influencer_outreach v1.0.0

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."