How can you approach influencers who have worked with your competitors?

Acknowledge their past collaborations by expressing appreciation for their work with competitors. Make sure the collaboration was at least 3 months ago in order to make authentic content. Highlight what sets your brand apart and how a partnership could bring a fresh perspective to their content. Emphasize the unique value and opportunities your collaboration can offer, fostering interest and openness to working together.

Approaching influencers who have worked with your competitors can be a strategic move to expand your brand's reach and credibility. Here's a step-by-step approach on how to do it: 1. Analyze Past Collaborations: Study the influencer's past collaborations with competitors. Understand what type of content they created and how it was received by their audience. This will help you tailor your approach. 2. Craft a Personalized Pitch: Your initial outreach should be personalized and highlight the value you can bring to the influencer's audience. Explain why you admire their work and how your collaboration would benefit both parties. 3. Differentiate Your Offer 4. Showcase Mutual Benefits

Research and Identify Identify influencers who have previously collaborated with your competitors by researching their social media accounts, websites, or through influencer marketing platforms. Approaching influencers who have worked with your competitors requires a strategic and respectful approach to build trust and showcase the unique value your collaboration can bring to their brand.

Back the bus up! Landmines everywhere. *Authenticity is critical which means you're likely to face audience skepticism *Brand dilution- especially if the influencer is known for another brand *Conflict of interests *Over exposure *Backlash from competitors If this is all OK with you, then all of standard best practices apply in discovery and qualifying.

When approaching influencers who have collaborated with competitors, employ a strategic approach. Acknowledge their past collaborations, expressing appreciation for their expertise in the industry. Highlight what distinguishes your brand and the unique value proposition you offer. Emphasize a collaborative mindset, showcasing a genuine interest in establishing a mutually beneficial partnership. Demonstrate a deep understanding of their content style and audience. Prioritize transparency, and showcase the added value and differentiation your collaboration can bring to their content and audience. This approach fosters professionalism and increases the likelihood of building a successful influencer relationship.

An important part of the research here is engagement - especially on content pieces that are similar to your product. Don't only look for the audience size - sometimes smaller following can give bigger impact.

It is vital that the influencer has evergreen content. A media kit, a blog, comparing their social reach and score, all of this should be easily accessible. Also, impressions do not equal engagement. If the influencers claim they have <xx> millions of "views" of Tik Tok and it is not reflective of their followers - they are not someone who understands the value of their audience.

Personalized outreach/soft-sounding notes are the key to making a strong first impression! ?? In my experience, the best partnerships come from connecting with talent managers/influencers through their most recent/relevant content. For example, a Gen Z influencer we partnered with back in May had just graduated college. Right off the bat, I opened up the soft-sounding email with a congratulatory message. It’s important to show that as brand managers we’re doing our careful vetting and are interested in potential partners vs. sending the same mass email to everyone.

Be up front in your pitch. Let them know you saw the competitor content and think your brand would be of interest to them. You have to be careful working with creators who worked with competitors. Make sure to space content out far enough so you don't look like the second choice, also so they don't look like they'll take any deal. There are some benefits in coming second, if done well you can make it appear that this is their new favorite and they switched from the other guy. That is a narrative that would help you. If you build a good relationship with the creator you may get some good inside tips on how the competitor is doing the work as well.

Be direct, talk less about your brand in the pitch, and focus on the why of the partnership. Understand that the goal of the pitch has a clear CTA - get the answer, get the call - then you can go into all the details how awesome is your brand etc.

Creating a personalized pitch or Direct Outreach is a great method to approach influencers. - Send a personalized and friendly direct message expressing admiration for their work and expressing interest in potential collaboration. Start by engaging with their content by liking, commenting, and sharing to build a genuine connection.

If you're targeted influencer is literally working with your direct competitor, one should assume your competitor is reading comments, seeing likes etc. They are likely using tools and have set up alerts with your name as an alert. If not they should be doing this. Your competitor may have a deep trusted relationship w the influencer and you don't know how much they will share. If you still really want to pitch this influencer, do as the others suggested. Direct outreach. Personalized. Honest and open comms. Ask for a meeting where you can discuss human to human. Be careful though.

The methods mentioned in this part are not useful at all - this is a partnership, and this is something beneficial for both sides - so you should not feel like Influencers are superior, or doing you a favor if they choose to reply. Yes, you must be polite and respectful - but also don't be a stalker who engages with influencers' content in all possible ways, if they don't reply in a few days - you don't have to be a people pleaser. This is a business relationship, be yourself as if talking with any other Partner.

Followup is essential and can be as simple as keeping up with your engagement with their content. Influencers notice when a brand starts to follow and engage with them authentically. Social media is exactly this, being social with people who have the potential to fall in love with your product and use their word-of-mouth influence to help you.

Be so undeniably good they will take your meeting. If you're like the rest of us, it will require a lot of work. Expect to send 4-7 messages per channel you're using.

Yet again, the agreement must be beneficial for both sides - while you have to respect the influencer's authenticity - you must also secure what should be delivered for your brand, and how you would like to see it for the best return. Also - you must be strict with payment terms - just to ensure the deliverables, avoid paying the full amount in advance for the first iteration of the partnership.

Be Professional and Respectful - Approach the influencers in a professional and respectful manner, acknowledging their past collaborations and expressing genuine interest without undermining their previous partnerships. Flexible Collaboration Options - Provide flexible collaboration options tailored to their preferences, whether it's a one-time collaboration, long-term partnership, or specific content creation opportunities. Negotiation and Agreement - Be open to negotiation & finding mutually beneficial terms. Clearly outline expectations, deliverables, and any compensation details. Follow-up - If they express interest for future partnerships, maintain communication and follow up promptly to solidify the partnership.

I disagree in part with the seemingly hard line stance that Viktorijas is expressing below. Each situation is unique. Yes it should be a mutually beneficial agreement. But understand and appreciate the fact the reason you are hiring influencers or creators is that you lack their expertise or resources to do this yourself (generally speaking). Influencers can fire their customers too!

Always ask for past campaigns results from the new partner - you don't need the brand names, but average results are always enough - then you will be able to measure the results against the previous campaigns the influencer had with similar brands or competitors. If an influencer is avoiding sharing data, be cautious for overpromises.

Set the right expectations in terms of the ROI expected to have the desired outcome. Showcase Your Unique Offering: - Clearly communicate what makes your brand or collaboration different and beneficial compared to their past experiences. Offer Value - Highlight the value and benefits they would gain from collaborating with you, whether it's exposure to a new audience, unique content opportunities, or exclusive perks.

Turning competitors into collaborators is a strategic art in the influencer landscape. Instead of seeing influencers who have worked with your competitors as exclusivities, consider them as potential bridges to a wider audience. Approach this situation not with rivalry, but with a mindset of alliance and shared growth.

Make sure they haven't signed a non-compete agreement! And if they don't reach out and see if you can provide them with a relationship that would be mutually beneficial.

So, reaching out to influencers who've teamed up with our competitors is like diving into a chess game – strategic and exciting. I kick things off by tipping my hat to their past collaborations, acknowledging the fantastic work they've done. Then, I weave what sets us apart, clarifying why our collaboration could be a game-changer. Take, for instance, a recent pitch I made to an influencer who was tight with a competitor. I explained how our innovative approach and shared values could add a fresh spark to their content. It's not about poaching; it's about creating something extraordinary together.

Two tips: intermediary & differentiator 1. When contacting influencers currently working with competitors, it may be good to use an intermediary. Somebody who can start the discussion, check the interest and only hand over the discussion once you know the person may be interested in actual collaboration. Otherwise, the influencer may directly go to your competitor to inform them you are doing these reachouts. 2. Analyse well what they are doing with competitors and think about a strategy that shows your differentiators. A serious influencer may promote 2 exactly similar products, saying each time they love it. Also, their followers will have already seen your competitor's product, find a way to convince them your product is better.