This is why influencers don’t respond to your messages

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The logic behind the influencer marketing seems very simple: you make a pitch to an influencer, the influencer mentions you to his followers or shares your content, and you get more attention. In theory, that is just the way it is supposed to go, but in reality, it is not that simple. Most of the young entrepreneurs find themselves in a situation where no influencer answers them, no matter how hard they tried to make a perfect letter or whom they choose. And this is probably where they go wrong:

 

  1. You are simply not targeting the right people.

The most common problem is that you are not reaching out to the best influencers available to you. This could be because your targets are not relevant to your industry, not very active, don’t collaborate with others or are too low or high on the totem pole. Or some other factor combined with one of these. However, you should dig deeper when searching for potential influencers. Start by broadening your search and using content and social discovery tools like Little Bird or BuzzSumo. You should also get to know influencers as much as you can before you contact them. First, make sure you know how influential they are, then try to find out how they communicate with others and what are their areas of expertise.

 

  1. You don’t have a reputation.

You probably won’t attract any attention if you don’t have a reputation of your own. The biggest names in an industry have hundreds of thousands of followers, and they get probably thousands of messages every day from other users who are just part of one big mass of white noise.

If you want to stand out, you have to make a name for yourself. That cannot be done very quickly but this way you will be able to contact some bigger influencers. You can start by creating valuable content via exterior publishers and connect with some stepping-stone influencers until you are recognized for your work.

 

  1. You went straight for the ask.

Messages on social media should be concise, but that doesn’t mean you should just bomb the influencer with a question straight away. If you immediately ask for a share, trust me, the influencer will tune you right away.

If you don’t think so, think about this situation: A stranger approaches you and asks you for five bucks, would just say yes and give it to him? Probably no. Now imagine that your friend took you out for a coffee and spent some fun time with you and then asked you to borrow five bucks. Don’t ask for a favor right away, first warm him/her up.

 

  1. There’s nothing in it for them.

If you really think about this process, you will realize that you shouldn’t ask influencer for a favor, but offer him something in exchange for helping you.

For instance, rather than getting value from an influencer sharing your content, you can give the influencer value in return with access to content the influencer’s followers would like. Sometimes you just need a simple spin to make the deal look like both of you get some benefits. So, don’t forget to offer them something when asking for help.

 

  1. You mass-messaged.

Don’t just copy-paste the same letter to multiple influencers. Remember that they receive thousands of messages per day, and they can notice the generic quirks in the message that you can use to spam a lot of people. Try writing a warm, personal message. Research them, and speak directly to them as if you know them. Also, be sure to write a new and different message for every new influencer.

 

  1. They’re just busy.

Remember that posting on social media is not a full-time job for most influencers. They also have to go to meetings, run businesses and direct other organizations. And considering the number of messages they receive on a daily basis, it’s very logical that they don’t have time to answer all of them.

Some of the influencers would maybe love to co-author a new post with you, but they just don’t have time to do it. You can solve this problem by reaching out to more people and targeting ones who seem to have a lot of time to post on social networks.

 

  1. There’s just no obvious reason.

Although social media marketing is a valuable strategy, it is not foolproof. Even if you have written the perfect letter, it is possible that it just won’t resonate with them. Also, there are always some random factors like forgetting to answer the message, or literally any other reason.

Think about this next time you’re writing a message to an influencer and try to improve it. Don’t forget that influencers are just people and they have different personalities and preferences. If something works for one influencer, it doesn’t mean it will work for others.