Step By Step Guide: How to Get Influencers to Promote Your Product

Let’s be honest – traditional advertising just doesn’t hit anymore. The people are tired; they don’t want to feel like they’re being sold to – they want authenticity, realness, and content that feels more like a genuine recommendation than a sales pitch.

Thankfully, we have influencer marketing to fill that gap!‍

Unlike traditional ads, influencer marketing feels more personal and relatable. It’s raw, it’s real, and, most importantly, it works. For example, Forbes reports that influencer campaigns bring in 11x the ROI of traditional advertisements!‍

But here’s the big question: how to get influencers to promote your product?

Of course, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but there are still some steps that you can take to make sure everything goes smoothly. And in this article, we’re breaking them down for you.

Let’s jump right into it!

STEP 1: Find the Right Influencers

Say you’re selling a vegan recipe cookbook. You obviously won’t reach out to the raw meat advocate or the chef famous for their pork chops – you’ll find someone whose brand matches your own. 

We’re not just talking about sharing similar interests; you need someone whose values align with yours. So, the best person for your vegan recipes will likely be someone who is vegan themselves and who uses their platform to promote that kind of lifestyle. 

To find this ideal person, you must first find your target audience. With your target buyer in mind, choose the platform where they’re likely to be and what kind of content they want to see. 

A person interested in your cookbook is probably a Millennial or Gen Z, so they’re likely to be on either TikTok or Instagram. Chances are, they care about sustainability in general, so maybe they’re following creators who talk about sustainable fashion green initiatives. 

That’s who you want to reach out to – the influencers whose target audience is the same as yours. 

Maybe this already sounds too time-consuming to you, the person running a whole business. We get it – it’s not an easy feat. So, if you want the whole thing done for you, you can reach out to UGC Factory, who are experts at matching brands and influencers!

STEP 2: Research, Research, & Research

So – you’ve found your influencer. Their personal branding matches yours and their audience seems like the type to buy your product. What now? 

First, you’ll need to take a look at their social media pages and answer the following questions: 

• Have they done partnerships before?
• Do they have enough experience with this?
• Do they have too much experience and might charge over my budget? 

Then, assess their engagement (that’s the number of likes & comments they receive). Having a lot of followers but no comments should raise a red flag – you want people whose audiences engage with the influencer’s content. It’ll be your content, too, if everything goes according to plan. 

Since you’re already stalking their comments section, look at how they respond. Ideally, their tone should be as close to yours as possible while still sounding genuine. Pay special attention to how they respond to negative feedback – this could be a potential deal-breaker. 

Finally, the last thing you should look for is fake followers. You can spot them easily by the way their profiles look – no photos, bot-like comments, random letters and numbers for a username – you know the type. A low engagement rate is also indicative of fake followers, so go back to that if things start to seem suspicious. There are also some free tools to help with this, so don’t be afraid to use them.

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STEP 3: Build a Bond 

Okay, you found the right one, but how to get an influencer to promote your product? 

If you just pop out of nowhere asking an influencer for a collab, you’re the one looking like a bot or a scam. So, having an existing connection is crucial to get them to say yes when you finally pop the question. 

The first thing you want to do is to simply follow their account. If they have multiple, and you have multiple – follow them on all their platforms. 

After that, engage with their content. Leave a like or a comment but make it genuine and in line with the platform’s etiquette. For example, if you’re on Instagram, you can compliment them on their work or say you think something they said was funny. But keep in mind that this same comment could come off as too corporate on TikTok – do your research into how others interact with this creator and try to fit in. 

Keep at it for a little while. Even if they haven’t heard of your product before, give them some time to notice your profile and check out what you’re selling.

STEP 4: Pitch Your Offer

Okay, this is the big one: how to ask influencers to promote your product. 

Just sliding into their DMs isn’t enough – they likely get a lot of messages in one day, so unless they’ve been waiting to hear from you, chances are, they’ll miss it. No, this is something that needs to be done over email – it’ll get their attention faster and be far more professional. 

Here’s what that email should have: 

A noteworthy subject line. Don’t go crazy with all caps and emojis, or it’ll look too spammy. Make sure it doesn’t just blend in with the rest of their inbox. Give them something they actually want to see, and that makes it clear what the purpose is:

An introduction. Pretend they have no idea who you are and summarize what you do. But don’t let all this talk about yourself take up half the email – say who you are and what you do in 2-3 lines tops, and leave a link to your website so they can learn more if they want to: 

Your goal. Explain why you’re reaching out and clearly state what you want from them. Ideally, this should be in the first half of the email or in bold, so they’ll know what the email is about, even if they just skim through it:

Additional information. After you get the basics out of the way, you can go into more detail about your company or the product you want them to promote. Again, keep it brief and relevant:

A personal touch. Tell them why you think this collab will work – compliment their previous UGC or point out something specific that you liked:

The benefits for them, AKA why they should say yes: 

If they don’t answer right away, wait a few days. If they’re still silent, you can go for a follow-up email, but send just one or two – don’t spam them.

STEP 5: The Negotiation

Yay! They said yes!

Now comes the business part – negotiating terms & compensation. 

The most important thing to do during this stage is to be 100% honest and transparent, especially if this is your first time working with a new influencer. You don’t want to get off on the wrong foot, and you definitely don’t want to risk them sharing their negative experience and tarnishing your reputation. 

Instead, draft an official email with the terms. Include: 

• The deliverables you want,
• The approval & feedback process,
• The timeline (duration of the campaign & deadlines),
• The frequency of publishing,
• The compensation. 

Compensation is usually the trickiest part here, so be prepared to get into a negotiation around it. It’s best if you set a budget before reaching out to your influencer so you know how high you’re willing to go. 

If you’re just starting your business and money’s a little tight, other forms of compensation can include discounts, free products, or extra gifts. Of course, be mindful of what the influencer is likely to accept – smaller UGC creators are more willing to work for gift cards and exposure, while huge names probably won’t respond unless you’re offering 3/4-digit sums. 

Finally, make sure you both sign a legally binding contract – it’s still a business transaction, after all. 

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STEP 6: Monitor Performance

Once the content starts rolling out and the campaign is officially live, you should keep an eye on how it’s doing. This will let you know what works and what doesn’t or what you can do better next time. 

To do this with precision, you need to have set KPIs in advance. These could include: 

• Engagement – likes, comments, & shares,
• Conversion – users who become active visitors or customers,
• Brand awareness – follower count, search volume, & post impressions,
• ROI – your revenue.

STEP 7: Nurture the Relationship

Now that the campaign is over, the initial question changes from how to get partnerships to how to get influencers to promote your brand again. If this campaign worked out perfectly, working with the same influencer again could only bring in better results in the future now that you’ve gotten to know each other. 

This relationship doesn’t differ too much from any other kind of business connection, so treat it as such. One simple way to keep the communication alive is to ask them for feedback. This way you’re not only showing you value their opinion and expertise, but you also get some valuable insights – especially if they have more experience in UGC. 

Another way to stay in touch is to keep engaging with their content. This is just like from before – like, comment, and share what you like, but only do so if it’s genuine. 

You could also show you appreciate their effort by offering rewards in the form of an incentive program, products, or discounts – whatever makes the most sense for your brand. 

And, it goes without saying, make sure to thank them for the hard work they put into promoting your brand and products.

How to Get Influencers to Promote Your Product: Key Takeaways

As you can see, influencer marketing doesn’t have to be all too difficult – it just takes some time. 

Here’s a rundown on the 7 steps it takes to make it work:

1. Find the right influencer – it should be someone whose branding and values align with your own,
2. Research them – make sure their engagement rate and experience levels are something you can/want to work with,
3. Establish a relationship – engage with their posts before reaching out with an offer,
4. Pitch your idea – include a little bit about yourself and make it clear why you’re contacting them,
5. Negotiate terms – make it clear what you want from them and what they’ll get in return,
6. Track the campaign – set your KPIs and see what was done perfectly and what needs more work in the future,
7. Stay in touch – thank them for their work and maintain contact with them to build a long-lasting partnership. 

Or alternatively, reach out to a specialized UGC agency and let them handle all your UGC needs!