Best Practices for Working With Influencers Using Email Marketing

Posted: April 25, 2022 | Last updated: April 7, 2024

How do you get a busy, in-demand blogger or influencer to promote your products? One way is through email marketing. While this can be difficult as many people don’t like getting unsolicited emails, it doesn’t have to be hard at all. If you want to start working with influencers using email marketing and don’t know where to begin, this article will guide you.

Working with influencers using email marketing can be a great way to increase brand awareness and drive sales, but it’s not as simple as sending out emails whenever you want. You have to follow certain best practices to create an effective campaign that will deliver results. If you ignore these practices, you risk losing the trust of your target audience who may feel like you’re trying to trick them into buying something they don’t need. 

In this article, we’ll go over the email marketing best strategies for working with influencers and driving brand engagement. Rest assured, your marketing efforts will succeed and strengthen your relationship with your existing and potential customers over time.

How Do Influencers Work with Email Marketing?

Social media may be changing how we conduct and measure marketing, but email marketing isn’t going away anytime soon. According to a survey by Statista, over 90% of internet users have an email address. That means there are over a billion people who you can reach without spending any money on advertising!

When it comes to working with influencers using email marketing, we all know that influencer marketing has shifted from a heavy focus on reach to that on engagement and conversation. And one of email’s biggest strengths is its ability to generate conversations, which has fueled its growth into an integral part of influencer campaigns. 

It’s no surprise then that brands are pairing together email and influencer marketing to create more powerful messages, cultivate lasting relationships, and grow their businesses.

How Do You Leverage Influencers in Email Marketing?

Many influencer marketing campaigns start as conversations on social media, but some of them end up moving to email—usually because that’s where consumers tend to get their promotions. When it comes to leveraging influencers in email marketing, you’ll have a few options at your disposal.

For one, you can approach an influencer directly and ask if he or she would like to receive sponsored emails from your brand. Another option is you can work through an agency that specializes in connecting brands and influencers. Lastly, you can use a tool like the one in this Vazoola review to get connected with key online influencers. 

How Do You Approach Influencers in an Email?

An influencer is a social media star with a strong following. They’re usually celebrities or personalities in their field of work. Reach out to them via email, and they’ll promote your brand using their massive amount of followers on social media sites like Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok.

So, how do you approach influencers via email? The key is to make your message relevant. If you want to reach out to an influencer, make sure that they can see how your brand can benefit them through social media marketing. 

10 Email Marketing Best Practices for Working with Influencers

When working with influencers, email marketing can be an effective way to stay in touch with your audience and keep them engaged with your brand or product. However, there are best practices you need to follow when it comes to working with influencers using email marketing. 

Save Time & Effort by Planning Out Your Own Emails

Before you start sending out your emails, it’s a good idea to organize your outreach schedule ahead of time. It might be tempting to just send emails at random, but taking a planned approach can help you save a lot of time and effort by setting up meetings, securing opportunities, and arranging payment all in one shot. If your influencer outreach follows this step, you can save yourself a lot of trouble later on. 

Send an Exclusive Offer to Influencers Only

Everyone likes to feel special, and that’s especially true when it comes to influencer outreach. If you offer an exclusive discount or promotion, influencers will be more likely to give your product a try because they’ll think that they won’t find out about it anywhere else. By telling them that their feedback is crucial in helping you improve your products, you can get them engaged—and build a mutually beneficial relationship.

Include an Easy Opt-in Form

Make it super easy for people to become a part of your email list. For example, you can offer anyone who signs up for your email newsletter an opportunity to win two tickets to an event with any member of your influencer marketplace. This should be applicable whether an influencer is famous or not. As a result, it makes signing up so appealing that people are likely to take action.

Send Personalized Emails

Make sure you personalize your emails. Always include a friendly greeting, their name (if you know it), and a call to action that speaks directly to them. This helps you stand out in their inbox, which will make them more likely to open and read your message.

Use Links in Every Email and Track Them

Make sure you link to your influencer’s latest piece of content. And if you’re sending weekly emails to your influencer, let them know in advance what will be covered in that week’s email so they can add a link in their future content (with a trackable URL). If someone isn’t linking to your campaign, don’t be afraid to reach out and ask them why.

Create a Custom Design for Promotional Emails

Sure, online businesses can easily reach influencers via email marketing. But if you’re interested in working with an influencer, you’ll need to find their email address first. A platform like Traackr or BuzzSumo makes it easy to search and filter through a marketplace of influencers who have shared content related to your industry. These could include posts on social media sites or guest-blogging on another site.

Test Different CTAs Based on What You Want From the Influencer

Again, you can send an email to influencers using a third-party marketplace like BuzzSumo, Followerwonk, or JustUnfollow. Just make sure to explain what you’re doing and how you want them to participate. 

Is it sharing something specific or writing about it? What’s in it for them? Whatever way you do your email outreach, you need to test different CTAs (call-to-actions) based on what you want from your influencer. On the other hand, if you’re interested in how BuzzSumo works, read this BuzzSumo review. 

Automate Your Follow Up Messages

You may have heard some things about how email marketing is dead and how Millennials don’t want to sign up to receive email blasts. This can be true. However, there are also plenty of people in the same generation who are more than happy to open their inboxes and see thoughtful notes. This is especially true if the note seems like it was hand-written by someone who cares about them personally. 

So when automating your follow-up messages, make sure there’s still a personal touch, and that they won’t sound robotic. After all, that’s what it means to grow your business through influencer marketing—to establish a connection and a deeper sense of belonging. 

Give Special Perks When Influencers Share Content That People Need

Incentivizing influencers to share content that’s relevant and useful to your business is a way of saying thank you for helping to promote your brand. What better way to say thanks than by giving influencers something extra-special? It’s hard not to be flattered when they’re treated like royalty, even if it’s just special access to something they already need or want.

Keep It Professional

It’s understandable that you might be excited about your partnership, but keep in mind that when dealing with influencers, it’s all business. They won’t be thinking about how great your product is or how you can help each other—they’ll only think about if there’s a payoff. So, approach them professionally and treat them like a partner who may want to invest in your product.

Top 5 Influencer Outreach Email Examples

Sending an influencer outreach email to the right blogger or influencer can get your brand in front of thousands of people who would otherwise never hear about you. Moreover, it can take your social media game to the next level without any extra effort on your part! 

Here’s a list of the top 5 influencer outreach email templates that will help make your emails stand out from the rest and increase the chances that your pitch will be accepted. Take a top 5 influencer outreach email example and see how it works.

Influencer + Company

This email format is pretty basic, and it goes like this:

Dear [influencer], 

We love your [influencer’s brand or work], and we think you and our company are a good match. Can you try out our latest [item/product/service] to see if it’s a good fit for your brand?

Best, 

[Name] – CEO/Founder/Marketing Manager

Of course, you may add more details in the email’s body. Just don’t overdo it and make sure to hit the main points or purpose of your outreach. 

Event + Brand

If you’re reaching out to an influencer to get them to attend your event, it’s important that they can be seen as a speaker or panelist. Since influencers tend to use their social capital for freebies and swag, you’d want them there in exchange for value. With that in mind, if you’re offering them an expert slot on a panel or speaking slot at your event, you can pitch that accordingly in your email. 

Product Launch + Brand

If you have a product, particularly if it’s part of a larger brand, influencers can help you promote it effectively. Instead of soliciting an influencer one-off, work out a longer-term partnership by including them in your upcoming launch. They’ll likely be more excited about promoting something they know is coming soon than something they don’t know much about, even if they like it.

Introducing Branded Content

This influencer outreach email template is one of the marketers’ favorites. It’s friendly, has some personality, and you can use it in a variety of ways. 

Start by introducing yourself as an individual. For example, you can say “hey [influencer’s name]! I just wanted to introduce myself and tell you that we recently started a new company.” You can also write in your company voice by using “we” and “our” instead of first-person pronouns. 

First Time Correspondence

A first-time correspondence is usually handled by a junior member of staff, which is exactly why they’re so important. For many clients and potential influencers, their first interaction with your brand will be via email. Hence, it’s essential to represent yourself in a professional manner from start to finish. 

Work with Influencers Using Email Marketing

The business world is constantly changing, and new trends are constantly emerging. By partnering with influencers, you have a unique opportunity to expand your business quickly and effectively. 

One of the most effective ways to grow your business is by working with influencers using email marketing. If you use email marketing to reach out to potential clients, you can also do the same to find the best influencer for your brand. With email marketing, it’s easy to leverage your contact lists, network of followers, and influencer connections. 

Want to get in-depth information about email marketing and how it works? Read our blog post: “Email Marketing: Types, How to Do It, and Tools.”