18. How to write a great pitch

When it comes to creating a great pitch that will make a company want to work with you there are so many things to consider yet the main one should always be why do you want to work with this company. I can’t begin to tell you how many rubbish pitches I have read in my time that basically state they want to work with me or a client I have but they don’t tell me what they want to work on, why they want to work with us or even how they want to work together. Far too often influencers see someone working with a brand and think that they would like to get some free items as well without really considering if it is a right fit or if the collaboration would be mutually beneficial. Below I will go into a few things that you should think about when writing a pitch to a potential brand.

Who are they? Who are you?

Do your research, you need to know the brand really well. What projects are they working on at the moment? Are they launching anything soon or promoting anything timely? Do you have a direct email address? Use google to find out who the PR agency is or if they do their marketing in-house then use LinkedIn to see if you can find the right name. If you google the persons name and email address and then the company website domain name you may be able to find their direct email address which will make a big difference when you reach out rather than using a generic one where your pitch may get lost.

Don’t forget they need to know about you as well. Include your interests, relevant facts about your family, your social accounts with stats (only the relevant ones) and some information that is useful for them to have to feel that you are their target audience.

What do you want to work on?

Knowing how you want to work together is key. Don’t just email and say I would love to work with you. If there are products you really want to work on then tell them that. It could be that you like a particular range or a particular place. It could be you have a creative idea for a campaign. This is your chance to really show them that you know their brand well. Doing this right will make you stand out from all the other emails so be clear on what you want but also let them know you are open to other ideas if they think something else would work better.

Why do you want to work with them and why should they work with you?

A brand or PR will know when you are genuinely a huge fan of a brand so make sure you share that with them. If you have never experienced that brand before then tell them why you are interested. Have you seen another campaign they have done? Why not name-drop some of the influencers involved in that campaign. You need to let them know why they should choose you, are you great at photography, do you have high engagement, is your site traffic fantastic. You the elevator pitch we discussed in a previous post to help with this.

Where do you see the collaboration going?

How do you see the collaboration working? Is it a one-off or is this something that you can work with on an ongoing basis? Do you want money or is the product only ok? Are there timelines involved? What are your expectations from the collaboration?

How can you make it worth their time (and money)?

Consider what platforms will you create content on and how much content you will create. Will you create any content for their platforms? Are you happy to share any of your images? Where is the value in them working with you.

Be realistic

Remember that very few cold pitches actually succeed. If you have met someone previously you have a much better chance of them actually reading your pitch but you may still not get anywhere. You also need to be realistic in your expectations from a collaboration, having 1000 followers and asking for a free holiday is never going to work.