Pitching Brands: Influencer Marketing

In a perfect world, brands would be knocking down your door, asking you to promote their products. However, being a successful Instagram influencer takes a bit more work than that. If you want to be a successful influencer, knowing how to pitch to brands is a must. Get some tips, so you can pitch to brands and land contracts.
 

Create a Media Kit

You’ll need to include a media kit in your pitch, so begin by creating one. A media kit is a digital portfolio that clients can browse when deciding if they want to work with you.

Your media kit needs to include your:
 

• Bio 

• Number of Instagram followers

• Audience demographics

• Engagement rates 

• Previous partnerships 

• Testimonials 

• Blog and website information 

• Contact details 
   

The kit needs to be well-designed to represent your brand. Don’t worry if you don’t have professional design skills. Online tools make designing media kits a breeze. Canva is one of the easiest tools out there, and it has media kit templates. Customize the template to reflect your brand and then add the relevant information. Then, double-check the media kit for mistakes. A single mistake can prevent you from closing the deal, so be very careful when doing this. 
 

Determine Your Rates

You also need to determine your rates before you pitch brands. Rates are mainly based on the number of followers you have, but you should also consider engagement, demographics, and recognition when setting rates. You will end up on the high end of the rate range if you have lots of engagement, the right demographics, and name recognition. If you don’t have these things, you’ll be on the low end of the range. 

As a general rule, you can charge between $250–$2,000 per Instagram post if you have 10,000–99,000 followers. If you have 100,000–499,000 followers, increase your rates to $2,000–5,000 a post. You can charge between $5,000–10,000 a post if you have a half-million to right under a million followers. If you have 1 million or more followers, the going rate is a minimum of $10,000. 

What if you have fewer than 10,000 followers? You can still ask for money or offer to post on Instagram in exchange for complimentary products. This can help you build exposure so that you can become a more powerful influencer. 

Once you decide how much to charge, create a rate card. This is a simple sheet that contains the rates. 
 

Do You Need to Increase Your Value?

You might find that you need to take some steps to increase your value before you pitch to a brand. You can charge more if you get more followers and increase your engagement rate. The only problem is you’re ready to pitch now, so you don’t want to wait a year to grow your Instagram account. You can accelerate the process by purchasing Instagram likes. This will boost your engagement rates right away. Instagram’s algorithm is designed to increase the reach for posts with high engagement rates. That means that when you buy likes, that post will then reach more people. As more people see your posts, you will also increase your follower count. You will then be in a better position to pitch to brands. 
 

Choose a Brand

Your pitch should be directed to a specific brand. This type of personalization will help you get results. Research brands to find one that makes sense for your role as an influencer. Check the brand’s values and demographics. Also, see if the brand has worked with influencers in the past. Those that have done so are more likely to respond to your pitch. 
 

Conduct Brand Research

Next, you need to research the brand. Find out as much as you can about it, so you can personalize the pitch. As you do this, think about how you can help the brand reach its goals. 
 

Creating a Pitch Email

Now that you know which brand to pitch to, it’s time to create your pitch email. You will start with a strong subject line and include a brief introduction, brand-specific information, and more. Let’s go through this step by step.

First, you need an amazing subject line. The right subject line will compel the recipient to open the email and see what you have to offer. Put your name in the subject line, along with a call-to-action to let the reader know that you can help them. 

Then, you need to address the recipient and introduce yourself in the body of the email. Provide the highlights without writing too much. If your introduction takes too long to read, the recipient might close out of the email. Remember, brands are busy, so keep it short and sweet.

Next, include information about why you are choosing the brand. Write about the things you love about the brand. It could be about how much you enjoy a particular product and appreciate the brand’s values. You can also talk about interactions with team members and how those turned you into a brand advocate. The key takeaway here is not to approach this like the brand is broken, and you can fix it. Instead, you need to show that you love the brand so much that you want to become a partner.

You also need to attach a few things to your email. Attach a verified Instagram analytics report, your media kit, and your rate card. 

Sign off with a call-to-action and your contact information. 
 

Look for Responses

Because brands are so busy, it could take weeks to get a response. Keep an eye on your email for a response. If you don’t get a response with your first pitch, though, don’t feel bad. Some influencers have to pitch to multiple brands before getting a response. Pick the next brand on your list and create a pitch. Continue the process until you get a brand partnership.
 

Start Working on Your First Pitch

Today’s a great time to work on your first pitch. Put in some research, and buy Instagram likes to maximize your results. Then, conduct your research and write your pitch. Keep on pitching to brands until you land a partnership and start making money.