Almost every celebrity (and many major influencers as well) today have representatives that are in charge of managing their business inquiries, publicity events, and most other types of partnerships. Celebrity representatives are thus the most direct route towards communicating with a celebrity for whatever need you may have. On a normal day, nonetheless, most celebrity representatives will probably be juggling dozens of different requests, appeals, and invitations. To stay organized and maintain an efficient and methodical management of the opportunities that arise for the celebrities they represent, most representatives absolutely abhor unsolicited phone calls.

Though you may very well be able to find the phone number for a celebrity representative you are wanting to contact, an uninvited phone call can start things on the wrong foot. Sending an email is almost universally the preferred strategy, as there is a paper trail and can view all of the vital information. Writing a good cold email, however, is an art in and of itself. Below, we offer five tips to write the best cold email to a celebrity representative.

Tip #1: Make your subject line concise but attention-grabbing

Imagine that you are a celebrity representative sitting down in front of the computer after an exhausting day of managing the extraordinarily busy day of the celebrity you represent. As usual, your inbox is teaming with unread messages. As you quickly skim through the dozens of requests, invites, and other opportunities, the subject line of those emails is most likely the first thing you read. A subject line that reads: “IMPORTANT OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU” is probably not going to be very attention-grabbing.

The subject lines of a cold email need to be concise, but attention-grabbing. Avoid vagueness or imprecision, as this tends to increase the likelihood that your email gets deleted before ever being read. Make sure that the subject line clearly outlines what the content of the email will contain.

Tip #2: Adapt your message for the world of the smartphone

Secondly, a cold email should also take into account the fact that the vast majority of people (celebrity representatives included) live attached to their smartphones. Though representatives most likely do have a computer where sit to work on a daily basis, they also most likely check their emails on their phones several times throughout the day. If the subject line of your cold email sparked their interest while they were checking their phone, the email itself should be sufficiently concise so that it can easily be read on a phone interface. Trying to read a 1,000-word email on a phone is trying, and many celebrity representatives may lose interest halfway through the message.

To ensure maximum readability, keep your first cold email between 200 and 500 words, and avoid long paragraphs. Rather, break up the content of your email into short sentences and paragraphs that can be easily understood even on a phone.

Tip #3: Make sure that you clearly outline what you are offering and the
opportunity for the celebrity

Here is where things get a little bit trickier. We have already stated that you need to be concise and “to the point” in order to respect the hectic lives and schedules that most celebrity representatives live. However, simply saying something like “this is a great opportunity,” or “you’ll make a lot of money” is a surefire way to have your email promptly deleted, especially if that is your subject line. Similarly, a cold email that simply reads “Here is a great opportunity, check out the attachment for more details” is also an easy email to ignore by celebrity representatives simply because they don’t know anything about the opportunity, or anything about the proposed partnership that could compel them to open the attachment.

Along the same lines, an initial cold email that simply asks if the celebrity representative would like to be sent more information regarding a potential partnership opportunity is also a recipe for failure. Though conciseness is one of the goals of an initial cold email, it is absolutely essential to include some sort of information that will entice the representative to take action and request further details.

That having been said, a good cold email should succinctly outline what it is you are offering or proposing. You need to make entirely clear your purpose in sending the email. Are you seeking a celebrity endorsement or a different type of partnership? What type of brand are you? What type of deal are you proposing? Why is this celebrity a good fit? It is important here to include information that will grab the attention of the representative and make him or her think that it is an opportunity that they simply cannot miss out on.

Tip #4: Briefly outline the most important elements of the proposed
partnership

Lastly, your cold email should also include the most important elements of the proposed partnership. What exactly are you willing to offer? Oftentimes, including metrics can help to pique the interest of the celebrity representative. If you are organizing an event, for example, you might mention expected attendance or media coverage. If you are a brand looking to strike a partnership with the celebrity, you might mention in the initial cold email information regarding upfront payments, revenue sharing proposals, or potential equity stakes as part of the partnership. If you are trying to get an investment and also to give them an upfront payment, then the initial cold email should also include traction numbers around usage, your ACV, your CAC, or anything that will stand out. You don’t have to include an exact number for payment, but let the representative know what you are putting on the table.

Besides clearly outlining the opportunity and any essential figures or metrics, you should also make it clear why you chose to reach out to the specific celebrity. Mention briefly why you think the celebrity is a good fit, any shared values or causes, or other information you might think pertinent and help to make your case.

The biggest challenge that comes with writing an initial cold email is finding the best way to include the above-mentioned elements while maintaining brevity. Keep your email short, but dense, and do everything you can to clearly outline what you ́re proposing without making the email cumbersome to read.

Conclusion: Walk the fine line between annoyance and persistence

Lastly, it is important to note that many times an initial cold email may not receive a reply. In some cases, your email may be have been erroneously directed to a spam or junk folder. In other cases, the celebrity representative may have deleted it or simply forgot to reply due to other pressing concerns and obligations.

If you haven’t received a reply within a week of your initial cold email, sending a “follow-up” email is perfectly fine, and in many times appreciated by celebrity representatives. Instead of simply copying and pasting your original email, send a brief message explaining that your initial email had gone unanswered. For example, a good follow-up email might say:

Hi (Rep Name),

I reached out to you about a week ago regarding a branding partnership with (our brand), but have not heard back from you. We really think that this partnership fits with (celebrity name). My original message is copied below.


Is this something you would be interested in?

Learning to walk the fine line between annoyance and persistence is a skill that can help you finally connect with the celebrity representative you ́re trying to contact.