Pitching to brands and proper pricing is something content creators always talk about or are asking others for advice on. 

With all the info that’s out there, how does one know how effectively pitch to brands? Who should be your contact? What do you even say?

Fear no more fellow creator, I’m here to spill the tea on the art of pitching to brands. I’m talking dos and don’ts along with proper etiquette and some tips on turning an unpaid collab into a potential paid opportunity. 

You see, in my day job, I’m the one influencers pitch their collab ideas to. Yup, my inbox is constantly flooded with people wanting free products to test for their blogs or Instagram and guess what, sometimes I don’t read them all. Not because I can’t, it’s that some pitches are just bad. 

On a daily basis, I see pitches that are so carefully crafted and others, well not so much. I’m talking misspelled words, no intro or links or even what their idea for a collab is just a plain “hi, I’m an influencer and I’d like to collab”

Umm….ok. 

Mind you, this is being sent to my email, not a DM or a Facebook message. 

If you want to look like a pro, pro when you pitch to brands, continue reading this post! 

I promise these simple tweaks will help you avoid looking like a rookie and will help you stand out against the sea of influencers also inquiring about a collab. After all, we’re all suckers for a good pitch and professionalism. 

The pitch in a nutshell

Your pitch is your chance to be noticed by a brand so everything from the introduction to the words you use and what you include says a lot about you. 

Ideally, a pitch should be short, sweet and to the point but above all friendly and conversational. 

When you pitch to a brand you want to make sure you hand them E V E R Y T H I N G they’ll need to know who you are, what you do, what’s your niche etc. 

Your goal is to build a lasting relationship with a brand so avoid starting the conversation with your rates or any money talk. I’d even go as far as not including a media kit or rate sheet until it’s asked for.

What should your subject line say?

While some people recommend getting clever and getting the marketer’s attention, I personally prefer pitches that are straight to the point in the subject line. 

This could look like 

“Curated by Cynthia X Brand Collab”

“Collaboration Request for Curated by Cynthia”

“Potential Collaboration with Popular (your niche) Blog”

You get the point. 

The reason why I, amongst many of my peers, prefer this over something clever is that sometimes we get a lot of sales emails along with influencer requests and yours can get lost in the mix if it’s not properly titled. 

This also allows us to go back and type “collaboration” on our email search and *bam* your email pops up. 

I once got a pitch with a knock-knock joke at the beginning and let’s just say, I appreciated the effort but it came off tackier than the influencer knew and left me with the impression that she was trying too hard.

The Checklist: What information goes in a pitch? 

To keep things simple here’s a basic checklist of everything that should be included in your pitch. 

• Small intro
• Name
• Link to ALL profiles
• Collab idea 
• Stats (demographics, followers, engagement etc)
• A short and sweet paragraph of why you’re interested in the company 

Etiquette: Pitching do’s and don’ts

As common sense as some of these tips may be, they are worth noting as I run across these things all the time.

Do:

• Do your research: The more you know about the brand and their needs the better
• Be Confident: In yourself and your content
• Follow-up: This is when the deals really happen. I usually like to follow up after the first 7 days and then once more on day 14
• Ask questions: If you need clarification on a post or guidance on an image ask your contact. Nothing sucks more than shooting and not getting the contact approved
• Communicate: When it comes to long-term campaigns or campaigns that take more than 3 weeks to complete, I like to check in at least once a week with an update to show that I am invested.
• Keep a relationship after the collab: provide stats and anything else that will further give the brand insight on what your content did for them.

Dont’s:

• Don’t be rude: You’d be surprised how many influencers I run into that are unpleasant and unprofessional
• Commit if you can’t deliver: Time and time again I run into situations where an influencer pitches, we have an agreement and then they ghost the brand. Don’t be that influencer.
• Include attachments: Unless asked, you have a 50/50 chance a brand will actually look at your attachment.

The Good Pitch Vs Bad Pitch

Here are some samples of a few pitches I have received that I considered to be good and some that, well, needed some work.

Good

“Hi Cynthia,

My name is —, I was recently introduced to HerStyler while walking through a mall and wanted to let you know that it has drastically cut back my style time in the mornings. I’ve mentioned your brand to my followers and have received such positive feedback, I just know they’d love to learn more.

My blog, —-, sees over 2,000 page views/month and has a high engagement rate for just being introduced within the last year. My Instagram, –, also sees above average engagement with 15%.

With fall around the corner, I’d love to share some of your hair care products with my followers to show them how I use HerStyler to style my hair and keep it healthy and shiny despite being in the pool almost everyday this summer.

Please let me know if I can partner with HerStyler in any way.

Thanks,

—-

Unlike the bad pitches, you’ll see below, this email tells me 1, the influencer has experience with the product. 2, they want to write a blog or collab on Instagram. 3, I have their stats and links so I don’t have to go searching.

Bad

” Hello! I would love to be an influencer for you guys! I’m a huge fan of natural product and the use of CBD and oils ! My Instagram handle is : —“

“Hi!

My name is —- and I am a Beauty & Lifestyle blogger from California. I am very interested in promoting your products on my instagram account —— and blog. It would be a pleasure to collaborate with your brand. 

I look forward to hearing from you  🙂 “

“Hello my name is — know as — on Instagram , I wanna know how could i work more with you guys. I would love to promo your ideas more on my page. “

“Hey Dear. My name is —. I’m blogger. I live in Boston…I’d love to promote you products!!!I really like your company and I would like to cooperate with you. 
Are you interested in working together in a collaboration? 
Thank you for your attention I hope you do not refuse me. 
My account 

—
With love —“
️ 

While yes, these pitches are short sweet and to the point, I still have no clue what the influencers are looking for.

To top it off, they are leaving it up to me to do the work of coming up with ideas for their blog and their collab.

Also, did you notice no one mentions the brand or any of the products by name?

Instead of pitching like this, add the type of collab you have in mind and how it benefits the brand. Personalize the pitch by including the brand’s name and what products you are interested in and if you’ve used the brand before, compliment them!

Negotiations

Want to turn your unpaid collab offer to a paid collaboration? The money is in the negotiation, which rarely happens when an unpaid campaign is offered.

Instead of leaving a brand on read because all they offered was a post in exchange for the product, try asking questions and using your stats and passed collabs to work out a deal where maybe you do one free post and one for your rate.

Trust me, no matter what a brand says (unless they are a small startup or small boutique) there is always money for influencer marketing within a company’s budget. As long as you understand their goals, you are able to pitch yourself to cater to their needs.

Who to Contact

Last but not least, I want to talk about who to contact when you’re pitching.

Generic marketing emails work well as they forward information to the correct department, but ideally, you’d like to have a direct contact to build a relationship with.

Avoid DMing a brand on Instagram or Facebook asking to collab, unless absolutely necessary. If you can’t find a marketing email or a contact, feel free to inquire and ask who the best person to contact regarding your inquiry is.

The reason for this is that sometimes companies use third-party services to run their social media accounts and the social media manager may not know about collaborations or how to direct you.

If you enjoy this type of content please leave a comment letting me know!

Do you have any tips when it comes to collaborating and sending the perfect pitch to brands? Drop a comment below letting me know!

Also, if you enjoy this type of content and make sure you let me know so I can continue to post to my Influencer’s Guide.

Until next time babes!