Thread by @richstemecom

An influencer outreach strategy where you don’t have to spend thousands of $$$ to get results.

It’s actually [kind of] free.

Learn how to implement it in 5 minutes with this /// THREAD /// 👇

Paying influencers on a per-post basis in advance can cost a lot of $ and produce below-average results.

Why not do it for free? Yes, for free. I’ll offer you two options:

✔ Completely free (in exchange for a product)
✔ Percentage-based (with a unique link to track sales) - free to start, and results-based (if they make no sales, they get no payment)

Let’s break this strategy apart step by step:

Step 1 - Find 100 influencers

Use tools like these to identify influencers in your niche:

- Tagger
- TikTok’s Creator Marketplace
- Facebook Brands Collab Manager
- BuzzStream
- Upfluence
- A hashtag search on IG

Isolate about 100+ influencers to start with.

Step 2 - Compose a DM

Now, it’s time to send each of them a personalized message.

To do that, you can:

- Use automation software (with personalization options)
- Do it manually
- Hire a VA to help you out

Your message has to sound natural instead of promotional, and has to sound something like:

“Hey {first name},

I love your content. I believe you’d love our product. If you don’t mind sending us your address, we’d be happy to send you a free {product name} to try, no strings attached!

Waiting to hear from you. Enjoy your {day of the week}!

#{brandhashtag}”

This is the general message template you can use as a guide, but don’t be afraid to switch it up and make it more personal.

By giving them your brand hashtag, you’re subtly inviting them to tag you in the post that they’re going to make (since they will love your free product and feel the need to reciprocate, it’s a human thing).

Step 3 - Wait for responses

Shortly after you send out your DMs, expect to get some answers.

Out of 100 influencers, not all of them will reply. But, if half of them reply, and out of those 50, 20 agree to this collaboration, you’re good to go.

Next, gather their addresses and make a list.

Step 4 - Ship out the product samples

Now that you have a list of [hopefully] 20-something addresses of the influencers who agreed to get a free product, it’s time to pack and ship the products out.

*Tip - include a personalized message that will prompt the gift receiver to brag on social media.

Once you’ve dispatched the products, let the influencers know about the estimated time of delivery.

Step 5 - Follow your tags and hashtags

It’s time to sit back, relax, and observe your brand’s social media accounts. If all goes according to plan, you should start seeing UGC content rolling in.

Now, you have increased your exposure just by sending out a free product.

As a benefit, you can also share the tagged post on the brand’s social media accounts.

Step 6 - Ask for ad usage permissions

Here is where I start to scale this strategy.

Now, we have a great organic and UGC post.

But, what if I want to use it as an ad creative (think Spark Ads on TikTok)?

This is the part where I usually reach out to the influencers that posted a video of my product for the second time. I send them a DM that goes something along these lines:

“Hey {first name},

We’re so happy to see you found our product helpful and that your audience loved it. We’d also love to share it with our audience. If you don’t mind, we’d like to have your permission to share it as an ad as well?

It would be mutually beneficial since it would also help increase your reach and exposure (at our expense).

Let me know what you think about it?”

Step 7 - Reap the benefits

With any luck, several influencers will agree to give you the rights to their content.

Now, you have a UGC-style video that you can turn into a high-performing ad creative.

UGC ads that look like organic reviews are pure gold nowadays, and that’s the entire point of this strategy.

Step 8 - Offer a percentage-based collaboration

Now, let’s go back to those influencers that didn’t respond to your initial message. We can assume they weren’t interested in a free product. But, they might be interested if there is actual money involved.

To them, let’s send another DM:

“I was wondering if you’d be interested in earning through a percentage-based collab. I could send you a free product and a unique link to track, and you can get 15% (or whatever % works for your product pricing) of each sale.

Our product line costs in the range of $XX to $XXX, so you could be making $XX per sale.

Let me know if you’re interested in discussing further.”

Step 9 - UTM (or bit.ly) links

Hopefully, some of the influencers that didn’t reply before will reply now.

To the ones that do, you can send them UTM-tagged links or shortened unique bit.ly links to track their contributions.

Send them the links and the free products, and wait for them to tag you in content soon.

Track sales from their links with a pixel on your store.

Step 10 - Payment

You can agree to pay the percentage you owe to your influencers on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly level.

Typically, you’d use PayPal as a quick way to transfer money for the services.

That’s it, my [sort of] free influencer outreach strategy. If you found value in this thread, RT to spread the knowledge and help others. ♻️

Follow me for more threads on TikTok ads, entrepreneurship, and eCommerce
@richstemecom 😎