How to Engage Influencers Prior to Shortlisting?

Follow and engage genuinely for a few weeks first. A brand that has been visibly present is not a cold approach when the message finally arrives, and we notice the difference immediately.

Keep it genuinely low-stakes. An early conversation that arrives with a brief attached stops being low-stakes, and it converts a warm relationship into a pitch the creator now has to decline.

Engaging creators before they are formally shortlisted is a soft, relationship-first step that can make later outreach warmer. The idea is simple. If a brand has genuinely followed, liked and thoughtfully commented on a creator's work over time, an eventual message does not arrive out of nowhere. That familiarity can lift response rates and set a friendlier tone.

The key word is genuine. Creators easily spot a brand that suddenly floods their comments the week before a pitch so this only works when the interaction is real and consistent rather than an obvious set-up.

Keep it light and human, not transactional. It is worth being clear that this pre-engagement does not replace vetting. A creator you have warmed to still needs the same authenticity and audience checks before they make the shortlist, since a friendly rapport says nothing about whether their following is real. This sits earlier in the funnel than approaching a ready creator. Flinque handles the rigorous vetting step that follows, once you move from warming to selecting.