Do you want to become an Instagram influencer? Let's find out what to include in a pitch email, common mistakes to avoid and how to land your dream partnership.

Land your dream collaboration with an engaging pitch email

It’s not hard to see why this is a dream job for lots of people. You can start off with a side hustle, get fancy products, have a flexible work schedule, and eventually even make great money! But how do you land your dream collab with a brand you love? Let’s start with the basics

What is an influencer pitch?

First things first: An influencer pitch is an email that introduces a possible collaboration between an influencer and a brand. Although influencer pitches are not as formal or long-winded as a traditional pitch a company might give to an investor, you should still put a lot of thought into how you craft one and make sure it’s professional.

For example, you’ll want to make sure your email isn’t full of typos and distracting emojis and that your language and signature are professional and appropriate. When done correctly, influencer pitches can be the most effective way to get paid collaborations with brands you love. But without a clear strategy in place, you may not even get a response.

Woman sitting at a table with coffee, a croissant, and a laptop open in front of her to her email while she writes notes.

What you should do before you reach out

Before you reach out to a brand, there’s some initial prep work you need to do. First, you should research the brand thoroughly to ensure the brand matches your aesthetic, style, and values. If not, it may not be a great match, and you might be asked to promote products you don’t genuinely love or support.

Next, make organic posts about the brand to show that you’re already a loyal supporter or customer of the brand if you own some of its products. Make sure you tag the business and explain to your followers why you love the brand so much.

It’s also important to engage with the brand’s account prior to pitching a collaboration. And what better way to show your support than to show their account some love? Interacting with the brand by commenting on posts or responding to stories will show a lot of initiative and allow you to begin a real relationship with them.

How do you reach out to brands?

Sending your pitch to a general customer service email isn’t likely to get you the results you want. Instead, you’ll need to get in touch with the person who deals with brand partnerships.

One good way to do this is by reaching out with an Instagram DM. Unfortunately, the people who run brand accounts aren’t always responsible for brand partnerships, so they may not see, read, or respond to your message. If you run into any of these issues, you can try one of the following channels:

Brand website: Go to the brand’s website and look for a Contact Us, Ambassador, Affiliate, or Collaborations page. Search for a publications (PR) email address, and keep your eyes peeled for keywords like “collaborations” or “partnerships” on their Contact Us page. If you don’t find anything there, you can also search through the FAQ page for details.
Email button on Instagram: If you don’t get a response from your DM, you can also try clicking the email button on Instagram, which will give you an email that you can use to get in touch with the right person.‍
LinkedIn: Search for the brand name + keywords like “sponsorships,” “collaborations,” or “public relations” to find email addresses for specific brands.

Who should you send your brand collaboration pitch to?

Again, it’s so important to get your pitch in front of the right person. Generally, this is most likely to be a brand email that’s associated with public relations, collaborations, or partnerships, which may be listed on the brand’s website.

When you send your email, it’s a good idea to personalize it by addressing the recipient and the brand several times throughout. You can also include a genuine compliment or a personal tidbit about the company. Otherwise, it will be easy for the recipient to tell if you’ve sent the same generic message to lots of brands.

What to include in your email

Now that you know how to get in touch with a brand about a collaboration, it’s time to start writing your email pitch. For best results, try doing the following things in each influencer pitch you send.

Introduce yourself as a creator

Briefly introduce yourself by sharing who you are and what you do. Keep it short, and consider including a recent example of a similar campaign you did. If you want, you can also include a sentence detailing how the brand’s products or services have made your life better.

Detail services you offer

Explain why working together makes sense and how you can help the brand. For example, you might say that working with you is a valuable asset because they’d get access to your followers who match their target audience (if they do). You should also share any distinctive services you offer, like competitions, giveaways, videos, or blog posts, and highlight features like your high engagement rate or fast delivery time.

Blonde woman in athletic gear taking photos of herself promoting a protein bottle.

Attach your media kit

Make sure to include your media kit in your pitch. A media kit is a digital document that tells a brand all about you and your work as a social media influencer. Attaching this document to your pitch email gives the brand the chance to get to know you better and explore all the great benefits of collaborating with you — not to mention, it also makes you look more professional.

End with a question

A good way to encourage a brand to get back to you is to close your email with a question. But this shouldn’t be a yes or no question. For example, you might say, “What are your thoughts on working together?” Ending your email this way encourages the brand to engage with you in conversation instead of just ignoring you.

What to do if you don’t get a response

If you don’t get a response, it’s easy to get discouraged. But don’t give up! Just because you don’t hear back from a brand this time around doesn’t mean you won’t be a good fit for a collaboration later down the line. As your brand and social media presence grow and improve, so will your influencer opportunities. Keep at it, and don’t be afraid to edit and change your pitch to find what works.

Tips for pricing yourself as an Instagram influencer

The rule of thumb is that you don’t want to mention your price in your pitch email. Generally, you want to avoid doing that, because it eliminates all hope of negotiating. Instead, leave pricing out of your pitch and bring it up later during a future discussion with the brand about collaborating.

If you’re not sure how much to charge a brand for your influencer marketing campaign, consider the following factors.

How many followers you have: The more followers you have, the more you can charge for posts, videos, and other services.
Your engagement rate: Divide the number of likes and comments you get by the number of followers you have and multiply the result by 100 to get a percentage.
The quality and type of content you provide: Influencers who create high-quality content might even be featured in magazines, on billboards, or on commercial ads, so the more professional your content looks, the more you can charge. On the other hand, if you’re mainly providing sponsored posts, you may charge less than if you were creating video campaigns, which require more time and effort.
Your audience: Your audience may be particularly valuable for a brand if they are the target market. So keep that in mind when setting your rates.
The size of the brand: Larger companies will likely have a larger budget to dedicate to influencers, while smaller ones may not. Their budget should influence how much you charge.

Depending on these factors, you might charge anywhere from a few hundred dollars for an Instagram post to several thousand for a video campaign.

Grow with Beacons

Beacons makes it easier to become an Instagram influencer by offering a platform that includes features like a website builder and a link in bio tool. These tools make connecting with your audience easier, giving you more opportunities to make money, grow your business, and expand your reach. If you want to become an Instagram influencer by landing dream collaborations with your favorite brands, Beacons can help you get there.

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