if your brand will align with their audience or the audience you're trying to target. Their portfolio will give you a feel of their IG feed aesthetic, tone of voice, and a peek into their community and their relationship with their followers. A big pet peeve of mine is when a brand reaches out to partner on a campaign that doesn't align with my niche. It comes off as if they didn't do their research. The emails often look like they copy and paste the message and sent it to hundreds of content creators. For example, If your brand specialize in pet products and reaches out to fashion content creators who don't own a pet or never talked about pets with their audience, it will be hard for the two to align. If the content creator accepts this partnership, two things can happen: the brand won't receive the results/ return on investment. The content creator audience will become confused and possibly may not connect with the content.
ENGAGE WITH THE CONTENT CREATOR WORK
After researching the content creator, you would like to partner with a great way to get the creator's attention and build a genuine relationship is to engage with the creator's work. Here are a few ways to engage with their content: like their post, comment, and engage with the captions. Most times, creators may ask you questions and provide a call to action to start a conversation in their captions. This is a perfect way to start building that relationship and grab their attention. Also, it feels good to partner with brands that share your content and show interest outside of a business transaction. The best partnerships are built around genuine, authentic relationships.
REACH OUT TO CONTENT CREATOR VIA EMAIL
After you engage with the creator's work and get their attention, the next step is to reach out. Remember to treat the content creator as a business. Most creators have their email addresses linked in their bio for partnership purposes. If they do, I will use this as the first point of contact versus the Instagram DM. If you didn't find the creator email address, I would start the conversation in the DM laying out the exact reason you want to connect with them and why you chose them specifically. Here is an example "Hi Teeara Ida, I came across your profile and enjoy the work you produce and the community you built. I believe your content aligns with the millennial audience we are trying to target. XYZ brand is launching a new campaign this November, and I would love to discuss if you would be interested further. What's the best email for you so I can send over the details?"
The message didn't explain the campaign in detail, such as creative brief, content deliverables, budget, etc. This should always be discussed in email because emails are professional and an excellent way to track vs. Instagram DM messages that can get lost all the time, especially if you're a content creator who constantly engages with your community via DM.
MAKE SURE YOUR PARTNERSHIP IS A TWO WAY TRADE:
This is my favorite tip and the most important. Take time in the research process to see what partnerships the creator had in the past. It's essential to think about your budget and compensation plan before sending over the potential partnership email. What are your content deliverables? Does this partnership require strict deadlines? Will you be using the creator content for marketing efforts outside of social? I've had brands ask for numerous deliverables and specific deadlines for a compensation plan of free products and a 15% off promo code. I typically decline those offers. It isn't polite to reach out to a content creator and expect a complete creative brief plan without having fair trade of partnership. I often see brands doing this to nano and micro-influencers. "We only pay creators who have 100,000 followers" It comes off as your devaluing the content creator's work in exchange for free advertisement. Nano and micro-influencers have a proven record of driving sales and having a solid relationship with their audience that consists of them communicating with them daily, which helps them understand their needs and wants. Your budget shouldn't just be geared towards the content creator follower count - consider their engagement, previous sales, equipment used to create the content, their time, and access to their community who truly trust their opinion. However, I'm not saying you can't offer free products, but it has to make sense to the partnership. For example, a travel brand provides you with a free weekend hotel stay in exchange for content vs. you offering free products for five-plus content deliverables, and ownership of your content wouldn't be a fair trade.
I hope these tips are helpful when considering working with content creators/influencers. Remember that content creators are passionate about producing content, and many of them spend hours getting the results you see on their portfolios. Let's normalize paying creators their worth.