When reaching out to influencers in the hopes of getting them to promote your product, it’s essential to target the right people – for your brand, and theirs.

Here are 3 important questions to consider as you compile your pitch list:

1. Who is my audience? Identifying your own audience first and foremost will give you the framework to then identify the type of influencer(s) that attracts the people you are trying to reach. For example, we’re currently working with a children’s book called Scout Camp! by Judy Newman (under the pseudonym Pepper Springfield) and have been reaching out to elementary school teacher influencers to post about the book. Because teachers are our main target audience, it makes sense to connect with influencers who have a solid following of other teachers.

2. Does this influencer have a need for my product? One of the biggest “no-no’s” with any kind of influencer or blogger outreach is lack of research. You must make sure the person you’re about to pitch could realistically use what you want promoted in their day-to-day life. This will be the difference between quality leads that yield fruitful relationships, and dead ends yielding a waste of time -and money. Case in point, we would not pitch Scout Camp! to a high school math teacher influencer as they have absolutely no need for an elementary-level book.

3. Is it realistic to expect a response? Believe it or not, there are three different types of influencers (Jeff Bullas):

• Mega Influencers: Over one million followers
• Macro-Influencers: 100,000-one million followers
• Micro-Influencers: Less than 100,000 followers

Typically, mega influencers are of celebrity status. That’s not to say that macro and micro-influencers aren’t celebrities in and of themselves, however, mega influencers are typically harder to reach. That’s why the safest option is to go after the macro and micro influencers (for more on who micro-influencers are exactly, click here). With that said, depending on the product, brand, endorsements, etc., anything’s possible.

Looking for more information on influencer outreach? Check out our guide.