Working With an Influencer? Get Alignment With These Eight Strategies
When marketing your business or product, it’s often beneficial to work with an influencer in the industry. However, approaching a celebrity or influencer about endorsing your product or service can be intimidating, and you’ll want to have a solid pitch prepared.
To make your offer as persuasive as possible, the members of Rolling Stone Culture Council suggest using these eight effective strategies to approach your selected influencer and convince them to come on board.
Send a Clear Offer
Send a very clear offer to start things off so the celebrity knows if it’s something that can even work for them. This includes making sure to define what kind of posts you’d like (Stories, TikTok, etc.), how much you’re going to pay, when you want them to post and what the creative is for the campaign. It will obviously evolve from there, but having a firm place to start makes the process way easier. – Cassie Petrey, Crowd Surf
Make Sure Your Offer Resonates on a Deeper Level
Getting a celebrity or influencer to endorse your product and service works best when what you have to offer resonates with them on a deeper level. Articulating your core values and purpose as a common ground is not only the best approach to get their support, but it also helps you determine how effective they will be as a spokesperson. – Andres Palencia, LATV
The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify?
Use Emotions to Tell a Story
We engage celebrities and influencers who have an emotional connection with the brand, using storytelling to connect with their fanbase and audience. Each social platform has a different demographic. We use targeted ads and look-a-like audiences to promote the authentic voices of our brand ambassadors and to extend the reach to allow new customers to discover the brand. – Lynn Rosenthal, Periscape
Demonstrate the Difference They Can Make
My experience is that celebrities are more likely to be attracted to your opportunity if they see that it can make an actual difference. Snoop Dogg spoke at our 2019 “Cannabis as a Catalyst for Change” event in part because it gave him the chance to discuss cannabis as a cultural driver that has helped define California, his home state and a place that matters deeply to him. – Michael Steinmetz, Flow Cannabis Co.
Make a Clear Connection With Their Personal Brand
It’s important to employ one or both of the following strategies. First, point out any ties between the product or service and this particular celebrity in order to show there is a connection. Be specific. Second, offer to include them in your PR, marketing and social media strategy. Doing this will show them you are serious and that they are also gaining added exposure. – Steven Le Vine, grapevine pr + consulting
Offer a Complimentary Product
Starting with someone who is in line with your branding and fits is most important. Have a little understanding of what they are into and how your brand also lines up with them. You may want to offer a complimentary product so they can get a feel for it firsthand. Everyone loves free stuff! – Danny Fuentes, Lethal Amounts
Do Your Research
Research and engage their sphere of influence. Let them bring you along and up. Of course, you must be ready to discuss more than a general idea. Ask yourself what you want from this contact. Then ask why this person (or anyone else) would agree. – Michael Polk, Billboardology.com
Seek Alignment With Their Core Values
You have to make sure what you are doing aligns with their core values. When we brought on Gina Rodriguez for “Nude For All,” we knew Gina cared as much about diversity as body positivity. For her, it was a values-driven decision, not a money-driven one. This makes the sale super easy. Celebs realize they have a powerful voice and are more likely to promote a brand or cause that is in line with their beliefs. – Catalina Girald, Naja