Imagine you’re a key opinion leader getting dozens of emails a week from brands looking for a partnership. Come attend our event. Please review our product. Can you do an interview on our podcast?
It can get overwhelming to sort through all of these emails, so you do what anyone would do—focus on the familiar names, check out the emails that seem intriguing, and ignore the rest. So all the cold emails end up in the trash or junk folder, just like your chances of working with the KOL.
Writing for top industry publications means I get my fair share of emails from folks who want me to review their tool or add them to some listicle. Most of the time, I won’t even have the chance to open those emails in between all the researching and the writing I do for work. The emails I do open are from people I already know or people with interesting subject lines.
Sometimes, I’ll end up opening an email from someone who follows up without being too pushy. In other words, you have to get really strategic with your email outreach strategy to get my attention. And I’m not even a key opinion leader…let alone a high-ticket one who’s earned celebrity status.
Getting their attention and convincing them to work with you is going to be 10 times harder (maybe more).
In this post, I help you navigate how to approach your outreach strategy for high-ticket key opinion leaders—from planning your email sequence to writing intriguing subject lines. Let’s take a look.
Influencer outreach for key opinion leaders isn’t easy. While it may involve several extra steps, a successful outreach strategy relies on getting the basics right. Let’s look at the best practices for building an outreach strategy that works.
Sometimes, it’s about who you reach out to rather than how you reach out to them. You may have the most attractive offer and do everything right, only to end up rejected because the partnership just doesn’t work. Think: a fine-dining restaurant trying to partner with a celebrity chef whose persona revolves around adventurous eating.
Start by identifying the right KOLs to reach out to. Don’t just reach out to someone because they have a recognizable name in your industry and have millions of followers.
When you focus on individuals whose values and priorities align with yours, your chance of getting their attention immediately goes up a few notches. And there’s also a good chance your offer will be relevant to them, which makes them much more likely to work with you.
For example, Douglas McMaster was the perfect KOL to include in the “Change Drivers” video series. Each episode of the series focuses on an exceptional individual who leads by example and inspires people to take action on issues affecting our planet. As a chef who focuses on zero-waste cooking and founded the first zero-waste restaurant, it would’ve made so much sense to reach out to McMaster with this kind of opportunity.
Not everyone has an existing relationship with high-ticket KOLs—be it personal or professional. So reaching out to them means you’ll have to resort to cold emails at some point. But you don’t just reach out to them without doing any background research on who they are and what work they do.
What are they most known for? Do they have any recent achievements? What kind of brand partnerships are they usually involved in?
Knowing these details will give you an idea of whether the key opinion leader will be interested in partnering with your brand. It’ll also help you personalize your offer and email copy based on those details.
A decade ago, I was ghostwriting an outreach email for someone who needed to get published in The Huffington Post. A little research on Arianna Huffington (who was still Editor-in-Chief at the time) revealed that she’d recently joined the Board of Directors for Uber, so a congratulations was due, and I led with that.
That was around the same time her book, “The Sleep Revolution,” became a New York Times Bestseller. I ended the email with a quick congratulations for that achievement as well.
And that’s how my ghostwritten outreach email helped someone get a HuffPost byline.
The lesson here is that KOLs have too much on their plates to pay attention to some generic email from someone they don’t even know…let alone get swayed by it. You need to show them you know your stuff.
In line with the above, you need to decide on an offer that would make sense to them.
Remember that key opinion leaders aren’t like regular influencers. For many of them, especially those high-ticket KOLs, brand partnerships aren’t their main source of income. They typically already have a primary income source that brings in the big bucks—whether it’s working as a C-suite executive, running their own business, or making TV appearances.
That’s why the usual monetary compensation won’t always be enough to convince them to work with you. A millionaire KOL isn’t going to carve out some time for an extra $1,000. Instead, you need to make an offer that gives them something valuable in return, such as status, access, or publicity.
A podcast interview could be the perfect opportunity to promote their upcoming book, for instance. Or an in-person event could help them network with other KOLs as they seek investors for a new venture.
For instance, private chef and MasterChef UK finalist, Nisha Parmar, showed up for a real-life demo and tasting session where fans could interact with her at the Whole Foods flagship store in Kensington. While this drove foot traffic for the store, it also served as an opportunity to promote her new cookbook.
Ever noticed how those marketing emails with your name in the subject line tend to stand out more than something generic? If you’re like me, you’re probably more inclined to open them than an email that says “50% off!” That’s the power of personalization.
And that’s exactly how you can get high-ticket KOLs to pay attention to your offer because the subject line is the first thing they’ll notice about your email. In fact, personalized subject lines have been shown to improve open rates by 29% and click-through rates by 41%.
But good personalization goes way beyond first names, and it doesn’t always have to include names.
Personalizing your subject line is about making sure that it’s specifically relevant to the recipient. It could mention a recent article they wrote, for instance. Or reference a recent talk show appearance, along with the need for more input. It could even be something as simple as a reference to their interests or expertise, and making it relevant to your outreach.
For instance:
“Join our panel on the GLP-A revolution for AMWC Conference”
“Call for speakers: Need your input on AI’s impact on aesthetics”
You can use a platform like Influencity to send bulk personalized emails to potential KOL partners. Create Lists to manage a VIP "High Touch" cohort separate from the automated mass outreach.
Your subject line may get KOLs to open your email, but the copy of the email itself is what will make or break your outreach.
It should be clear, direct, and persuasive without sounding too desperate or pushy. And keep it casual while still being respectful. You want to avoid emails that sound rigid and forced. Write your email as if you’re talking to them in person.
Try to keep your emails brief, but don’t leave out any important details. The last thing you want is to lose prospective KOL partners because there’s too much back and forth needed.
Make sure your email includes these key details:
An example outreach email could look like this:
Persistent, never pushy. That’s the key to timing your email outreach for key opinion leaders.
Sometimes, KOLs might just genuinely miss your email in between all the marketing promos and collaboration requests. Or they might completely forget to respond because they got caught up in something else.
So even if you don’t get a response the first time, sending a couple of gentle reminders is perfectly fine. What you don’t want to do is follow up every couple of days, begging them to open your email. And you don’t want to flood them with emails, either, or you’ll end up getting marked as spam.
The key is to follow up just the right number of times and at the right frequency.
Here’s the email sequence I recommend:
Nailing the basics will set you up for successful outreach. Here are a few additional relationship-building tips to improve your chances of connecting with high-ticket KOLs.
If you have enough time before the partnership is intended to go live, get noticed before you send that initial email. Follow them on their socials and engage with their content. Go beyond likes and shares and leave comments in their posts. Congratulate them for their achievements, ask questions, and share your own experiences.
The idea is to make sure they see a familiar name when they see your email in their inbox.
Alternatively, you could also get a familiar name to introduce you to the influencer. Is there anyone in your network who knows the key opinion leader? Have them introduce you before you reach out, so the KOL is more open to working with you.
I often get warm intros and new prospects from someone I’ve worked with since 2018. I tend to find these references instantly trustworthy.
If you’re going to partner with high-profile influencers and key opinion leaders, you need an outreach strategy that’s a little different than the usual influencer outreach. Make the most of the tips and best practices shared above to win over KOLs for your campaigns.
High-profile key opinion leaders are highly respected experts, professionals, or influencers who have specialized knowledge in specific fields, such as healthcare, business, and more. Their insights, opinions, and endorsements hold significant sway over their peers and industry.
Relationship building with KOLs is the process of maintaining consistent communication with experts to build a collaborative partnership.
A KOL outreach involves identifying key industry experts and engaging them with relevant offers for partnership, which may involve event invitations, product promos, and more.
The ideal frequency for a KOL outreach email sequence is: