How to build relationships with influencers when you want to promote your product?
This is more of a feedback for marketers who are trying to establish contact with bigger influencers.
Thanks to my experience from "both sides", I noticed certain patterns that could work better and satisfaction would be on both sides. :)
Here are my points for better collaboration with influencers:
1️⃣ When reaching out, mention it’s a paid collaboration. If you don’t have a proposal, ask for their price list—big influencers filter messages that don’t clarify this. They don't have time to deal with every message.
2️⃣ Instruct them. Make a custom tutorial on how the product works, not every person fell from the sky as a scholar; that's why they need instructions, ideally a video tutorial.
3️⃣ Offer an extended trial or free version to motivate long-term use and organic promotion – but only if the influencer finds it relevant to their workflow.
4️⃣ Establish conditions beforehand and organise everything in advance. If you do things haphazardly and at the last minute, the output will also be poor. In short, don't expect a miracle.
5️⃣ Track. You're a marketer, so there's probably no need to say much about this. 😀
What point would you add that has worked for you?
Replies
Great pointers, Nika!
Loved the Track part here, you need to make sure that the analytics and benefits part stays clear here to make collaborations fruitful and rewarding.
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@bhargav5394 But many users do not love that part, to be honest. 😅
ScaryStories Live
Hey Nika! So great to reconnect! 🙌 Thank you again for all your help during my first PH launch last year. 😊 I really appreciated your support and guidance!
I love your points in this thread. Totally agree!💕 Being clear about payment and giving proper instructions really saves everyone time when working with big influencers. From my experience, even if you find an amazing influencer, managing contracts, approvals, and formal processes can be slow and heavy, which is why big corps often go through marketing agencies.
For early-stage startups, that kind of scale is tough to pull off. Lately, I’m co-founding an AI startup and trying out micro-influencers, offering an upfront fee with performance-based bonuses. I’ve tested a few SaaS platforms to get contacts and metrics, but honestly, outreach and contract management can quickly feel like a full-time job. Open rates were low, monthly fees were high, and scaling efficiently was challenging.🤔
I’m curious where do micro-influencers usually go to find founders and collabs. Personally, I’m building a real-time AI video generator for scary stories, turning your school or street into a POV horror video in real time. It’s gamified, fun, and I’m actively looking for horror fans, AI horror creators, or AI horror artists to collaborate. 😈
The alpha testing version comes out next week, and I’d love honest feedback from early testers to help optimize performance before the formal alpha launch in mid-October 2025. If you’d like to try it early, I’d be happy to send a private invite~ prepare for the screams! 👻😂
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@helen9 I am at Passionfroot, where I get proposals from companies, but it can be different; some influencers are on Impact dot com. What is the tool you are working on? Do you have a website?
Asa.team
this helps greatly, always wondered how to interact with influencers!
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@julian_asa I think that will post something similar to my newsletter in the future (but will elaborate more) :)
This is really helpful — thanks for sharing! We’re just starting to reach out to influencers ourselves. Do you have any tips or experiences to share about connecting with smaller or mid-tier influencers?
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@byron_fan Try to find some who already knew something / a little bit about your product, so it will not be so hard to convince them :)
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@atique_bandukwala1 Many people mentioned this earlier in the discussion and I fully agree. I overlooked it a bit to be honest.
Scrumball
💡 My Addition: Start with Micro-Communities Before Big Influencers
Great breakdown, Nika!
From my experience building products in US markets, I'd add a strategic layer that's often overlooked:
Build credibility in niche communities FIRST, then approach influencers.
Here's why this works better:
🎯 The Community-First Approach:
Establish Product-Market Fit Evidence
Get real user testimonials from Reddit, PH, niche Slack/Discord groups
Document specific use cases and pain points you solve
When you reach out to influencers, you have proof of engagement (not just a pitch deck)
Create "Social Proof Ammunition" for Influencers
Influencers care about: "Will my audience actually engage with this?"
Show them: active Reddit threads, PH upvotes, community discussions
Example: "Our launch got 500+ upvotes on PH and 2K+ comments.
Identify Natural Advocates
Community members who already love your product = micro-influencers
They have 500-5K authentic followers vs. 100K bought followers
Cost: often free product + affiliate deal vs. $5K-50K for big names
⚠️ Red Flags I've Learned to Avoid:
Influencers who ask for payment before trying the product
No questions about your product roadmap or user feedback
They pitch YOU their "standard package" without customization
Can't show you audience demographics or engagement rates
📈 Real Numbers from My Experience:
For a SaaS product I worked on:
Big influencer (200K followers): $8K cost → 50 signups → $160 CAC
10 micro-influencers (5K-20K each): $0 + free product → 180 signups → $0 CAC + 12% became paying customers
The micro approach had 3.6x better conversion because the audience was highly targeted.
TL;DR: Don't start with big influencers. Build community proof first → leverage micro-influencers → then approach macro-influencers with evidence. It's cheaper, more authentic, and converts better.
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@alex_chu821 It's better to create own strong community and spread organically, then even acquiring those big influencers is cheaper :)
I like your structured approach, Nika.
Something I’ve seen work well is segmenting influencers by tier before reaching out, macro, micro, and even nano influencers. The smaller tiers often drive more engaged results at lower costs, and it’s easier to build trust-based relationships with them.
Also, thinking beyond “influencers” to community voices (active LinkedIn posters, niche Slack/WhatsApp group admins, or industry newsletter writers) can open doors to authentic advocacy. In many cases, these folks influence purchasing decisions more than big creators.
Curious, have you tried collaborating with micro or community-led influencers alongside larger ones?