How to collaborate with other influencers

Influencers are authorities within your niche that have a measurable persuasion over an audience. These could be bloggers, Instagrammers, YouTubers, and users with a large Twitter following. Collaboration with other influencers is a great way to develop professional relationships to meet your goals. Whether you’re looking to boost your blog’s traffic, reach a new audience or build your brand’s trust, collaborating with influencers is an important marketing channel. Collaborations are also a great way to have fun while producing new content for your readers. It also brings a fresh  perspective to the readers from the other influencer. So how do you make collaborations happen? We outlined major steps below to help you get started.

1. Do your research

Before you approach any influencer, do your research. Determine a niche and go through the list of people your followers are following. While scrolling through, write down influencers that stand out. Remember to look for influencers that have a similar or greater following than you. The goal is to expose your blog to a wider audience. Plus the influencer should be active in a similar niche as yours but have a different target audience or is engaged in a completely different niche but you share a similar target audience.

Another way to brainstorm possible collaborations is to look through users who fit your target audience criteria. Who is your ideal reader? Find profiles in your target audience and identify who they are following. If you participate in a Facebook blogger group or any niche driven Facebook group, browse through the members or the conversations to find engaged influencers. Usually content creators on Facebook groups are looking for feedback and ideas.

2. Brainstorm ideas that bring together both audiences

Some ideas include:

• Guest post on each other’s blogs: You will each broaden your audience and bring a new perspective and information to your readers.
• Create a vlog together: A vlog is great way for readers to get to know you, the other influencer, and see you interact. Consider sharing your favorite products, industry trends, unboxing/haul or how-to videos. Don’t forget to include affiliate links when appropriate in your video.  

• Interview each other: If you and the influencer live miles apart, interviewing each other can bring fresh insights to your audience and theirs.
• Photoshoots: Appearing in photos togethers or teaming up to do each other’s photos is a way to get mentioned in someone’s Instagram or blog. This is especially valuable if you’re in the fashion niche.

3. Reach out and pitch your idea

Once you have identified influencers, start a relationship. Start following the influencer and get familiar with how they communicate and provide value to their readers. Reaching out to another influencer needs to be thoughtfully planned. The message should be centered around how you can mutually benefit from working together – what you offer for the influencer’s audience and what the influencer can provide to your audience.

Here are a few tips when reaching out:

1. Find out the influencer’s contact information.

Usually the best way to get an influencer’s attention is through their email. For easy collaboration, some post their email in their Instagram profile bio or list their contact information on their website. If you can’t locate an email address, find out what platform the influencer is most active on. Then send a message via that channel. However, since you want to keep things professional, always try locating an email first.

2.  Be personal.

Introduce yourself and explain why you’re a fan of their content. All influencers and content creators what to work with those that value their work.

3. Keep it short.

Don’t write an essay on why you and the influencer should collaborate. Avoid sounding too ‘pitchy’ and focus on being direct and short.

4. Offer something.

Articulate what value you can offer the influencer’s audience. Perhaps you have an expertise in a topic or can provide some industry trend insights or insider perspective.

Working with another influencer is fun and keeps things interesting. There are also so many benefits such as boosting blog traffic, increasing SEO ranking, exposure to a new audience and the start of a new professional relationship. Don’t be afraid to reach out and share your collaboration ideas with other influencers.