Are IG “influencers” worth it? How to deny the ask?

[theredraven]

Since pre-launching until now, there have been tons of self claimed influencers who DMed me asking for collaborations.

Using influencer is a nice marketing tactic but honestly these self claimed ones are just ruining the idea. I can’t believe people who have about 2000 followers or lower have the nerves to ask for “free” items to “promote” on their platforms.

My products are not even expensive, they are less than CAD$20/each. At this point, I really don’t know how to decline their “offer” nicely anymore. How should I reply to their DM and say something similar to “F*k you, pay it yourself?”

*Edit 1: I don’t underestimate people with less followers. I’m willing to reach out to them if they match my target market. This post is about “self claimed” ones that are extremely annoying.

 

[wxgeek71]

@theredraven I do it for regular high quality photo shoots with my products, its actually cheaper then a photographer.. But of course, i only give freebies to the high quality "influencers" jeez that word is so cringy

 

[theredraven]

@wxgeek71 Yea I sent my products to 4 people in exchange for “modeling shoots” too.

 

[needguidanceforlife]

@theredraven Check out hashtagpaid.com. They have vetted influencers. Not just people wanting your product free and spending 40$ at a click farm. And they broker the deal and hold your cash in escrow until you are happy

https://hashtagpaid.com/

 

[slanutak]

@needguidanceforlife Have people had a good experience with hastagpaid? Can someone who has used them DM me with their experience? I am trying to learn more about the options out there.

 

[needguidanceforlife]

@slanutak I know they work with some pretty influential brands and have been around for a while. I don’t believe many would stay in business if they weren’t results driven

 

[shaunf]

@wxgeek71 As someone who kind of fell into "influencing" in a specific niche, this is how we position it.

I don't expect my audience to buy stuff really (did one campaign with a canned cocktail company and we probably would have sold $1000s worth of product... if they could ship)

But I know providing companies with exclusive high resolution, custom photos in unique settings is well worth it to certain brands. Posting about the stuff and sharing it is icing, but photos are the cake.

 

[justbreathe71717]

@shaunf This. UGC is often more valuable than the “influence” lol.

 

[shaunf]

@justbreathe71717 Exactly. It helps that I'm a professional marketer by trade so I'm used to dealing with, and calling out, so much of the bullshit in my field.

I'd never imagine charging someone for "exposure" like reach or impressions in this day and age (unless you had some truly insane unique positioning, but let's face it, you don't).

But unique "stock" photography and a license for them to reuse however they see fit? There is a fair market price on that and I'm fine negotiating in that space.

 

[southernbbn]

@wxgeek71 I thought influencers were also cringy until my company got a few jobs from YouTube and a couple big makeup companies. The people that had us working with aren’t the 2-10K followers influencers, more like the 1-10M+ youtubers and beauty instagrammers. I spent a lot of time talking to them and seeing how they do business, and I’ve got to say, I was impressed.

There were a few absolute dummies that were just good looking or just somehow figured out how to use YouTube to their advantage, but most of these people I feel would be successful in pretty much whatever they wanted to do. It’s definitely a “real job” at that level

 

[bobbyr]

@southernbbn I’m a web designer... in my 30s I sold television ads at for local TV station and met an up-and-coming extremely talented 20 year old TV anchor.

Fast forward 10 years, she’s now a national celeb on network TV, has 285k followers on IG with fantastic engagement levels , 80% woman audience.

Last week out of the blue she reached to me with some web design questions and also asked if I wanted to help her drum up business.

I asked her to send me a proposal of what she’s currently charging for XYZ scope of work.

She said she doesn’t know what she’s worth. Her contract with the TV network recently changed so after 10 years she can be a free agent.

She wants me to help her come up with pricing proposals for her “influencing”

I do some local SM management for web clients, but not sure what the going rate is and scope of work would be for a national celeb with 285k IG followers.

I’d be forever in your debt if you could point me to some resources where I could research what other influencers of this stature are charging.

Thanks!!!

 

[southernbbn]

@bobbyr So no promises because I’m not sure where I put it, but one of the women we worked with (you’ve almost definitely heard of her) gave a presentation on the ins and outs of the business side of being an influencer (and how to use them effectively from the business side), and the company that hosted it printed out some slides she wrote. I’m pretty sure I still have them, I’ll check tomorrow. If I don’t reply tomorrow don’t be shy to comment back on here to remind me

There was so many things in her talk having to do with the contracts and obligations of the deal that I just never would have thought of, definitely solid

 

[pheebs89]

@southernbbn I'd be interested in seeing that as well, if you're digging it up. Thank you!

 

[bobbyr]

@southernbbn Thanks for the reply Clyde! I would LOVE to get a copy of that!!

You are appreciated!!

 

[southernbbn]

@bobbyr I didn’t forget but I didn’t get a chance to check today, tomorrow will be the day lol

 

[slanutak]

@southernbbn Did you ever find it? I'm trying to learn more about this space, and this would be incredibly helpful!

 

[joem789]

@southernbbn I know this is quite late but what impressed you about how they conducted business. Anything you can remember would be greatly appreciated.

 

[aviso]

@theredraven I would just make a copy and paste message that uses friendly verbiage to tell them that you do not provide free products. From my experience though, this does about the same as just ignoring them. You could just trash the message and achieve the same result.

Influencers are very useful. Whoop sold a ton of units by using well known athletes on their advertisements. Random pages on Instagram usually don't provide any benefit to the business.

 

[mikem777]

@aviso

Whoop sold a ton of units by using well known athletes on their advertisements

The key words here are "well known athletes"..

 

[winterangel]

@aviso I do this. I get several requests a week from people with sad stories as to they love my products but don't have the money to purchase, in exchange... follows/likes, will give you exposure, want to help your shop, etc. I always check their page first. I'm leery of just attaching myself to someone without knowing what they are representing themselves as regardless of their follower count. I also check to see if people are interacting with their posts, and how many likes their posts get.

If I don't feel like it's a good fit, I just send them this:

First I want to say that I am flattered that you want to help me out.

The reality of my situation is that (this business) is my sole income, I am a one person operation. I have no other resources other than myself to gain income. In all honesty, I get several requests a week from people to collaborate, and if I responded to every one I would have nothing left to sell, so it’s not a wise decision for me to give away what few merchandise I have left.

If you truly want to support small business and makers, the best way is to purchase their items and then post about how much you love their product. In return, I could give you a discount and a discount code for your followers. Many of us are in the same situation as you and are strapped for cash. If you do decide to purchase this item and post it to your Instagram, I would in turn repost your photo and link your Instagram handle.

I hope you understand my situation.

Most of the time I never hear back. I think people are just trolling for free merchandise and as an "influencer" feel entitled to free things because that's what they see the people they aspire to be doing, not knowing that those unboxing promos are usually given to PR firms who distribute to specific influencers. So if you want to go the influencer route, I would contact some influencers you like and ask them who their PR person or booker is. Most often it is listed on their bio. Ignore the randoms unless you are aware of them beforehand.