Outreach is the part of the job nobody shows on Instagram and the one that most determines what you earn. A mediocre creator who writes every day earns more than an excellent one waiting to be discovered.
Where to find brands in France
The ads shown to you
If a brand is running ads at you, it has a media budget and consumes creative. It is the best free filter there is.
Meta's ad library
You can see who is running ads, since when, and with which creative. A brand running the same video for three months is a client who does not know it yet.
Marketplaces
Sellers with volume and listings without video: an obvious need.
This is where the acquisition and social media leads of digitally native brands are. A short message lands very well there.
Agencies
A single well handled agency can fill your month, every month.
What a message that gets answered looks like
Three rules: short, specific and with a closed proposal.
What ruins a message is starting by talking about yourself. Start with them: a real detail about their product or their ad activity that proves you looked before writing.
Always close with a question that is easy to answer. "Shall I send two examples for your summer range?" works better than "let me know if you are interested".
The French calendar
Brands order creative four to six weeks ahead of the peaks: January sales, mothers day in May, the September back to school period, Black Friday and Christmas.
Prospecting for Black Friday in mid October is too late. Late August is the right moment. That single shift changes your reply rate more than any rewrite of your message.
And August is a quiet month: many teams are away, but those who stay have time to read. Some creators have their best outreach months then.
Through which channel
Email works with structured brands and agencies. LinkedIn works remarkably well in France for reaching the decision maker directly. Instagram works with small brands, where the founder runs the account.
No reply means one single follow up after five days. Then move on.
Realistic volume
Ten personalised messages a day, five days a week. That is two hundred contacts in a month, and with that any creator with a decent portfolio closes work.
Keep a simple table: brand, date, reply, next step.
Passive outreach, in parallel
While you write, make yourself findable. A profile on a UGC marketplace with your niche, your languages and your rates brings enquiries from French and European brands you would never have contacted.
Where to go next
Outreach is a habit, not a campaign. Our guide on how to become a UGC creator places this piece within the whole craft.
