Are you sick and tired of hearing crickets after reaching out to your favorite brands? Are you at your breaking point with hearing the word NO after sending email after email? Do you know what you have to offer is really great but you can’t get anyone to listen to you? Then today’s post is just for you my friend.
What if there really was a secret sauce when it comes to pitching. What if you could just tweak your phrasing and turn all of those NOs into YESSES? Would you be down for that? I sure hope so because chances are you are making a critical error when you pitch and today I am going to share with you how you can fix it.
Blogging is an interesting craft because it is an entirely new career which means none of us doing it have had any type of formal education. So chances are unless like me you come from a sales & marketing background, you don’t have a ton of experience when it comes to pitching, amIright?
I mean, maybe you’ve listened to a few podcasts, or been coached by a friend, but chances are the act of sitting down and pitching yourself and your brand is probably a bit stressful and maybe even downright frightening. The GOOD NEWS, my friend, is it’s not as difficult or daunting as it seems.
In fact, brands actually LOVE to hear from amazing creators who happen to be brand loyalists just like yourself. The trouble is you have to make sure that you are selling the sizzle or your message may just fall flat.
So, what exactly does it mean to sell the sizzle?
It means you need to really quickly let the brand know WHAT’S IN IT FOR THEM!
You see, the person on the other end of your email gets tons of pitches every single day and it’s their job to filter through them and find partners that will drive some kind of a return for the brand. The clearer you are at getting the brand excited about what YOU have to offer them, aka the benefits of working with you, the better chance you have for them to:
1) continue reading your email and
2) the more likely you will be to get a response.
Okay, I’m sold- but how?
I know what you are thinking, how exactly do I do that Amber. No fear, as I said before I’ve got you… it means your email should be short and to the point. If this is your first interaction with the brand 1-2 initial sentences that educate them on who you are is totally acceptable, in fact, I would throw out a few of your best numbers (IG following, engagement rate, monthly pageviews) too if you have them. And, add a few hyperlinks so that they can quickly navigate your Instagram and/ or Blog. BUT, that is IT!
They do NOT want, nor do they have the time to read a paragraph about who you are (although I am positive you are freakin’ amazing!). Anyhoo, if you feel the need to share more you can pop all of those deets on an awesome About Page and link to that, mmkay? For now, let’s only give them your absolute very best stats and a few quick links just to establish some authority.
Then move right into your pitch which is the AHHH-MAZING offer you have for the brand. This is where you want to go into details. Let the brand know exactly what product you would like to promote & why (hopefully, you have done your research and know the brand well and have an awesome personal anecdote to pop in here).
Then be sure to tell the brand exactly what you are offering THEM and all of the amazing benefits they will receive by working with you. I am talking deliverables, expected approx. reach etc… If you have some case studies linking them here would be a smart move!
To wrap things up reiterate your love for the brand, let them know you’ve attached your media kit (you better have one!), and let them know you are open to any other ideas the brand might have and that you would love to be considered for any upcoming campaigns. BOOM! You are done.
Now hit send and do a little dance!!! You are one step closer to living the dream!!
What would you like me to share next?
What problems or roadblocks are you facing when it comes to pitching yourself and/ or your company to brands?
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I love these ideas but what if you’re BRAND new? I haven’t worked with any brands. How do you get the ball rolling?
Thanks!
Hi there Kathy, I think step one is building/ growing a brand. If you are brand new that is definitely where you have to begin because you won’t have value to add to a brand without having built some kind of audience. That said I think many newbie bloggers and influencers think they have to hit some astronomical number before they can begin pitching and this just isn’t true. Once you have established an engaged following you have something the brand wants and that is a willing audience. In fact, many of the smaller micro-influencers have much greater engagement than the larger ones. I hope that helps.
Amber,
Thank you so much for this great advice.
I would love tips on making a 1 page media page & what you feel is most important to feature when your numbers are still small.
Look forward to learning more.
Hey there!! When you are small you want to focus on your biggest wins so you might look at average impressions and reach, maybe combine social numbers across all platforms, basically put your best foot forward. Maybe you had a single post get a super high reach or engagement- screenshot it and add those. Maybe a blog post has received a ton of pageviews- pop that in there. Any testimonials from previous brand collabs would be great to add as well. Hope that helps!!