If you want to get more sponsored posts and collaborations, you need to learn how to pitch brands! I have made thousands of dollars doing sponsored campaigns and blog posts for national brands, and this is how I pitch companies that I would like to work with.
First things first.
How do PR managers find bloggers and influencers?
Put yourself in a position to be found by the Communications team at the brand you want to work with! PR managers look for people the same way content creators look for new topics – doing research! PR managers are constantly watching social media, trends, and keywords to see what people care about.
When they find someone they like, they pay attention to their analytics: followers, visitors, interactions, and other factors. After all, they want content creators who can reach as many people as possible to promote their products.
They may get a referral from other bloggers and content creators. You can ask them yourself for sponsored posts as well.
Pitch Sponsored Posts For Your Blog
You don’t have to wait for companies to come knocking at your door. You can pitch ideas to them as soon as you want. Make sure you have a platform they can use, though. No company will pay you to promote their products if you have no visitors.
Another important part of pitching to brands is knowing who you’re going to work with. You want to continue building yourself as an authority figure – not to lose it all over one sponsored post.
Research the Brand
If you don’t have a connection with the company, you need to start by researching the brand and looking for the right contacts online.
Find Key PR Contacts on Linkedin
Writers who do well with words and social media can try to find the right people on LinkedIn – as long as they have a company profile there. Most do, though. So there’s nothing to worry about.
How to pitch brands via LinkedIn? Go to their page and look for the people tab. Look for whoever is in charge of social media or similar areas and send them a quick message. Introduce yourself, pitch your idea, and explain how you can help their brand. Wait for a reply.
Use Hunter.io to Get their Email
You can send an email for a more traditional and personalized touch – if you have the email to write to. Fortunately, there’s more than one way to get it.
Hunter.io is simple and straightforward to use. All you have to do is write down the website you want to work with. After that, write down the email address you need.
Look for whoever is in charge of PR or social media and send them an email.
Send Your Pitch Email
Crafting a good pitch email is an art form!
Introduce Yourself
Introduce yourself as quickly as possible. If they already know who you are (because you’re an authority figure in your niche), great! There’s no need to give up if they don’t.
State your name, your website, and what you write about. That’s it. There’s no need to give a detailed explanation about yourself just yet. That’s what media kits are for.
Keeping things simple doesn’t necessarily mean you have to express yourself poorly. You need to be efficient about it.
Include a Media Kit
Update your media kit and have it ready! A media kit should include a link to your about page, other collaborations you may have done in the past, testimonials, and similar things. A simple way to let the company you’re pitching know who you are.
Make one if you don’t have one already. It’s a big part of learning how to pitch brands. It’s also a one-and-done kind of thing – you can always use the same media kit.
Keep it short and sweet, though. There’s no need to overwhelm anyone.
Be Clear About Your Proposal
Nobody will hire you to write about their products if you can’t pitch an idea clearly. Don’t beat around the bush.
Be clear and concise about everything. Who you are, what your idea is, how you can help the brand, and what you bring to the table.
Be efficient! Companies receive countless sponsored post ideas daily. You need to show your value right away and hook them as soon as possible.
You have a minute at best from the moment someone opens your message or email until they close and delete it. Make it count.
State Specifically How It Helps the Brand
The main gist of this message should be how you can help their brand. They already know how they can help you (they’ll pay you) – but you need to explain why they would want to work with you.
That’s the difficult part. What do you have? Insight? Details? Great content? Most companies care about visibility alone.
Make sure you talk about how many visitors you have daily, how many of them turn into customers for brands you’ve worked with – and how many potential customers for their brand visit your blog daily.
Don’t Provide Your Rates for Sponsored Work in the First Email
You’re writing a sponsored post for the money. You know it, they know it, and pretty much everybody else knows it. That’s why there’s no need to talk about it yet.
The first email is an introduction. You talk about who you are and how you can help their brand grow. They’ll tell you their budget in their reply – or you can talk numbers after they show interest. Hook them first, charge them second.
Always Follow Up on Your Proposal
PR managers receive countless emails every day. They also have to pay attention to their messages on more social media. Your message will likely get lost in there from time to time. That’s why it’s important to follow up!
Sending a second email or message a week or ten days after the first one will work as a quick reminder that you’re available to work together. It should be short and to the point.
After that, move on. Knowing when to walk away is key when you’re learning how to pitch brands.
Don’t Get Discouraged
It may take a while before you land sponsored posts to work on. You won’t get them right away – and they may come few and far between.
Don’t get discouraged. Continue writing and, every now and then, pitch a new sponsored post to a different company. Learning how to do this takes time.
You may get more than one sponsored post from the same company if you do the first one right. Let that be motivation enough to keep going.