Influencers are masters at personal branding; so much so that influencer marketing is now essential to any big brand’s promotion campaigns. Sponsorships and brand collaborations are one of the main sources of many influencer incomes, with sponsorships bringing in anywhere between $17,000 to $185,000 a year. However, when you’re starting as an influencer, you can’t expect brands to come to you–instead, you have to learn how to pitch brand collaborations. 

It can be pretty intimidating approaching any bigger brand when you’re starting small. That’s why many nano-influencers often wait to grow before they start searching for deals or sponsorships. 

Don’t be mistaken, though; over 70% of brands this year aim to involve nano and micro-influencers in their campaigns. Influencers with smaller followings often have high levels of engagement and active community trust, making them perfect for any marketing campaign. 

Your influencer account can bring a lot of value to these brands, as long as they hear you out. So let’s talk about how to pitch brand collaborations to your future partners:

1. Know your worth

Similar to brand-to-brand collaborations, all types of influencers hold value to the brands they’re pitching to. The key is to understand what you can offer future sponsors, and what you need to ask for in return.

Many social media platforms have set rates for influencer sponsorships based on their following or engagement rates. For example, on Instagram, a nano-influencer with 500-10,000 followers usually gets around $10 to $100 per post, while mid-tier influencers with 50,000-100,000 followers earn $500 to $5,000.

However, follower counts and rates are far from the full picture. What brands want above all else is engagement and activity. There’s no point in sponsoring an influencer with thousands of followers if none of them are interested in their sponsored product, after all.

While you’re building your influencer platform, ask yourself this:

• What niche are you filling? What does your audience look for in your content? What kind of services or products would they actually try if you recommended it to them, and why?
• How has your current audience reacted to any previous sponsored content? Were they open to the sponsorship, or did they immediately disengage?
• What type of content do you excel at? What excites your following and creates engagement?
• How are you different from other influencers in your field? What unique selling points does your personal brand offer sponsors?

When you understand this, you can jump to the next big step:

2. Find brands that are right for you

Research what brands you want to collaborate with. These brands should be within your niche and in need of a boost to their social media or marketing presence. A stylist creator? Approach clothing brands. A tech influencer? Look for apps, hardware, or other innovative brands. A foodie? Kitchen appliances or ingredients.

Also, try going for small brands within your location first before looking for bigger brand sponsorships. While you probably won’t get a reply from Supreme in a while, you’ll have a better chance of working with local entrepreneurs or growing brands catering to your market.

3. Know who to contact

Most influencers are used to organizing or collaborating in DMs or through social apps like Discord. This is usually a no-go for most formal businesses, though; interns or employees handle most brand accounts and not the marketing team you want to communicate with. Pitching through DMs can also often be seen as unprofessional. 

Instead, try to send a polite and friendly email through their open channels. Find out the email of their Head of Marketing or Social Media Marketing team by digging a little on their website or LinkedIn pages. If you can’t find an email, you can try searching on Apollo.io or other email finders. 

Don’t feel comfortable emailing a brand without a heads-up? You can inquire if they’re open for brand collaborations through their DMs first, then ask for a contact and email where you can pitch.

4. Send your pitch

Now that you have their email, you can send a quick pitch to sell yourself. Keep in mind to cater your pitch to each brand you’re contacting. These brands can get a lot of emails a day, and if yours sounds like a copy-pasted template, they’ll likely assume it’s spam and ignore you. 

With that in mind, the general structure of your pitch will likely be as such:

1. A short introduction, usually less than 3-4 sentences. Tell them who you are, what you do, what your main social media platform is. This is also a good time to let them know how you found out about their brand and name one or two reasons why you’d be thrilled to collaborate with them personally. You can also link your influencer deck and portfolio in your name or social media handles.
2. A rundown of why you think a brand collaboration would be beneficial for both of you. You can describe your audience’s recent preferences and hyperlink your high-engagement posts, then connect it to how your audience will connect and engage with the brand you’re contacting. 
3. A preview of what kind of content you think you can make for the brand, and how it would benefit their marketing campaigns. This doesn’t have to be detailed, but it should give an idea of how you want to increase their engagement, retention, brand awareness, etc.

5. Be active

Once you send your first few pitches, you’ll find that many brands won’t reply immediately. Don’t be discouraged–pitching is a tough process, and you may not see many results even after dozens of sent pitches. 

Send a few follow-up emails two or three weeks after you’ve pitched a brand you’re interested in. You can include any further proof of your influencer reach, like recent collaborations that have gone well or high-engagement posts related to the brand’s field. If they don’t reply after a third follow-up, you can pause and assess how you can make your pitch more enticing or engaging.

Timing is also an important factor in pitching. Brands tend to be the most open for collaborations a few months before major holidays or events, like winter or summer holidays. Most businesses are also more likely to respond to emails between Monday to Wednesday during work hours.

Sponsorships are one of the biggest sources of income for influencers, so it’s essential to learn how to pitch brand collaborations if you want to get ahead. While you’re there, though, remember the strength of your own private brand. Create great content and connect enough with your audience, and they’ll be willing to support you along the way. 

Looking to branch out into merchandise for your brand? Shirtual’s one-stop solutions do all the planning, production, and shipping for you. Check out our collections here!