With over 61% of marketers using TikTok to collaborate with influencers, it’s no surprise that the platform has quickly become a key player in influencer marketing. Whether you’re working with micro influencers or large scale content creators, TikTok allows brands to amplify their reach and tap into highly engaged audiences.
However, reaching out to influencers on TikTok, from finding them on the TikTok Creator Marketplace to sending a direct message (DM), can present its own challenges. How can you approach influencers in a way that captures their attention and leads to successful, long-term collaborations?
In this guide, we’ll cover proven strategies for reaching out to TikTok influencers, including best practices for direct messaging, using influencer platforms, and building lasting relationships that drive results for your brand.
Collaborating with TikTok influencers through partnerships can be a game-changer for your brand. Here’s why:
TikTok’s format boosts engagement with content. Influencers on TikTok often achieve impressive engagement rates with their short, high-quality videos. The average engagement rate for TikTok influencers is 1.31%. High-performing influencers can reach an ER of 3-4%.
This high engagement on TikTok translates to more interaction with your brand’s content, leading to better visibility and a stronger connection with your audience.
You can check influencers’ engagement rates with Influencer Hero’s Free Engagement Calculator.
TikTok has experienced unprecedented growth, becoming one of the fastest-growing social media platforms. In 2023, TikTok surpassed 2 billion global downloads, and its user base continues to expand rapidly. According to a report by Statista, TikTok is expected to hit over 2.2 billion users by 2027.
Collaborations with TikTok influencers can drive significant sales boosts. A study by Influencer Marketing Hub found that 73% of TikTok users have reported making a purchase based on content they saw on the platform. Additionally, data from the App Store and Google Play Store revealed that TikTok was the highest-grossing app of 2023. The platform generated $2.7 billion last year.
TikTok's algorithm and demographic reach allow brands to target their ideal audience effectively. As of 2024, most TikTok users are aged between 10 and 29, aligning with younger demographics that are often hard to reach on other platforms. This precision targeting enables brands to engage with their target audience more directly and effectively, leading to more successful marketing campaigns.
If you’re not sure how to contact influencers on TikTok, these are the most effective outreach strategies:
The TikTok Creator Marketplace (TTCM) is the official platform for brand and creator collaborations on TikTok. It allows brands to connect with more than 800,000 qualified global influencers. In the platform, you can discover, negotiate and manage partnerships directly through the platform.
To sign up as a brand you first need to create an account on TTCM or, if you already have a TikTok Ads Manager account, simply sign in.
TikTok Creator Marketplace Brand Eligibility:
As a brand, you can reach out to TikTok influencers and start collaborating with them in 3 easy steps using TTCM:
TTCM allows you to see influencers’ historical performance and video data and analyze their audience with comprehensive metric analysis. When evaluating which TikTok creators to work with, through TTCM you’ll be able to have an overview of their profiles, their recent videos, and performance over time. This helps you decide if they are your best matches.
Additionally, with TikTok Creator Marketplace, you’re also able to search for creators using different performance metrics, audience demographics, topics and other filters.
Once you’ve identified the influencers you’d like to work with, you can directly invite them through TTCM. You can also send them Invite Links that allow you to invite any creator to collaborate, even if they have not officially signed up for TTCM. Additionally, Invite Links give you the flexibility and customization to execute influencer marketing initiatives on TikTok while still gaining access to the platform’s features.
TikTok Creator Marketplace also allows you to gain access to detailed reports on how your campaign went. You can track and analyze all your results in one place with metrics that include views, reach, engagement rate, video completion rate and more. These reports are updated on a daily basis.
Keep in mind that TTCM is not available in all countries. It only applies to the following countries and regions: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States, Vietnam.
One of the easiest ways to reach out to TikTok influencers is through influencer marketing platforms like Influencer Hero. Influencer Hero is an all-in-one influencer marketing platform that allows you to discover, reach and manage all your campaigns.
With the Influencer Finder feature, you can easily discover TikTok Influencers by implementing specific filters like location, lookalikes, gender, engagement rate, views, followers, and more, streamlining your search and making it easier to find TikTok influencers who are the right match for your campaign.
Additionally, for each influencer you’ll be able to access detailed reports about their performance, engagement rate, type of content, and more.
You can individually select influencers or bulk select to start with your outreach campaigns. Influencer Hero has an AI-powered outreach feature that allows you to send hundreds of emails at the same time while personalizing and customizing each email, ensuring you increase your open rates and chances of influencers collaborating with you.
Through Influencer Hero’s CRM, you can manage all of your campaigns, keeping track of all your influencer collaborations. You can also manage affiliates, gifting and all payments through the same place.
Book a demo today, and find out more in detail about how Influencer Hero can streamline your efforts to find the perfect TikTok influencers.
A more subtle yet effective way to start collaborating with TikTok influencers is by engaging with their content. Unless you’re a well-known brand, many influencers may not be familiar with you. To build that relationship, begin by liking their posts, commenting on their content, or following them.
This initial engagement helps influencers become aware of your brand, making future outreach more natural and less like a cold introduction. Even if they’re already familiar with you, a thoughtful comment can be the beginning of a meaningful collaboration.
Tip: This strategy works best with nano and micro influencers, who are more likely to interact with their audience by responding to comments and likes. For larger influencers, it can be more challenging to get noticed due to the sheer volume of engagements they receive.
The best way to reach out to influencers in TikTok is through a compelling email. This makes your brand seem more professional and sets the stage for a potential back-and-forth conversation that allows you to convenience creators to work with you.
The first step is finding their email address. Typically, you can locate an influencer's email in their TikTok bio:
If their email isn’t listed in the bio, check any links they’ve included, as they may provide contact information there.
Once you have their email, it's time to reach out. Be sure to craft a personalized introduction that demonstrates you're familiar with their content. Additionally, since this is your first email, clearly state why you're contacting them—include a purpose statement and a value proposition.
Here’s a useful template for reaching out to TikTok influencers:
SUBJECT: {{ firstname|default(influencer_handle) }} – ENTER YOUR BRAND NAME Partnership
Hi {{ firstname|default(influencer_handle) }},
{{personalized_sentence}}
My name is ENTER YOUR NAME and I’m from ENTER YOUR COMPANY NAME. We are ADD ONE SENTENCE DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR BRAND.
We are looking for potential partnerships and we love the video content on your TikTok account {{influencer_handle}}!
It would be awesome if you could test our ENTER YOUR PRODUCT.
HIGHLIGHT YOUR USP AND YOUR PRODUCT IN ONE SENTENCE
I’m happy to send you one ENTER YOUR PRODUCT for you to test and share with your followers. We also offer a 20% commission or a discount code to give out to your followers. Please get back to me if you are interested in this opportunity.
Can I send you one of the ENTER YOUR PRODUCT?
Thanks!
Best,
ENTER YOUR NAME
While email is a more effective way to connect with TikTok influencers, you can also try sending them a direct message (DM). For this is key to standing out from the crowd by writing a thoughtful and concise message.
To send DM’s, all you have to do is go to the go to your inbox and click on the search icon:
Then, add the person you’d like to DM. Keep in mind you can only send 3 messages until the influencer accepts your request.
While TikTok may be the primary platform where influencers create content, many of them are also active on Instagram. Reaching out via Instagram can sometimes be more effective for establishing a connection, especially if the influencer is more responsive on this platform.
Some influencers manage their outreach more actively on Instagram since they often receive fewer inquiries there compared to TikTok.
Just like with TikTok DMs, it’s crucial to personalize your message. Reference something specific about their Instagram profile or content to show that you’ve done your research.
Example: “Hi [Influencer’s Name], I loved your latest Instagram post on [specific content]! I work with [brand], and we think your style would be a perfect match for our next [campaign/product launch]. Would you be interested in collaborating?”
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For successful collabs with TikTok influencers, avoid making these common mistakes:
Generic messages fail to connect. Companies that do outreaches manually often opt to send generic, copy-paste messages to save time. Influencers have thousands of collaboration requests, and a non-personalized outreach can easily come across as insincere or even spammy.
Let’s take a look at these examples.
Bad Outreach Example (Generic Message):
"Hi! We’re [Brand], and we love your TikTok content. We’d love for you to promote our products. Please let us know if you’re interested in collaborating."
Good Outreach Example (Personalized Message):
"Hi [Influencer’s Name], I’ve been following your TikTok for a while, and your recent video on sustainable fashion really caught my attention. I love how you creatively blend style with eco-friendly choices. At [Brand], we’re launching a new line of sustainable clothing, and I think your unique approach would be a perfect fit to help us share our story with your audience. Would you be open to discussing how we can collaborate?"
Both examples essentially are looking for the same thing: A partnership, but the message is entirely different. The first one is vague, with no clear explanation of what the brand does or what the collaboration entails. The second one, on the other hand, is specific, referring to content the influencer has created, and has a clear call to action to start a conversation.
To avoid generic outreach, influencer marketing platforms like Influencer Hero allow you to send personalized messages using AI. This ensures that each message feels tailored to the individual influencer, helping you maintain authenticity while scaling your outreach efforts.
A common misstep in influencer marketing is focusing solely on influencers with large followings, assuming that bigger reach equals bigger results. However, this approach overlooks the power of micro-influencers — creators with smaller, more niche audiences who often have higher engagement rates and stronger community ties.
Studies have shown that micro-influencers can generate up to 60% more engagement than macro-influencers.
Additionally, working with smaller influencers is more cost-effective. On average, a nano influencer can charge up to $50 per TikTok post, while a macro influencer tends to charge between $300 and $4,000.
Here’s a closer look at the average rates of TikTok influencers:
To compare with other platforms check out our Influencer Pricing in 2024 article.
Influencers need clear information about timelines, deliverables, and compensation to assess whether a partnership is feasible and worthwhile. If these key elements are left unclear, it can lead to confusion, delays, or even a missed opportunity for a successful collaboration.
Make sure to highlight the value your brand can offer—whether it’s competitive compensation, exclusive access to products, or an opportunity to collaborate on creative content. Remember, influencers are not just doing you a favor; they’re building their own brand too.
Reaching out to TikTok influencers can be a game-changer for your brand, but success depends on your approach. By following the right strategies—whether it's leveraging platforms like TikTok Creator Marketplace or personalizing your outreach through direct messages—you can build meaningful relationships with influencers that drive results.
Avoid common pitfalls, such as sending generic messages or overlooking micro-influencers, and make sure to offer clear expectations and value. With the right mindset and approach, you'll be well on your way to creating impactful influencer partnerships that elevate your brand and engage your target audience on TikTok.
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