Getting the attention of an influencer can be very difficult. When they have hundreds of thousands, or even millions of followers, finding a way to stand out and be noticed is not easy.
Having said that it is easier than you thought.
Though their following size may be large, there are still ways to connect with influencers and cut through the noise in order to get them to help you.
In this article, we outline four strategies you can use to get noticed by influencers and get them to help you.
Promote Them Without Asking
One of the best things you can do for influencers is to promote them without any expectation of anything in return. Influencers are typically inundated with constant requests, and people always ask for things and try to ride their coattails, and get favors from them.
So if you simply say something nice about them or share them with your audience and friends, or even go to a specific effort to increase others’ awareness of them, they will see that and they will appreciate that you’ve done it without asking for something.
Doing this consistently over a long period of time could create enough trust with them that you can then ask them to help you.
Send Them A Gift
Gift-giving has been a popular strategy for developing rapport and relationships for as long as humans have been around. Giving a gift to an influencer can be a great way to stand out because they’re so used to people asking them for things, that it will come as a genuine surprise that you’ve offered them a gift with no expectation of anything in return.
You should see the gift as the start of the process of working towards the ability to ask them for help. If you simply give them a gift and then ask them for help straight away you are just being like everyone else and are not likely to get a good result.
Engage With Their Content
Many influencers use content as one of their key mechanisms for growing their audience. This could be written content, visual content, or social media content. If you engage with that content by either liking it, forwarding it to your friends or just adding a comment under the content saying how much you like it, this can be seen in a positive light and start to build goodwill towards you with them.
When you engage with their content the first challenge is to get their attention in some way before actually asking for help. You will know that you have got their attention if they respond positively to your engagement. This could be in the form of a like on your social media comment or an actual comment replying to your interaction with them.
You are likely to get the best results if you take a long-term approach and do not try and rush this process. If you make one comment and see that they have acknowledged it, and then ask for help straightaway – that is far too quick.
But if you make a comment one week, and then make another comment a week later, they will see that you are a genuine fan who has interacted with them on an ongoing basis and they will develop a positive impression of you and you will be much more likely to get some help from them.
Buy Their Course/Product
Lots of influencers are making money by promoting products and brands, but many other influencers are making money by selling information programs. These might be online courses, E-books, or webinars.
By buying their product you become a customer of theirs and not just someone in their audience. If you buy the product you have then got a natural conversation starting point to reach out to them.
If you are a total stranger who has never given them any money or done anything for them and then you reach out to them for help, you can be almost guaranteed the answer will be no. But if you are one of their customers, they will be more inclined to be helpful because you have given them some money, and they would want to protect their reputation as an influencer and experts in their field.
Sometimes coaching and consultation are built into these products you can buy. So by purchasing one of the packages you are guaranteeing yourself access to them and the permission to ask them questions and have them give you feedback.
Final Thoughts
Regardless of which tactic you try, the main thing to keep in mind is that asking influencers for help is not likely to be successful if you rush the process. If you want someone to help you need to first establish familiarity with them and then get them to like you, before asking for help at a later stage in your relationship.
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