How to Get an Influencer to Promote Your Business

Getting an influencer to talk about your business can feel like a game-changer, but how do you actually make it happen without a massive budget or a big-name brand? It’s less about luck and more about a smart, human-centered approach. This guide will walk you through the entire process, step by step, from finding the right creators to crafting a pitch that gets a yes and measuring the results.

Finding the Right Influencers (Hint: Bigger Isn't Always Better)

The first mistake many brands make is chasing celebrities with millions of followers. While that might seem ideal, the most effective partnerships often come from smaller, more engaged creators who have a genuine connection with their audience.

Why Micro-Influencers Might Be Your Best Bet

Micro-influencers (typically those with 10,000 to 100,000 followers) and even nano-influencers (1,000 to 10,000 followers) are often the sweet spot for small and growing businesses. Here’s why:

• Higher Engagement: They tend to have a much more personal relationship with their followers, leading to higher rates of likes, comments, and shares. Their audience truly trusts their recommendations.
• Niche Authority: These creators are often experts in a very specific niche, whether it's sustainable fashion, vegan baking, or a particular software. Their followers are there specifically for that expertise.
• Increased Affordability: Working with micro-influencers is significantly more budget-friendly than partnering with macro-influencers or celebrities. Many are open to product-only (gifting) collaborations or have more flexible rates.
• Authenticity and Trust: Because their content feels less produced and more like a recommendation from a friend, their endorsements often feel more genuine and trustworthy to their audience.

Where to Look for Potential Partners

Finding the right person takes a bit of digging, but it's worth the effort. Think like your target customer and ask yourself, "Who would I follow for advice on this topic?"

• Search Relevant Hashtags: Go to Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube and search for hashtags related to your industry, product, or location. For example, if you sell artisanal coffee, search for #specialtycoffee, #coffeelover, #homebarista, or #sandiegocoffee. Sift through the top posts to find creators who consistently post high-quality content.
• Check Your Own Followers: Who is already following and engaging with your brand? You might have some nano-influencers in your corner already. These are a great starting point because they've already shown genuine interest.
• Analyze Your Competitors: See who is promoting your competitors or similar brands in your space. Look at posts where competitors have been tagged to identify potential influencers to work with.
• Explore Geotags: If you're a local business, search tagged locations on Instagram. A local restaurant could look at who is posting at nearby parks, shops, or popular spots to find local tastemakers.

How to Vet Influencers Before You Reach Out

Once you have a shortlist, it's time to do some quality control. Follower count is just one piece of the puzzle. Here’s what to look for:

• Engagement Rate: This is a gut check on how active their community is. A simple way to estimate it is: (Total Likes + Total Comments on recent posts) / Number of Posts / Follower Count. For example, if their last 10 posts received a total of 5,000 likes and 500 comments and they have 20,000 followers, the calculation would be: (5500 / 10) / 20000 = 2.75%. An engaged audience on Instagram usually has a rate of 2-5% or higher.
• Audience Quality: Read the comments. Are they genuine conversations or just a string of emojis and generic phrases like "Nice post!"? Good comments are a sign of a real, invested community.
• Content Alignment: Does their aesthetic, tone, and brand personality match yours? If you're a polished, minimalist brand, an influencer with a raw, chaotic style might not be the best fit, no matter how great their engagement is.
• Audience Demographics: Ask for their media kit, which often includes audience stats like age, gender, and location. If they don’t have one, just look at their followers and the comments to get a general idea. Make sure their followers are your ideal customers.

The Pre-Outreach Strategy: Play the Long Game

Before you even think about sending a pitch, you need to get on their radar. Cold outreach can work, but warm outreach works so much better. The goal here is to shift from being a random brand to a familiar face.

Follow and Engage Genuinely

This isn’t something you do ten minutes before you send an email. Make a real effort to become part of their community for at least a week or two beforehand.

• Follow them across their primary platforms.
• Turn on post notifications so you see their new content right away.
• Leave thoughtful comments. Don't just say "Awesome!" Ask a genuine question or add a relevant thought. Respond to their Stories with a quick reaction or comment. Show them you’re actually paying attention.
• Share their content. If they post a Reel or a blog post you genuinely love, share it to your brand's Stories and tag them. It’s a low-effort way to show support and get your name in their notifications.

This simple process builds recognition. When your email eventually lands in their inbox, your name will already be familiar.

Crafting a Pitch That Gets Read and Answered

You’ve done your research, you’ve engaged, and now it’s time to reach out. Your outreach email is your first impression, so make it count. Generic, copy-pasted messages are the fastest way to get ignored.

Email vs. DM: The Right Channel for an Official Pitch

Almost always, email is the way to go. It's more professional, easier to track, and keeps business separate from their social DMs. Most serious influencers will have an email listed in their bio for business inquiries. If there’s a manager or agent email listed, use that one.

You can use a DM as a warm follow-up. For example, after sending an email, you could send a quick DM that says, "Hey [Name]! Just sent a collaboration idea to your business email that I think you’ll love. No rush to reply, just a heads up it's there!"

The Anatomy of a Winning Outreach Email

Every part of your email should be tailored to the person you're contacting. Here’s a breakdown:

1. A Personalized Subject Line: Skip the generic "Collaboration Inquiry." Try something that shows you've done your homework.
   • "Love your hiking content! Collab idea w/ [Your Brand]?"
   • "[Your Brand] x [Influencer's Name]"
   • "That Reel about cold brew was perfect"
2. The Personal Connection: Start by mentioning something specific you like about their work. This proves you’re not sending a mass email.
   • "Hi Sarah, I've been following your posts on sustainable living for a while now, and your recent video on zero-waste swaps for the kitchen was GENIUS. I immediately bought a set of those beeswax wraps you recommended."
3. Introduce Yourself and the "Why": Briefly introduce your business and, most importantly, explain why this partnership is a good fit for *them* and *their audience*.
   • "My name is Alex, and I run a company called Terra Candles. We make hand-poured soy wax candles with plantable packaging. Since your audience is so passionate about eco-friendly home goods, I thought our mission would really resonate with them."
4. Clearly State What You're Proposing: Don’t be vague. Be upfront about what kind of collaboration you have in mind.
   • For gifting: "I'd love to send you our new Autumn Collection as a gift, with no obligation to post. If you happen to genuinely enjoy them and decide to share, that would of course be amazing."
   • For a paid campaign: "We're currently looking for a few partners for a paid campaign for our new collection and would love to discuss a collaboration if you think it's a good fit. Are you open to sponsored content at the moment?"
5. A Clear, Low-Pressure Call to Action: Make it easy for them to say yes to the next step.
   • "If this sounds interesting, let me know, and I can send over more details on our campaign goals. No pressure at all if the timing isn't right!"

Structuring the Collaboration and Making It Official

Once you get an interested reply, it's time to iron out the details. To avoid any miscommunication, it’s best to get everything in writing - even for a simple gifting collaboration.

Be Clear About Deliverables and Expectations

Work with the influencer to define what success looks like. Key points to clarify include:

• The Content: How many posts? What type? (e.g., 1 Instagram Reel, 3 Stories with a link sticker, 1 TikTok).
• Key Messages: Are there any specific features or benefits you absolutely need them to mention? Provide these as friendly guidelines, not a strict script.
• Creative Freedom: The best influencer content happens when the creator has the freedom to present your product in their own authentic style. Give them guardrails, not a full script.
• Usage Rights: Can you repost their content on your own social channels? Use it in paid ads? Clarify this upfront, as using content for ads usually requires additional compensation.
• Exclusivity: Can they work with a direct competitor for a certain period? This is common for larger, paid campaigns.
• Approval Process and Deadlines: When is the content due? Do you need to review it before it goes live?

For paid partnerships, a simple contract or memo of understanding that outlines these points is a standard business practice that protects both you and the creator.

Measuring the Success of Your Campaign

Once the influencer's content goes live, your job isn't done. Now you have to track the results to understand your return on investment and decide if this is a partnership worth repeating.

Key Metrics to Track

• Reach and Impressions: Ask the influencer to send you screenshots of their post analytics a few days after it goes live. This will show you how many people saw the content.
• Engagement: Look at the number of likes, comments, shares, and saves. This tells you how well the content resonated with their audience.
• Website Clicks: Provide the influencer with a unique, trackable link (using a tool like Bitly or UTM parameters in Google Analytics) to measure how many people clicked through to your site from their content.
• Sales and Conversions: The most direct way to measure ROI is through sales. Give the influencer a unique discount code to share with their audience (e.g., "SARAH15"). This way, you can attribute every sale directly back to their promotion.

Final Thoughts

Successfully working with influencers is about building genuine, mutually beneficial relationships, not just finding a walking billboard for your brand. Treat every creator with respect, do your research, personalize your outreach, and focus on providing real value to them and their audience. When you find that perfect match, it's one of the most powerful ways to build trust and grow your business.

Once those influencer posts go live, managing the new wave of comments, DMs, and engagement can be overwhelming. That’s where we built Postbase to streamline your workflow. Our unified inbox brings all your messages and comments from across every platform in one organized place so you never miss an opportunity to connect, and our visual calendar helps you schedule your own content around your influencer campaigns with ease, keeping your online presence strong and consistent.