Working with Instagram influencers can be a great way to reach new audiences and build brand awareness. Ideally, the best way to build your brand is to establish a relationship with an Instagram influencer and build on the partnership over time. However, before you can do that, you need to select the right fit and reach out to them, and the way in which you do this can have a direct impact on whether or not they decide to collaborate with your brand. If you don’t follow the right strategy and work out how to contact Instagram influencers in the most effective way, then your plan will be dead in the water. 

So, what’s the right strategy and channel to engage with an Instagram influencer? How do you capture their attention?  

In this blog post, you’ll find strategies for successfully connecting with Instagram influencers and building long-lasting partnerships. We discuss common mistakes to avoid, offer five actionable tips for making your outreach more effective, and emphasize the importance of planning and personalization.

Highlights:

• Learn the importance of engaging with instagram influencers before reaching out to build authentic relationships.

• Discover why email, not DM, is often the best channel for contacting influencers.

• Get insights on how to plan your campaigns ahead of busy periods for better results.

• Find out how to craft personalized and clear offers that resonate with influencers.

Join us as we share how to make better Instagram influencer connections.

The Role of Instagram Influencers

Before we get to the heart of the post - how to connect with Instagram influencers - let’s clarify who these individuals are, exactly. 

Instagram influencers are people who have built a significant following on the platform due to their content, personality, and the niche they operate. These Instagram influencers range from micro-influencers with a few thousand dedicated followers to macro-influencers and celebrities who boast millions. The power of Instagram influencers lies in their ability to engage and persuade their audience, often driving trends and impacting purchasing decisions through authentic and relatable content.

For brands, partnering with the right Instagram influencer can be immensely beneficial. Influencers can amplify your brand’s message, reach new demographics, and create a sense of trust and authenticity around your products or services. Their endorsement can lend credibility and can often be more impactful than traditional advertising, as followers tend to view influencers as friends or trusted experts rather than commercial entities. Additionally, Instagram influencers can provide valuable insights and feedback, helping brands refine their offerings and marketing strategies.

For example, Rhode (Hailey Bieber’s skincare brand) collaborated with influencer Alexandra Saint Mieux to promote limited-edition phone cases that matched the brand’s lip tints. Alexandra shared stylish content blending beauty and lifestyle, making the promotion feel natural.

• The post reached 9+ million impressions, with 247,000 likes and 3,600 comments.
• A great example of how influencer content can authentically integrate a brand into their personal aesthetic.

Real-Life Example: How Glossier Leveraged Influencer Emily Weiss

Glossier, a well-known beauty brand, was founded by Emily Weiss, who initially gained fame as an influencer through her beauty blog, Into The Gloss. Emily’s deep understanding of her audience and her authentic content helped her build a strong following on Instagram, which she later leveraged to launch Glossier.

Key Steps:

• Audience Alignment: Emily's followers were beauty enthusiasts who trusted her recommendations. This made her the perfect face for Glossier, aligning the brand directly with its target audience.

• Authentic Content: Instead of traditional ads, Emily shared her genuine love for Glossier products, creating a natural and relatable connection with her audience. Her posts weren’t just promotional; they were educational and personal, resonating with her followers.

Results:

By leveraging Emily’s influence, Glossier rapidly grew its customer base and became a leading brand in the beauty industry. The brand's success is largely attributed to its authentic, influencer-led marketing strategy, which Emily Weiss personified perfectly.

Common Contact Mistakes with Instagram Influencers

It can often be difficult to connect with Instagram influencers, especially if they are famous social media influencer, but even when it comes to nano or micro-influencers, communications can be messy. This is mainly because Instagram influencers are primarily focused on building their own brand, and your message can often get lost in all the noise. It’s all about understanding how to reach out to them in a way that captures their attention and convinces them that working with your brand is an opportunity they can’t afford to miss.

Before we dive into our tips for contacting Instagram influencers,  let’s take a look at an example of what not to do. 

Take a look at this sample email:

So, what’s wrong with this message?

Put simply, it:

• Isn’t personalized
• Doesn’t include anything about the Instagram influencer themselves or their content
• Lacks any precise details about the campaign
• Fails to introduce your brand’s values

Instagram influencers receive multiple collaboration requests, and a generic message like this is likely to be ignored. You also risk coming across as insincere and unprofessional. To stand out and build a solid reputation, you need to show genuine interest in the influencer’s work and demonstrate how your brand aligns with their content and values.

5 Strategies for Reaching Out to Instagram Influencers Successfully

Ok, we’ve seen what not to do. Now let’s look at 5 top tips to help you understand how to contact Instagram influencers in a way that piques their interest and opens up the channels of communication. 

1. Engage with Instagram Influencers

The first step in understanding how to contact Instagram influencers is knowing how to engage with them.

It’s important to take the time to establish a relationship before making contact, especially if this is the first time you’ve reached out to them. Start by following them on the social network you’d like to work with them on. Like their posts and leave comments. Mention them in posts and share their publications. Make sure they understand that you are interested in what they have to say. This shows that you’re not only familiar with their work, but also that you’re a fan. That way, they will be far more likely to respond when you eventually approach them about a potential Instagram influencer marketing collaboration.

2. Use the Best Channels to Reach Instagram Influencers

It’s also important to use the right channels to make your initial contact. Although you might be following an instagram influencer, it’s often best to contact them via email, not via DM. Emails are more professional, and they tend to elicit a higher response rate. You can probably find an influencer’s email address on their social media bio or website. If you can’t find contact information, comment on one of their posts and ask them to share their email address.

There are also tools out there that help make this connection easier. For instance, Influencity's outreach tool lets you streamline your communication with personalized tokens, reusable templates, and the ability to send emails at scale, all while maintaining a personal touch.

3. Plan Ahead with Instagram Influencer Campaigns

It’s important to plan in advance. This is especially true during busy periods such as Christmas or the summer holidays. If you are planning to launch an influencer campaign during a peak period, make sure you reach out to your influencer well in advance. Remember, they’re people too and they need time off occasionally. 

Never leave it until the last minute to make contact with an influencer. Plan ahead and spend as much time as possible getting to know your chosen Instagram influencer and explaining everything they need to know in order to prepare a successful and effective campaign and create meaningful relationships with your buyers.

Nike’s “Living Room Cup” with Cristiano Ronaldo

A long-term partnership isn’t just about one-off sponsorships, but an ongoing collaboration that includes dedicated product launches, global ad campaigns, and a brand image strengthened by the athlete’s presence.

It goes beyond traditional sponsorship by engaging the audience in an interactive, global fitness challenge during a time (lockdown) when connection and motivation were crucial. Ronaldo wasn’t just promoting a product — he was embodying the brand’s "Just Do It" spirit, making the campaign feel authentic, timely, and inspirational.

It’s a great example of how influencer partnerships can evolve into impactful brand storytelling.

4. Arrange an Introduction

Arranging an introduction can be a highly effective strategy if you and your chosen Instagram influencer have any mutual connections. Asking someone familiar to you both to make a formal introduction can help an Instagram influencer warm to you and develop a sense of trust that will make them far more likely to be open to the possibility of forming a partnership (this is also a great way to filter out potential fake influencers).

5. Craft a Personalized and Clear Offer for Your Partnership

Finally, the most valuable tip we can share with you today is that you need to make sure that your offer is both personalized and clear. And that means doing the opposite of what we saw in the example earlier in the post. You need to make the Instagram influencer feel valued and special and that they might have something to gain by responding to your outreach message.

Real-Life Example: Daniel Wellington’s Personalized Outreach Strategy

Daniel Wellington, the minimalist watch brand, has become a well-known case study for success in influencer marketing. From the very beginning, the brand reached out to thousands of micro and macroinfluencers, personalizing the messages and offering a clear, transparent collaboration.

Each influencer would receive:

- A free watch

- A personalized discount code for their followers

- A commission on sales generated

The outreach messages were customized with references to the influencer’s content, avoiding generic approaches. This enabled Daniel Wellington to be accepted by a wide network of influencers who felt the brand truly valued their image and audience.

The brand experienced viral growth on Instagram, gathered hundreds of thousands of UGC (usergenerated content) posts, and built a very strong presence in the fashion and lifestyle sector within a few years.

So, how do you do this, exactly?

Simple.

Firstly, make sure you refer to the influencer by name so that they understand that your message is specifically targeted at them, not a generic wider audience. Tell them why you are a fan of their work, and why you think they would be a good fit for your brand. You should also tell them a little bit about your own brand values and be upfront about what you’re proposing. Explain what you’re looking for, what your expectations are, what you are offering in terms of price, and what your timeline is. Be specific about deliverables, platforms and the overall goals of your campaign. That way, everyone is clear from the start and nobody’s time is wasted. 

Finally, make sure you include a clear call to action so that your connection can progress to the next level: a successful Instagram influencer partnership that provides you with an ROI that meets your expectations.