Building Relationships With Industry Influencers

Updated March 3, 2025

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Influencer Pandemic

Having your content shared, or your product promoted, by an industry influencer can be a great way to get your business exposure. If you haven’t read it already, check out part 1 of our blog series on how to work with influencers to get your business more customers. Today we’re going to be talking about how to build a relationship with influencers so they share your content.

Just Reach Out

First things first, introduce yourself and your business properly. Don’t assume they will know who you are. Treat them as if they are a potential business partner (because they are). By treating them with respect and professionalism you will be starting the relationship in the right way.

They will be dealing with lots of different relationships and may get many requests per day suggesting similar partnerships so don’t expect them to drop everything because you’ve got in touch with them, even if you are offering them payment.

Show Me the Money!

Once you’ve introduced yourself and explained what you want them to do you can begin to discuss how you’re going to help the influencer in return. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, so be prepared to give something back in return for the influencer’s help.

Depending on your industry there are a number of popular options for how to get influencers to discuss your business. The three listed below are the ways that influencers are often paid for sharing their influence:

Free Samples/ Products – If you’re in the cosmetics or fashion industries then free samples can be a good way to start a relationship. Sending out your products and asking for a review, or if they can take a photo while they’re wearing/ using the product is a simple way of getting PR. However, obviously, this won’t work for all businesses. Nobody can take a photo with our Great SEO consulting 🙁

Paying for a post – You pay, they post. As simple as that. Here you will be able to exert a bit more creative control as you’re paying directly for the promotion that they’re going to give you, but it is likely that they influencer will have their own style guide or framework, that they want to work within.

Revenue Sharing – Much like affiliate marketing, here you will offer the influencer a pay per action deal. Giving them a unique URL to promote then offering them a certain amount of money per click, download or purchase.

Likes for Likes?

Now you know what an influencer is expecting from you, you can tailor your pitch to them the best way you see fit. Working with influencers can be a great way to expand your brand in a natural way. Influencers are another marketing channel, just like PPC or SEO, so if you do decide to work with them make sure you’re measuring ROI!