If you are a new brand, how should you contact influencers

If you have a new brand that’s just starting out, influencer marketing is a great way to build brand awareness. However, finding influencers when you have such a new foundation can be a challenging task. But, not to worry there are ways around these roadblocks that will have you on the path to success.

Use Hashtags

The first place to start is by looking at hashtags. Influencers use hashtags to categorize their content and help businesses and followers find them better. Start with hashtags that describe your niche and then move into influencer hashtags. There is no secret formula for using hashtags, you just have to treat them like keywords.

The Search Bar

Social media has become so powerful that they essentially are their own search engines. The algorithm and meta data have allowed for users to find just about anything they want on the platforms with the search bar. Similar to the hashtag method, we recommend searching words or phrases that explain what you’re looking for.

For example, if you are a wellness brand and you want to find influencers in that niche, you would start by looking up “wellness” or “health and wellness” in the search bar. Most influencers have their “title” or phrase that describes what they do, which social media platforms use for their search engines.

Pinterest

Pinterest is the ultimate hub for finding creative inspiration and the masterminds behind it. Influencers use Pinterest heavily to drive traffic to their blogs and pages, which makes it easier for you to find them there. We recommend using the search bar and filtering through posts or accounts that match your brand. Pinterest’s algorithm is also neat in the sense that it’ll show you posts that are similar to your current feed. You will need to do less manually searching on Pinterest and more filtering through photos.

Look at Competitors

Looking at your competitors or others in your niche is a clever way to find influencers. Competitors who are more established probably already have a list of influencers waiting to work with them. This means their followers, comments, and who they follow will be your target audience. Looking at competitors should help minimize too much manual searching and get you straight to the source.

It’s important to note that you want to avoid copying your competitors. Try and find influencers who have never worked with your competitors before but are looking for opportunities. Not only could this become the beginning of a strategic partnership, but it helps build trust with the influencer’s audience.

Outreach Methods

Now that you have an understanding of where to find influencers, you need to know appropriate contact methods. Most influencers make it easy and have their contact information readily available on their profiles for this exact purpose. If the influencer’s email address is not listed on their profile, we recommend sending them a DM.

A tip about DM’s is to keep them short and to the point. Influencers get so many messages and notifications a day that they have to pick and choose what they respond to. Try not to be vague in your message so it doesn’t come across as spam, especially since your brand has no presence.

If an influencer does not have their DMs open to accounts that they don’t follow, you can comment on a photo but again, this can come across as spammy. So, we recommend starting with influencers who have their contact information readily available to avoid roadblocks. Overall, reaching out to influencers and finding them can be straightforward and an easy task if you start small and are intentional. Or, you can just sign up for DeepDeets Marketer for free and stay tuned for our soon-to-be-launched influencer database and in-app direct messaging features.