---
name: "influencer_outreach"
description: "Plan and run creator/influencer outreach campaigns: pick the right creators by tier and engagement benchmarks, vet for fake followers, write pitches that get replies (email/DM templates), structure deal terms (fees, usage rights, exclusivity, FTC disclosure), and compare creators by cost-per-engagement. Triggers on requests to reach out to influencers/creators, plan a brand collaboration, draft an outreach pitch, or evaluate a creator deal."
---

# Influencer Outreach

## Purpose
Run the full outreach arc for brand↔creator collaborations — targeting, vetting, pitching, and deal terms — so outreach lands with creators who convert instead of creators who are famous. Built for agents acting as a brand's partnerships operator. Drafts pitch copy; it never sends outreach autonomously — a human approves every external message before it leaves.

## Workflow

1. **Define the goal and budget.** Goal (awareness, conversions, UGC volume, launch buzz) decides the tier mix. Rule of thumb: 80% of budget on nano/micro creators delivers more total engagement than one macro creator at the same spend. Campaigns under ~$5K in fees rarely clear the transaction cost of finding, briefing, and managing creators — below that, go product-gifting to nanos only.
2. **Build the target list.** Find creators by niche keyword search, hashtag research, competitor mentions, and adjacent brands' tagged posts. Score on engagement quality, audience overlap, and authenticity — not follower count. Load `references/targeting.md` for tier benchmarks and vetting.
3. **Vet for fraud.** Check: organic follower growth (no unexplained spikes), engagement rate in the healthy band for the tier, real comments (questions, stories, disagreements — not emoji-only repeats), follower geography matching the creator's language/market, and a 3-month scroll for brand-safety issues. Engagement far above the tier band is a pod/bot flag; far below is a dead audience.
4. **Warm before pitching.** Follow, like, and leave 1–2 genuine comments on their posts over a few days. Practitioners consistently report cold DMs to strangers convert near zero (one practitioner: 60+ DMs → 1 reply); email from the creator's bio/business email is the primary channel.
5. **Write the pitch.** Under 150 words, one ask, zero generic flattery. Anatomy: subject line (5–10 words, specific) → one line proving you actually watched their work (name a post) → one sentence on why their audience specifically fits → the offer stated concretely with guaranteed value → one-sentence CTA (a question invites replies). Match the "bait" to what they care about — unboxers get product, experience creators get access. Templates in `references/pitches.md`.
6. **Negotiate deal terms.** Ask the creator for their rate card first — don't open with your number. Structure: flat fee + product + (optional) affiliate/commission + performance bonus. Paper every deal, even product-only. Terms to settle in writing before the campaign is approved: deliverables (format/platform/count/posting window), fee, payment terms, usage rights scope + duration, whitelisting rights, exclusivity window, revision rounds, FTC disclosure, kill fee. Load `references/deal_terms.md`.
7. **Brief, don't script.** Send a creative brief with 2–3 talking points as guardrails, never a word-for-word script. Creator owns their voice — approve the concept, not line edits. Brief must state the non-negotiables: FTC disclosure placement, key claims they must not make (only endorse what they genuinely used), deadlines, and the analytics they owe you (48h post metrics, links/UTMs).
8. **Measure and feed the database.** Track per creator: CPE (cost ÷ engagements), CTR, conversions via unique codes/UTMs, sentiment, and EMV. Keep a creator rate/performance database so each campaign prices better than the last. Prefer 3–5 post series over 2–4 weeks over one-post drops — single posts have low recall. `bin/cpe_compare.py` ranks candidate creators by CPE.

## Output Contract
Given a brand, product, goal, and budget, the skill produces:
- A ranked creator shortlist with tier, follower count, observed engagement rate, CPE estimate, and one-line fit rationale.
- Draft outreach copy (email + DM variant) per creator, personalized with a specific-post reference — marked `DRAFT — needs human approval before sending`.
- A deal-terms summary per creator (deliverables, fee, rights, exclusivity, disclosure plan) ready to become a contract.

## Operating Rules
1. **No autonomous sends.** Draft everything; a human reviews and sends. This is non-negotiable — outreach is outward-facing.
2. **Never state unverified numbers.** Only quote engagement/follower figures the creator or platform reports. Say "not publicly available" rather than inventing a rate card or stat.
3. **FTC disclosure is a launch blocker, not a line item.** Every deliverable carries clear, conspicuous disclosure (`#ad` or `#sponsored` — never `#sp`, `#partner`, or `#collab` alone), placed at the start (first 3 caption lines; first 3 seconds of video). Platform branded-content tools are used but never relied on alone. No disclosure, no launch — even if the creator says "I'll add it later."
4. **Engagement quality beats follower count.** A 50K creator at 6% engagement outperforms a 1M creator at 0.5% on everything that matters.
5. **Personalize or don't pitch.** A generic blast is worse than no outreach — highly personalized outreach roughly doubles reply rates vs. generic sends. If you can't name a specific post of theirs, they're not on the list yet.
6. **Paper everything.** Even product-only gifted deals get a one-page agreement: deliverables, FTC disclosure, usage rights. Verbal deals on rights and compliance create legal risk for both sides.
7. **Respect creator economics.** Exclusivity must be separately priced and narrow (30–90 days, named competitors — never broad "industry" exclusivity unpaid). Pay 50% upfront on larger deals, balance on completion, net-30 max. Don't ask a mid-tier+ creator to work for "exposure."