HOW TO PITCH AND LAND YOUR FIRST BRAND COLLABORATION | Free Pitch Template and Walkthrough

[00:00] if you want to start Landing brand

[00:01] collaborations and you've thought about

[00:03] pitching to a brand but you have no idea

[00:05] what to say or where to even start this

[00:07] video is for you what's up everyone I'm

[00:09] Millie I'm an influencer coach welcome

[00:10] back to my channel where I post videos

[00:11] every week teaching you the latest

[00:13] strategies and Trends on social media to

[00:15] help you grow your brand as an

[00:16] influencer I've been in the influencer

[00:18] space for over 5 years now I've worked

[00:20] with hundreds of Brands I also have a

[00:22] course that teaches influencers how to

[00:24] grow on Instagram and land brand

[00:26] collaborations so I have quite a bit of

[00:28] experience under my belt when it comes

[00:29] to pitching working with Brands all the

[00:31] things when I teach on this topic

[00:34] typically the most asked question that I

[00:35] get over on Instagram is how do I write

[00:38] my pitch what do I say in my pitch how

[00:39] do I talk to the brand how do I reach

[00:41] out to the brand so that's what we're

[00:42] going to go over before you start

[00:43] pitching you want to ask yourself if

[00:44] you're even ready to start pitching and

[00:47] no I don't mean do you have enough

[00:48] followers you don't need to have any

[00:50] number of followers to start working

[00:51] with Brands I've helped my student Ryan

[00:54] land paid brand collaboration and so no

[00:57] it's not about the follower numbers when

[00:58] brands are looking for influencers to

[01:00] partner with they look for three things

[01:01] your parallel your community and your

[01:04] experience your parallels is basically

[01:06] the things that you have in common they

[01:08] want to have things in common with you

[01:10] especially if your audience is their

[01:13] target audience they're going to be way

[01:14] more willing to slat into those DMS pay

[01:17] you a little bit of cash to reach your

[01:18] audience and then two your community if

[01:21] they go to your Instagram and they see

[01:22] that you have a loyal Community people

[01:24] commenting on your posts you replying to

[01:26] people's comments they're going to see

[01:27] that as a lot of value brands are

[01:30] looking for influencers with a 3%

[01:32] engagement rate or more and if you have

[01:34] less than 10,000 followers you're

[01:36] actually at an advantage because you

[01:38] have a higher engagement rate than those

[01:39] over 10,000 followers so that could be a

[01:42] strategy with your pitching and then

[01:44] when I say experience I don't mean do

[01:46] you have all the experience but are you

[01:48] generally good at creating content take

[01:51] a look at your feed an honest look at

[01:53] your feed and ask yourself would a brand

[01:56] pay me to make something like this if

[01:58] the answer is no you you just got to

[02:00] practice a little bit more content

[02:01] creation is key literally the main part

[02:04] of working with a brand is that you're

[02:06] creating content with them so if your

[02:08] profile doesn't have content that would

[02:10] entice a brand or maybe the quality just

[02:12] isn't quite there yet that's what you

[02:14] want to work on a little bit more is

[02:16] honing in on your content creation craft

[02:18] not building your followers okay now

[02:20] that you know the three things to look

[02:22] for and you're like okay Millie I think

[02:23] I'm ready I think I'm ready to start

[02:24] pitching you have two goals with your

[02:26] pitch it could be either or or it could

[02:29] be both

[02:30] one goal is to create a connection the

[02:33] other goal is to serve your goal with

[02:37] pitching is not to land a paid brand

[02:40] collaboration believe it or not it's not

[02:42] to get free stuff if that is your goal

[02:45] if that is your intention you are

[02:47] pitching from the wrong place I know how

[02:50] exciting it feels or that feeling of

[02:52] doing your first collaboration and a

[02:54] brand wants to send you something for

[02:55] free and being like Oh my gosh I've made

[02:58] it like I know we all want free stuff we

[03:00] all want to work with our Dream Brands

[03:01] but if you're pitching from that selfish

[03:03] mindset or if you're pitching from that

[03:05] place you won't be able to land honest

[03:08] genuine great brand collaborations

[03:10] because Brands could see right through

[03:11] that they probably get thousands of DMS

[03:13] a day plenty of emails a day with people

[03:15] asking for free stuff so you want to

[03:17] stand out and you want to create a

[03:19] genuine email to them so really when

[03:21] you're pitching all you want to do is

[03:23] create a connection ask to get on a call

[03:25] grab a cup of coffee you just want to

[03:27] connect with the person behind the

[03:28] screen and and if you do want to partner

[03:31] with them and land a collaboration the

[03:33] collaboration is going to be one that is

[03:36] mutually beneficial not just you getting

[03:38] free stuff but you know exactly how you

[03:40] can benefit the brand and you want to

[03:42] come from a service mindset okay now

[03:44] that you kind of know the basics of what

[03:46] to look for the intent of your pitch

[03:49] let's talk about how to craft your pitch

[03:51] how to write it if you're still like ooh

[03:53] Millie I'm not sure I definitely

[03:55] recommend starting out with third party

[03:57] platforms if you're too intimidated to

[04:00] pitch send a cold email third party

[04:02] platforms are where it's at that's I

[04:05] have a bunch that I recommend to my

[04:07] students I think I have like a list of

[04:08] 10 that are my favorites but the one

[04:10] that I want to talk to you about is

[04:12] called social book who is also the

[04:13] sponsor of this video social book is a

[04:15] top influencer marketing software for

[04:16] both Brands and influencers alike they

[04:19] provide endless social tools that not a

[04:21] lot of third-party networking platforms

[04:24] have so not only can you connect with

[04:26] other brands inside of the social book

[04:28] account but you can also work on your

[04:30] media Cas you could create a link in BIO

[04:32] with all of your links in the right

[04:34] place they have a bunch of content

[04:35] creator tools within their website that

[04:38] can genuinely help creators take their

[04:40] content and their business to the next

[04:41] level for brand collaboration

[04:43] specifically you have a brand

[04:44] collaboration form that you fill out

[04:46] you'll get to set your rates you get to

[04:48] Mark what your interests are what your

[04:49] Niche is and then you'll be able to

[04:51] connect with other brands that want to

[04:53] partner with you and are willing to pay

[04:54] your rates for me personally I partner

[04:56] with Brands who have the same values as

[04:58] me and one of of social books goals is

[05:01] to help content creators grow and

[05:03] uplevel their businesses so that's why I

[05:04] really wanted to partner with them

[05:05] because we have similar values and we're

[05:08] both on the same track of wanting to

[05:09] help content creators yes creating a

[05:11] social book account is free so if you

[05:13] want to get started by filling out your

[05:15] brand collaboration form or making your

[05:16] own Media Kit I'll leave a link down in

[05:18] the description below where you could

[05:19] start setting up your free account today

[05:21] now let's talk about your pitch

[05:23] structure this is a pitch that I use and

[05:26] I have used and I give to my students to

[05:28] use it's a great General outline for you

[05:30] to copy paste and fill in with your

[05:31] information feel free to screenshot do

[05:33] what you got to do I also have a

[05:35] downloadable below it's free there's

[05:37] multiple pitch templates because

[05:38] sometimes there's different reasons for

[05:40] pitching so maybe you just want to pitch

[05:42] to have an introduction pitch because

[05:44] you have a specific idea in mind or

[05:46] pitch because you want to land a hotel

[05:47] collaboration there's so many different

[05:49] types of pitches so I put a few in a

[05:52] free downloadable down below so you

[05:53] could grab that if you want to but let's

[05:55] break down your pitch first let's start

[05:58] with your subject line line your subject

[06:01] line simple straightforward not too

[06:05] salesy you could put the brand name X

[06:08] your handle done simple that's all you

[06:11] got to do next is the first line of your

[06:13] pitch you want to introduce yourself who

[06:16] you are what you do who you do it for

[06:18] with a hyperlink on your name so I'm

[06:19] going to say hey what's up what's mar

[06:21] Just kid I'm not going to say I'm going

[06:23] to say hey what's a brand I want to

[06:25] pitch to Mr Coffee I love Mr Coffee so

[06:27] I'm going to say hey Mr Coffee I'm

[06:29] Millie I'm an online educator that

[06:31] teaches influencers how to grow their

[06:33] businesses from home and I'm a huge fan

[06:35] of your brand or I'm a I've been an avid

[06:38] customer of yours for over 10 years now

[06:41] right make it personal you want to have

[06:43] that personal connection speaking of

[06:44] personal connection the next two to

[06:46] three sentences get even deeper with why

[06:49] you love that brand do your research go

[06:51] to their website look at their about

[06:53] Page look at what sort of nonprofits

[06:55] they support create a personal

[06:57] connection so with them I can say when I

[06:59] went off to college my parents gave me a

[07:03] coffee machine to use in my dorm and I

[07:05] still have it to this day parenthesis

[07:07] we're going 10 years strong and then

[07:09] I'll say I recently did a poll on my

[07:11] stories asking my followers if they're

[07:14] coffee lovers or tea lovers these were

[07:17] their results okay so I create the

[07:19] personal connection but I'm also tying

[07:21] it into my audience's interest in that

[07:24] brand so one personal connection two

[07:28] it's a brand I love I use I know I'm

[07:30] going to love their products three I'm

[07:32] connecting it to my business to my brand

[07:35] and to my audience I'm going to

[07:36] hyperlink the stats and I'm going to say

[07:39] here's a few quick stats about me and

[07:42] this is where you're going to highlight

[07:44] your best assets your best assets this

[07:46] isn't going to be just your follower

[07:48] number because if you're not confident

[07:50] in your follower number maybe you could

[07:51] highlight your engagement rate instead

[07:53] so list a few things that you're really

[07:54] confident in I have a 10% engagement

[07:57] rate this is my average story views I

[07:59] have 10,000 email list subscribers right

[08:02] so you're just highlighting some of the

[08:03] best things about you even if it's your

[08:05] experience like I've been a professional

[08:07] photographer for 5 years maybe that's

[08:09] something that is a huge asset to them

[08:11] and then this is where you could either

[08:13] wrap up the email or you could pitch

[08:15] them a specific idea after I say my

[08:17] stats I'll say I saw you recently

[08:19] released your iced coffee maker and

[08:22] wanted to know if you needed help

[08:23] marketing that product as you can see my

[08:26] audience is AVID coffee lovers and I

[08:28] love to partner with with you in

[08:29] promoting XYZ is this something you

[08:32] would be interested in would love to hop

[08:34] on a call XOXO Gossip Girl no I'm just

[08:37] kidding EXO EXO why am I saying EXO

[08:40] follow your joy Milly okay that's as

[08:42] simple as that so you can pitch a

[08:44] specific idea or if you don't have an

[08:46] idea you just want to partner with the

[08:47] brand you're going to say something like

[08:50] we'd love to see if there's an

[08:51] opportunity for us to partner together

[08:53] whether now or in the future do you have

[08:55] time to hop on a call to discuss your

[08:57] marketing goals for this year

[08:59] say something like that most of the time

[09:01] if you're like Millie I don't want to

[09:02] hop in a call most of the time they are

[09:04] not going to hop on a call they're going

[09:05] to be like oh we're actually busy but we

[09:08] can email but the fact that you're

[09:10] willing to hop on a call is going to

[09:12] make you stand out above and beyond

[09:14] everybody else okay now believe it or

[09:16] not the conversions of pitching is lower

[09:19] than catching and when I say catching I

[09:21] mean like if a brand pitches to you and

[09:23] they're like hey we want to partner with

[09:24] you that collaboration is almost a done

[09:27] deal right you just got to negotiate but

[09:29] pitching and cold pitching Brands the

[09:31] conversion of actually them saying yes

[09:33] not as high up there you're not going to

[09:35] land every pitch that you send it's just

[09:38] a matter of fact so don't be scared of

[09:40] hearing no and don't be scared of

[09:42] getting ghosted because I hear NOS all

[09:45] the time I get ghosted all the time some

[09:47] of my favorite Brands I pitch to them

[09:49] and they ignore me I follow up three

[09:51] times they ignore me I even had a brand

[09:53] that I wanted to partner with oh should

[09:56] I call him out should I call him out I'm

[09:57] going to call him out book of the month

[10:00] I said it okay I love book of the month

[10:02] their monthly subscription box service

[10:03] if you're a reader I love reading and

[10:06] I'm such a fan of them I've been

[10:08] subscribed for two years I get a new

[10:10] book every single month and I post on my

[10:13] stories I talk about my book sometimes

[10:14] and I've converted some people to book

[10:16] of the month lovers if you're curious

[10:18] I'll drop a link down below because I'm

[10:20] obsessed and I hope you'll be obsessed

[10:22] we could read together buddy read anyway

[10:25] so I've pitched to them and they've

[10:26] turned me down multiple times because my

[10:29] audience is not in alignment with their

[10:31] audience and that's okay like it's

[10:33] totally fine they have every right to

[10:34] say no because it's true majority of my

[10:36] audience isn't looking to read fictional

[10:39] books and that's just that they did say

[10:42] no for now so it was like a comeback

[10:44] later type of a thing but really what

[10:47] they're looking for are like YouTubers

[10:49] that are booktubers Haley Hughes love

[10:51] Haley Hughes she's partnered with book

[10:54] of the month when she had less than

[10:56] 10,000 subscribers so like they would

[10:59] rather partner with Haley Hughes over me

[11:01] I'm not saying oh my God better but if

[11:04] you're somebody who's stuck on

[11:05] subscriber number or follower number I

[11:07] have 200,000 subscribers here and so you

[11:09] would assume oh you could get any brand

[11:11] deal but that's not what brands are

[11:13] looking for they really want to connect

[11:16] with your audience and they want people

[11:18] who have similar passions as them and

[11:21] Their audience types so it makes total

[11:23] sense for them to want to partner with

[11:25] Haley over me because my audience they

[11:27] want to be influencers they don't want

[11:29] to be Book Lovers you know what I mean

[11:31] so don't be afraid to hear no don't be

[11:33] afraid to be ghosted because that's

[11:35] literally the worst that could happen I

[11:37] hope this video is helpful if you have

[11:39] more questions about brand

[11:40] collaborations let me know in the

[11:41] comments below I do have a few other

[11:43] videos on brand collab so I could do a

[11:46] little series here on my channel if this

[11:47] is something you're interested in or if

[11:49] you're like no I'm serious I want to

[11:51] make bank I want influencing to be my

[11:53] full-time job I want to make multiple

[11:56] figures and brand deals take my course

[11:59] Shameless plug I do have a course that

[12:01] literally teaches how to land paid brand

[12:03] collaborations as as an influencer it's

[12:06] everything from branding growing on

[12:08] Instagram to monetizing Instagram from

[12:10] affiliate marketing brand collabs all

[12:12] the things so I'm going to Shameless

[12:14] plug sponsored by myself what's up and

[12:17] if you're really serious about Landing

[12:19] paid brand collaborations check out the

[12:21] modern influencer I'll link it down

[12:22] below if you've made it this far and

[12:24] you're not already

[12:25] subscribed what are you doing who are

[12:27] you be sure to hug that subscribe button

[12:29] and turn on the Bell notification so you

[12:31] don't miss when I post my next videos

[12:32] and I'll see you in the next one thanks

[12:34] so much for watching follow your joy

[12:45] bye