Last week, I went pretty hard against mass outreach—you know, that spray-and-pray approach where marketers blast the same message to thousands of creators. We've all seen those emails: "Hey babe! ✨" or "Hey beautiful! ✨" (Why do they always use an uncomfortable amount of sparkles?)

I still believe personalized outreach is the best way to build real relationships with creators. But, like everything we do in marketing, how and why you use a tactic can have very different outcomes. 

I've found three cases where mass outreach could work. If your situation matches one of these, a templated approach might make sense.

Just keep in mind you're trading short-term efficiency for long-term relationship building.

Scenario 1: You have a specific offer paired with a short-term strategy

Ben Williams, Influencer Team Manager at Blast, sent the following fully templated email to recruit creators.

Here’s why this worked: 

• Ben vetted the list thoroughly with an influencer analysis tool (Modash), so he knew that every recipient was a good fit at a high level. 

• The offer is very specific, with no room for negotiation (free ticket in exchange for content). 

• The company was recruiting for a one-off event. There was no room for extending this collab into a long-term partnership, so the risk of hurting the relationship was also non-existent.

• The total number of influencers needed was quite small, so there’s no risk of exhausting the recruitment pool too quickly.

You can send fully templated emails. But make sure that you’ve vetted the influencers beforehand and know they’re a good fit. Ben didn’t send this email to thousands of creators who had never, in all their lives, shown an interest in sports. 

Scenario 2: You’re a well-known brand name in your industry

Think of a beauty creator receiving an email from Sephora — there’s little to no chance an influencer is passing because the outreach email wasn’t personalized.

Outreach is much easier if you’re a household name in your industry. Creators will be excited to collaborate with you, even if you use a generic, bulk email. Bigger brands get better results from mass emails because every creator recognizes them. There’s a high level of trust built into the relationship already. 

Creators will be wary if you’re an up-and-coming brand with low brand awareness. They don’t know you. You have to work harder here to persuade them to reply to you and then work with you. 

Iconic, household brands will still have better overall results if they use some small form of personalization. But if templated mass outreach is currently working for you, I don’t suggest you stop. You can probably keep going until you start to see signals that you’re developing a negative brand reputation. 

On the other hand, if you’re a household luxury brand, you can’t afford to send mass outreach emails to thousands of creators as you’ll begin to lose the “exclusivity” and white-glove approach expected of luxury. 

Scenario 3: You’re running a self-serve influencer affiliate program

Some collaboration types are more friendly toward mass outreach than others.

For example, if you decide to create a self-serve influencer affiliate program. And you aren’t willing or able to invest in developing deeper personal relationships with those affiliates just yet.

With open self-serve affiliate programs where anybody can join, there’s no human interaction needed. Influencers just need to be aware of the program. They can ignore your email if they’re not interested. If they are interested, they can find the instructions on your website. 

If you’re in this boat and need to optimize for short-term efficiency (get more people on board at the minimum possible cost), mass outreach might be the route you need to take. For now. 

None of these options are ideal for building a brand people love. Personalized outreach will always lead to better long-term relationships and long-term success. 

What’s everyone else doing?

84% of marketers use templates in their outreach. 54% use a semi-templated email with room for personalization, while 30% use a fully-templated email. 

From what I’ve seen, the most successful outreach programs typically template 80% of the emails and spend 5-8 minutes adding personalization.

Handpicked job openings

• Crocs is looking for an Influencer Marketing Manager in Broomfield, Colorado.  

• Sezane is looking for an Influencer Marketing Manager in New York, New York. 

• Skin Pharm is looking for an Influencer + Community Coordinator in Nashville, Tennesse.

• Sephora is looking for an Affiliate Marketing Executive in London, England. 

• Huda Beauty is looking for an Influencer Assistant in London, England. 

See you in the next issue of ROI
Eleni Zoe xx
Marketing @ Modash. Say hi on LinkedIn or visit Modash.

📌A NOTE ABOUT WHAT YOU JUST READ

The tips in this newsletter might not be right for your specific case. Use good judgment when deciding whether to take advice from the internet—even mine. My team and I survey & interview influencer marketers whose advice and observations come from their direct experience. ROI is meant for you to connect the dots and be inspired or challenged to think about your influencer marketing in a way you haven’t before.