I’ve recently come across an interview morning brew did with the founder of Judy, Simon Huck. He also owns a celebrity PR company and has close relationships with many celebrities, including the Kardashians. In the interview, he shared some of his takes on reaching out to influencers, the dos and the don’ts. I’ve taken down some notes from the interview to share with you all.
1. Don’t spray and pray
Influencers you collaborate with need to make sense for your brands and products — you need to find brand-influence fit to make a lasting successful relationship.
When Huck was promoting his new brand Judy that sells the emergency kits, he only reached out to influencers who would most benefit from the product, those with families, those living in areas vulnerable to hurricanes/wildfires, and concern about safety.
Research before outreaches. He suggests following influencers for a few weeks, watch their IG stories, see what brands they are following, what partnerships they have done to decide if they are good fits for you, before doing any outreaches.
2. Craft the outreach message to be short & sweet
Asking to send your product is still an ask. Don’t make it harder by sending a manuscript about your brand in the outreach message for people to decipher.
Huck suggests starting with something simple:
“ My name is xxx. I am the [Title] of [Company], a [What your company does] brand. We would love to send you [Product]. What’s the best address?”
If you are targeting the right people, they should want to receive your products because they make sense for their lifestyle. And your products should be able to do all the work for you.
3. Reach out without expectations
This one is hard if your company doesn’t hold the same philosophy. Don’t reach out with the expectation or insinuation that influencers should post about your products in return for receiving them.
Based on his experience, Huck thinks it’s quite offensive to do so, make the collaboration very transactional, and have long-lasting negative effects on your relationship with influencers.
4. Take care of the gatekeepers
This happens more often for celebrities vs. influencers. Huck recommend brands to not only sending products to celebrity/influencers and publicists but also taking care of any gatekeepers along the way (e.g. assistants of publicists/influencers) to make them feel appreciated, and don’t stop your products from reaching who you want to reach.
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