7 ways to boost your influencer response rate from 2% to 90%

Reading the comments on Ragan.com posts, there seems to be a universal agreement among PR people that sending mass press requests is not the way to engage. Yet, I still get these inquiries all the time.

Recently, before reporting at a big event, I received a flood of these requests which led me to write “Why Most PR Pitches Are Like Requests for Anonymous Sex.” They don’t know me. I don’t know them. But they want us to get together for 15 minutes at a conference with the hopeful end result of me “putting out” a story about their company.

Most business engagements are like dating. Some are willing to drop their pants right away and let you have at them, and others would like it if you would show an honest level of interest in them first.

I own a brand journalism business where I interview influencers, and I’m also a blogger and work with traditional media. I constantly operate on both sides of this relationship. What I’ve learned is one way to make sure a request is warmly received is to make the engagement about them, not you. That simple move can swing your success metrics from 2 percent (email blast) to 90 percent (personalized invite).