How to outreach to influencers without the help of an agency?

Arun Prakash
Influencer marketing platform
Product Marketing Manager - Qoruz

D2C brands do not need any more convincing about influencer marketing. We all witnessed the rise of D2C brands like Boat and Bewakoof climb their height of success through running influencer campaigns.

But many D2C brands stay away from influencer marketing because they can’t afford the hefty agency fee because of their tight budgets.

Or they lack the bandwidth to run the campaign independently because the whole process is labor-intensive and takes a lot of time.

But influencer outreach can be done easily by dividing the whole process into simple steps.

Here’s how

Identify the right influencers. 

Agencies have a set of influencers they go to every time they want to run a campaign, but the same influencers are not going to be a niche and category fit for every brand. 

So you can do a much better job than an agency finding the right influencer for your D2C brand by keeping some essential criteria in mind.

Category 

The influencer should fall under the category of your brand like if you are a beauty brand, a beauty influencer would be a better fit for your campaign than a food or travel influencer.

There is more chance of engagement when an influencer in the same category is promoting the product.

Demographic 

The influencer audience demographic should fit the category you are targeting. For example, if you are a Men’s clothing brand, the ideal influencer for your brand should be an influencer with a large young male following. 

Past brand association 

The influencer should not have collaborated with a similar brand or your competitors recently. The followers get bored of the same kind of promotion repeatedly and are likely to ignore your brand if the category has been shown already.

Following an engagement rate

Influencers with different following serve different marketing purposes. If you aim for high reach and visibility, you should choose nano and micro-influencers.

But if you want brand recognition, you should go for macro or mega influencers. 

It can also depend on your marketing budget. If your budget is low, start with a nano influencer and then make your way forward based on the campaign’s performance.

Contact and Brief

After you have made a list of the influencers, who meet all of these criteria, it’s time to contact them with your brief and ask for the price.

The brief is the first point of contact for your brand, and the influencers, so make sure to deliver your requirements. 

Start with a clear introduction about your brand and the campaign objective. Provide detailed information about the product or service you want the influencer to promote. 

Outline the specific requirements for content creation, such as format, length, call to action, and hashtag usage.

Also, make sure to Specify the timeline for the collaboration, including deadlines for content delivery.

Discuss compensation, including payment, product samples, or any other incentives. Provide contact information for easy communication and any further questions.

Conclude by expressing gratitude and excitement for the opportunity to collaborate, do not miss out on this part, as it makes your brief memorable for the influencers and distinctive from others. 

Cost discussion

Be transparent and upfront about your budget for the campaign. Provide the influencer with a clear idea of the compensation package, including payment, product samples, or any other incentives.

Discuss the terms and conditions of the collaboration, including the duration and any limitations, and outline the campaign requirements and what the influencer will need to deliver.

Offer a fair compensation package that aligns with industry standards and the influencer’s following and engagement rate.

Be open to negotiating the compensation package and finding a mutually beneficial solution.

Communicate the terms of the agreement to avoid any misunderstandings.

All these steps will help you outreach influencers without an agency but the process can be time-consuming, especially contacting the influencers. 

But you can access direct influencer contact details with Qoruz an easy-to-use influencer marketing platform.

Qoruz is a D2C brand-friendly influencer marketing platform that makes the entire influencer outreach process easy and effective.

Comment below which of these steps you thought were helpful for influencer outreach.

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