How to Contact Influencers for Collaboration

Finding the right influencer is half the battle, knowing exactly what to say when you contact them is the other half. A great pitch can be the start of an amazing partnership, while a bad one gets deleted without a second thought. This guide breaks down the entire process for contacting influencers, from the essential prep work that sets you up for success to writing an outreach email that a creator will actually want to read and respond to.

Before You Hit 'Send': The Essential Prep Work

Jumping straight into someone’s DMs with a generic offer is a fast track to being ignored. The best influencer outreach begins long before you write a single word. Thoughtful preparation shows you respect the creator's time and business, making them far more likely to collaborate with you.

Define Your Collaboration Goals

First, get crystal clear on what you want to achieve. A vague goal like "get more exposure" won't cut it. Your goal shapes the entire outreach process, from the type of influencer you contact to the deal you propose. Are you trying to:

• Build Brand Awareness? You might look for influencers with high engagement rates and a strong community vibe, focusing on metrics like reach and impressions.
• Drive Direct Sales? Your focus will shift to creators with a proven track record of converting their audience. Your offer should probably include an affiliate component.
• Generate High-Quality Content? You might partner with a creator known for their amazing photography or videography skills, gaining user-generated content (UGC) you can repurpose on your own channels.

For example, if your goal is sales, you'll reach out to an influencer who does product reviews and offer them a healthy affiliate commission. If it's pure awareness for a new product launch, you might offer a flat fee to a larger creator for a single, high-impact Reel.

Identify the Right Influencers, Not Just the Biggest

It's easy to get fixated on follower counts, but reach is useless without relevance. A micro-influencer (10k-100k followers) with a super-niche, highly engaged audience that perfectly matches your target customer is almost always more valuable than a mega-influencer whose audience is too broad.

Here’s where to start looking:

• Check Your Hashtags: Search relevant hashtags in your niche on Instagram and TikTok. Who is creating the best content and getting real engagement?
• See Who Your Competitors Are Working With: Look at your competitors' tagged photos and search for posts marked as #ad or #sponsored. This gives you a list of influencers already active in your space.
• Browse Your Own Followers: You might have small-but-mighty creators already following you! These are warm leads who already like your brand.

Once you have a list, vet them carefully. Do their values align with your brand? Is their engagement authentic? Read the comments on their posts - are they having real conversations, or is it just a bunch of "cool pic!" comments? A creator with 15,000 followers and hundreds of thoughtful comments is a much better bet than one with 100,000 followers and spammy engagement.

Do Your Homework and Engage Genuinely

Never send a cold pitch. This is the simplest yet most overlooked step. Before you ever pitch them, become a genuine part of their community. Follow them for at least a week or two. Get a feel for their voice, personality, and the type of content they and their audience love.

React to their stories. Leave thoughtful, non-generic comments on their posts. Show them you're a real person who appreciates what they do. This isn't about spamming them with compliments, it's about building a subtle, familiar foundation. When your name finally shows up in their email inbox or DMs, you won't be a total stranger.

Finding Their Contact Information (Without Being Creepy)

Once you've done your prep work, it's time to find the best way to get in touch. Most professional creators make this pretty easy, as they want to hear from potential partners.

The Obvious Spots First

Start with the path of least resistance. Influencers treat their social media profiles like business cards, so check these places first:

• The social media bio. Many creators have a dedicated "Email" button right on their profile (especially Instagram), or they list the email address directly in their bio text.
• Their link-in-bio page. Check their Linktree, Stan, or personal landing page. They frequently have a "For Collabs" or "Work With Me" link that goes to a contact form or lists a business email.

When You Need to Dig a Little Deeper

If there's no email in their bio, don't panic. Here are a few other professional ways to find it:

• Check their personal blog or website. An "About" or "Contact" page is often the first place they list business inquiries.
• Look for management information. Larger influencers are often represented by an agency or manager. Their bio will usually say something like, "For business inquiries, contact: manager@agency.com." This is the best email to use - it goes directly to the person who handles their deals.
• Send a polite DM. A direct message is your last resort for a formal pitch, but it's a great tool for one thing: asking for the correct contact info. Never ever paste your entire pitch into a DM. Instead, keep it brief and professional like this: "Hi [Name], I really love your content, especially your last video on [topic]. Quick question: what's the best email for collaboration proposals?"

Crafting the Perfect Outreach Email: A Step-by-Step Guide

This is where your preparation pays off. A personalized, professional, and clear email stands out from a busy inbox full of lazy, generic requests. Here’s how to structure it from top to bottom.

Step 1: Write a Subject Line That Gets Opened

Creators get dozens, if not hundreds, of emails a day. Your subject line needs to be simple, clear, and intriguing enough to earn a click. Skip the spammy, all-caps stuff.

Good Subject Line Examples:

• "Collaboration Idea: [Your Brand] x [Influencer's Name]"
• "Potential Partnership with [Your Brand]"
• "Love your content on [Specific Niche topic]!"

Bad Subject Line Examples:

• "Inquiry" (Too vague)
• "MARKETING OPPORTUNITY!" (Looks like spam)
• "Quick Question" (Doesn't provide enough context)

Step 2: Start with a Personalized Opener

Your first sentence is your most important opportunity to make a personal connection. Immediately show that this isn't a mass email you've sent to 100 other creators. Reference something specific about their work that proves you're a real follower.

Example:

"Hi Chloe,"

"I've been following your sustainable living series on TikTok for a while, and your thrifting haul video last week was fantastic - you have an amazing eye for finding those hidden gems!"

This simple sentence instantly confirms you’ve done your research. You aren't just a bot searching hashtags, you’re an engaged viewer.

Step 3: Introduce Your Brand and Explain the "Why"

Now, briefly introduce yourself and connect your brand to their content. Don't just talk about what your brand does, explain why you think a partnership makes sense for their audience.

Example (continuing from above):

"I’m the founder of Ever-Green Threads, where we make recycled-cotton basics designed to last. The way you focus on conscious consumerism and upcycled fashion is exactly why I’m reaching out - I think your audience would really connect with our mission."

Step 4: Make the Ask Clearly (But Flexibly)

Don't be shy about your goal, but present it as a starting point for a creative conversation, not a set of demands.

Vague asks like "I'd love to partner" place the mental load on the creator to figure out what you want. Be more specific.

Example:

"I’d love to send you a package with a few of our best-selling pieces to see what you think. If you like them, we were thinking of a potential collaboration focused on one dedicated TikTok video showcasing how you'd style a piece for different occasions."

This gives them a concrete idea of the scope while also leaving room for their own creative ideas.

Step 5: Talk About What's In It for Them

This is where many brands make a mistake. Influencers are business owners, and their time and creative energy have value. Be upfront about compensation.

Never, ever, EVER pitch a collaboration "in exchange for exposure." It's disrespectful and immediately signals that you don't value their work.

Example:

"For a package like this, we have a budget of [$$$ Amount] and, of course, you'd keep all the pieces we send."

If you're unsure of their rates, you can say this instead:

"If this sounds interesting, I’d love to see your media kit and rates to discuss how we can make this a fair partnership for you."

Step 6: End With a Clear Call to Action

Make it easy for them to say yes or move to the next stage. Don't leave them guessing what you want them to do next.

Example:

"Let me know if this sparks any ideas for you! If so, are you free for a quick 15-minute chat next week?"

Close it out professionally, and you're good to go.

The Follow-Up: Staying on the Radar Without Being Annoying

People are busy, and inboxes are overflowing. It's totally normal for an email to get missed. A polite follow-up is not "pushy" - it's professional. Wait about 3-5 business days before sending a second message. The trick is to simply reply to your original email so all the context is in one thread. Keep it short and sweet.

Example Follow-Up:

"Hi [Name],

Just wanted to gently bump this up in your inbox in case it got buried.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks,

[Your Name]"

If you still don't hear back after one or two follow-ups, it's best to move on. If they reply and turn you down, be graceful. Thank them for their time and consideration. You never know when your paths will cross again, so always leave things on a positive note.

Final Thoughts

Effective influencer outreach isn't about spamming countless creators with a generic template, it’s about making a genuine, personal connection. By investing time in research, personalizing your message, and clearly communicating the value for both parties, you move from just another brand in their inbox to a potential partner they’re excited to work with.

Of course, once you’ve done the hard work of building relationships, you have to manage those collaborations and schedule the fantastic content they create. We built Postbase to make that part easy. Our visual calendar gives you a clear view of your whole content strategy, so you can easily plan influencer campaigns, schedule their posts alongside your own brand content, and see at a glance what's scheduled to go live across every platform.