Influencer marketing: The ultimate guide to connecting & partnering with influencers

What is influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing means working with people who have the attention and trust of your target audience, so they introduce your brand, product or event to their followers.

You target the influencers instead of the market as a whole, and their recommendation spreads further than an ad would.

Influencer marketing isn't the same as social media marketing, although they often work together. Instead of using a channel to market, you're using people.

How it differs from testimonial advertising

It's a matter of platform.

In a classic testimonial ad, a company pays a celebrity to talk about its brand in a commercial, on the company's own channels.

In influencer marketing, someone shares your message with their own audience, on their own channels.

That distinction is what makes it so powerful. When a prospect sees a message from someone they trust, on a platform they already use, they're far more likely to act on it.

It's also why good influencers are careful about what they promote. Their audience's trust is their entire business model.

How influencer deals work

Influencer marketing is set up either by the influencer reaching out to a brand, or more often, by a brand reaching out to the influencer.

The content isn't limited to social media posts. It can be:

• Emails to their list
• Social media posts, stories and short videos
• Podcast and video interviews
• Guest posts and newsletters
• Livestreams and account takeovers
• Partner webinars and workshops
• Virtual summit sessions
• Reviews

And the deal usually takes one of 2 shapes:

• Transactional. You pay for specific content, for example 3 posts over a month for a fixed fee.
• Partnership. You work on a campaign together, with a unique affiliate link, and split the revenue at an agreed percentage. Harder to set up, and usually far more valuable for both sides.

Influencer marketing in practice

A few examples of how different brands use it:

• American Express partnered with photographer Casey McPerry on a Small Business Saturday campaign. His posts highlighted other small businesses, and tied American Express to community.
• Groundhouse Burger teams up with popular Los Angeles Instagram creators to promote its burgers to local food lovers.
• Chandler Bolt of Self-Publishing School got 30+ influencers to join his virtual summit and generated 60,000+ email subscribers and $700,000+ in revenue.
• Crosshair Music matches independent artists with micro influencers whose audiences fit the music, a digital-first take on music PR.

Chandler Bolt

Founder & CEO, Selfpublishing.com

Navid helped me earn $370k+ and 30,000 email subscribers in less than 2 months… it completely transformed our business to a multi million dollar online education company (the summit we did in 2016 was even bigger with almost 40,000 opt-ins!).

It all started with the proven business and marketing strategies Navid shared.. go sign up to his email newsletter now!

The types of influencers

Not all influencers are equal. I sort them into 3 groups, and the follower numbers vary a lot by niche:

• A-listers. Household names with huge followings. Hard to reach, and they rarely respond unless you have a big budget or a real connection.
• B-listers. Known experts with solid followings, often big players in smaller niches. More open to partnerships, with great credibility.
• C-listers, or micro influencers. Smaller, highly engaged audiences, and usually eager to collaborate. Some of them become the A-listers of tomorrow.

A good campaign usually mixes all 3. For the full breakdown by follower count, niche and platform, see the 21 types of social media influencers.

Why influencer marketing is worth it

A few reasons it works so well:

• Third-party trust. People want social proof before they buy, and an influencer is a trusted recommendation at scale.
• Warm reach. You get in front of people who already care about your topic, without building every connection yourself.
• Better content. Influencers make a living from content, and you get their creativity on your side.
• Authority by association. Being introduced by someone your audience trusts makes you the expert too.
• Growth that compounds. Once one influencer promotes you, the next one is easier to get, and good relationships last for years.

It has real downsides too, from fake followers to hard-to-measure results. I cover both sides in influencer marketing benefits and disadvantages.

For the full list, including the downsides, read influencer marketing benefits and disadvantages.

My 5-step influencer marketing process

This is the process I've used for more than 10 years to get influencers to speak at my summits, promote my launches and become long-term partners.

Keep 2 things in mind through all of it. Your target audience has to overlap with the influencer's audience. And you need tracking from day one, so you know what worked.

Step 1: Identify potential influencers

There's no single place to find influencers. Start where your audience already spends time, find the biggest names there, and build a list from there.

The places I look:

• Your own network. Who do you already know? Friends, colleagues, past clients and customers.
• Launches and webinars. Sign up for your peers' lists and notice who promotes whose launches, and who shows up on whose webinars.
• Virtual summits. A single summit in your niche can list 20 to 80 experts.
• Podcasts. Both the hosts and their guests.
• Blogs, YouTube and newsletters. Search "best [your niche] blogs" and check who ranks.
• Authors and course creators. Anyone who wrote the book on your topic.
• Communities and events. Facebook and LinkedIn groups, Discord and Circle communities, and the speakers at conferences in your niche.
• Adjacent niches. Who serves the step before or after yours in your customer's journey? If you sell healthy snacks, fitness coaches might be your best partners.

Your goal is a list of 50 to 100 potential influencers in a simple spreadsheet or CRM, with their channels, audience and why they'd be a fit.

The full method, with the research and tracking system I use, is in how to identify influencers.

Step 2: Choose the right influencers

Once you have a list, figure out who's actually worth your time. I look at 5 things:

1. Reach. How big is their audience across channels, and who is in it?
2. Engagement. Does their audience respond? Look at the comments and check who's actually engaging, and whether they're your people.
3. Brand. Does their image fit yours? The closer the match, the smoother the handoff from their audience to you.
4. Colleagues. Who do they partner with? The people they work with say a lot about who they are.
5. Your gut. Sometimes someone looks perfect on paper and still feels wrong. Listen to that.

A few more questions before you commit:

• What do they stand for? Anyone you partner with reflects on your brand.
• How often do they promote? If every post is an ad, their audience has stopped paying attention.
• Do they have their own products? That can be a conflict, or a great partnership idea.
• Will they help your main goal? Awareness, leads or sales: judge them against the one that matters for this campaign.

Then decide yes or no for each person, and focus all your energy on the yeses.

Step 3: Connect and add value first

The best way to connect with an influencer is to figure out what they need, and help them get it, before you ask for anything.

Influencers build their business through content and community. You can help with:

• A sincere, specific compliment about their work
• A case study or testimonial of their product
• Sharing their content and taking part in their community
• Reviews of their book, podcast or course
• Buying and promoting their products
• Introductions to people they'd like to meet
• Pointing out a broken link or an error on their site

I wrote detailed reviews and posts about the influencers in my space, then used them when I built my first summit speaker list. People remember who helped them first.

I share 33 ways to do this, from interviews to event volunteering, in how to build relationships with influencers.

Step 4: Make the ask the right way

When you've added value first, the ask becomes a natural next step instead of a cold pitch.

It's normal to be nervous. But what's the worst that can happen? They say no, or you don't hear back. You move on, and try again when you have more to offer.

The best way past the fear is to focus on what's in it for them. Smart people don't pass up a good opportunity, so make sure yours is one:

• Exposure to your audience and your partners' audiences
• Their own list growth, with a lead magnet of theirs next to your content
• Promotion of their product at the end of their session
• Affiliate commission on sales they help make
• Content they can reuse in their own marketing
• Payment, when it's a transactional deal

My outreach follows a simple formula: compliment + value + request. Start with a specific compliment about their work, show how the collaboration helps them, then ask for one clear, easy next step.

Two things that make a big difference:

• The ladder strategy. Start with the people you already know, and add each yes as social proof as you work your way up to the biggest names.
• A short video invitation. A 1 to 3 minute personal video stands out in a crowded inbox.

My full 7-part email formula, with templates, is in how to reach out to influencers.

Step 5: Follow up

After you ask, you'll get one of 4 answers: silence, a request for more information, a yes or a no.

• Silence. Follow up. People are busy, and no answer isn't a no. Keep it short and friendly, and follow up until you get a clear answer.
• More information. Have a one-page overview of your campaign ready: what it is, how they'd be involved, and what happens when.
• Yes. Make the next step easy: a scheduling link, or the details they need, in one message.
• No. Thank them, and let them know when the campaign launches in case they want to see it. The door stays open.

Follow-up email
Hi [Influencer's name],

I just wanted to circle back on my email below. Any interest in exploring this a bit more?

I'd love to send you more details. If not, no worries at all.

Thanks for considering it,

[Your name]

Where AI helps with influencer marketing

Relationships are still human. But AI now does most of the research and admin that used to take me days:

Research an influencer before you reach out
I'm planning to reach out to [influencer name] about [collaboration idea]. My audience is [who you serve].

Research their most recent content, projects and audience from the last 6 months. Then give me:
1. A 3-sentence summary of what they're focused on right now
2. 1 specific, genuine compliment I could open with
3. 2 collaboration ideas that would help them as much as me
4. Anything I should avoid mentioning

How to track your influencer campaigns

Tracking the results is easier than you think. The most important thing is a unique link for every influencer.

• Unique affiliate links. One link per partner shows exactly how much each person drove, whether you pay them or share revenue. Use your checkout or affiliate software, and make the link personal, like yourbrand.com/partner-name.
• Custom landing pages. A page that welcomes their audience by name, with their bonus or discount, converts far better than a generic page.
• UTM parameters. Tag every link so you can follow partner traffic through your site in your analytics.
• Rank your partners at the end. Report the results back to your influencers, and note who performed best. A smaller influencer with a loyal audience often beats a much bigger one.

Influencer marketing tools

You don't need any of these to start. Most of them speed up research and admin, and you won't find many A-listers in a marketplace. But they save time as you grow:

Tool	What it's for
SparkToro	Find the podcasts, publications and accounts your audience follows
BuzzSumo	See who writes about and shares content in your niche
Modash	Search Instagram, TikTok and YouTube creators by niche and audience
Upfluence	Influencer search and campaign management for brands
Hunter	Find and verify professional email addresses
HubSpot CRM	Track every conversation and follow-up for free
Claude	Research influencers and draft outreach in your voice
Perplexity	Quick, sourced research on a person or a niche

For more options, see the best tools for finding influencers.

Follow the disclosure rules

In the US, the FTC requires influencers to clearly disclose paid or sponsored promotions. That's why you see labels like "Paid partnership", #ad or #sponsored.

It's your responsibility as the brand to make sure your partners disclose clearly, especially micro influencers who are new to brand deals.

Check the FTC's own endorsement guides for the details, and the rules where you and your audience live.

Final thoughts on influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is a big topic, and you now have the whole process: identify, choose, connect, ask and follow up.

My favorite way to put it all to work is a virtual summit. One event gives dozens of influencers a reason to share you with their audiences at the same time, and it's how I've grown my list and business since 2014.

If you want to go deeper on each step:

• How to identify influencers
• How to build relationships with influencers
• How to reach out to influencers
• 21 influencer marketing mistakes to avoid
• What are influencer partnerships?
• How to host a virtual summit

Have a question about your own influencer campaign? DM me on X or Instagram and let me know what you're working on.