I have been working with brands for many many years (over 13!) and I have learned a lot along the way. When I started, there were no courses or books, or classes or Pinterest pins leading to help in how to pitch and work with brands. So now I say, learn from my mistakes! It will help you get to where you want to be a LOT faster than it took me. I am friends with a lot of brand managers, and also used to source and vet influencers for large brand campaigns, so I wanted to share five things NOT to do when pitching to help you land your dream gig!
1.) Don’t talk about why YOU want the product/service trip:
Let’s say you are pitching a luggage brand. The worst thing you can do is talk about why YOU want the product. Example: “I just think it’s so pretty and fun and would love to have it for my next vacation.” Sssoooo…how is that helping the brand? Instead, make sure you talk about why your FOLLOWERS would love the luggage, and how you can showcase the features on your next vacation. It’s fine to gush about your genuine love, but you have to take it a step further. To be taken seriously and treated like a business you can’t just pitch brands to get items you want for your house and life.
2.) Don’t walk away if you don’t love the first thing proposed:
A lot of times a brand will reach out and immediately their budget is super low, or they are only offering product. If you either ignore them, or flat out tell them no, you could be missing out on an opportunity. Remember, the brand is a business and of course they want to try to get you for the lowest price they can. Just like you want the highest payout but would take less if it came down to it. Instead of walking away, ask for more money, OR change the deliverables. If they want 2 reels for X amount, ask if you can do one instead. See how you can negotiate!
3.) Don’t be vague in your ask:
I have had friends who work from brands tell me about some awful emails they have gotten over the years. Things like, for instance, a hotel brand gets an email: “Hi! I love to travel and share my trips with my followers, can you host me (in the middle of summer when you are busiest.)” Wow. That not only sounds super entitled, but it doesn’t share anything about your following or yourself, and it doesn’t share how you can help the brand get more bookings. It’s basically “hi I want a free vacation and since I have a good amount of followers you should give me what I want.” Brands would MUCH prefer you be specific with your story or pitch angle, for instance with the luggage example:
“We have a trip coming up where we are taking out daughter on an airplane for the first time. I think this would be a great opportunity to showcase the luggage from packing, to wheeling it into the airport, to getting it after the flight (easy to see because it’s so pretty!) and then bringing it into the hotel where we unpack and easily store it under the bed. We could do a reel and story set. We could also do another story set of us leaving the hotel showing packing back up again and going home. I would include a voiceover as we went with key messaging while also talking in general about our trip and what we plan to do so that it doesn’t sound like an ad.” See the difference?
4.) Don’t give a rate without knowing the SOW (scope of work):
Too many people will agree to work with a brand without knowing the full scope of work and this is super dangerous. Is there exclusivity? usage? whitelisting? how difficult is the brief? How much time do you have to complete the work? Make sure you hammer out ALL the details before you agree/sign any contracts.
5.) Don’t send a generic email to everyone:
I see a lot of creators create one generic, broad, email that they send out to 50 brands. This is a mistake for more than one reason. First of all, if the email is going to a PR company or agency, you may be sending multiple emails to the same person who represents different brands, and that’s a bad look. Also, it is obvious to the managers what you are doing when you aren’t specifically talking about their brand, calling them by name, etc. These people are not stupid! Do i have templates that I reuse for different brands in the came category, of course I do, but I go in and still tailor each one to the specific brand. I have gotten pretty fast at it, but it does take some time. But it is worth it!
Looking for more info on pitching a brand? You can purchase my ebook, Level Up Your Influence, or get added to my email list where I give tips, news, and info! Sign up now and get my FREE content monetization checklist!
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