As a small blogger (or even a big blogger), you might be surprised to learn that brands rarely approach you for sponsored collaborations. Instead, you need to learn how to pitch to brands as a blogger! I’ll show you how to pitch to brands, what to include in your email pitch to brands, and a simple brand pitch email template you can use to start the conversation.
After securing over half a million dollars in blogger brand collabs, I’m convinced I figured out how to write the perfect pitch.
It’s truly not very complicated – you just have to include some important details.
If you master how to write a blog pitch, it can become one of the highest ROI activities you can do to monetize your blog. And you can do it in just a few minutes!
How To Pitch To Brands As A Blogger
The best way to get blog sponsored posts is to craft an email pitch to brands explaining what your blog is all about, your connection to the brand, and offer a service to them.
Although you’ll need other details for later in the conversation, that’s all you need to start. Seriously!
What To Include In Your Email Pitch To Brands
Your email for brand collaboration needs 4 main components:
- A clickable subject line
- Introduction to you and your blog
- Your connection to the brand
- Your quick pitch
1. A clickable subject line
It’s a classic rule in email marketing. If you have a bad subject line, people won’t click on your email. No click, no results.
Having a highly clickable subject line is like locking eyes with someone across the room at a cocktail party. You make them want to approach you and learn more about you.
Some suggestions you can use in your subject line for a brand pitch email template:
Use statistics
Brand managers rely on data when deciding to partner with bloggers. If you have a powerful statistic to share, do it right away. Examples:
“Mom Can Sell + Brain.fm? (3.5% engagement rate)”
“Mom Can Sell + Brain.fm? (4 million+ reach)”
“Mom Can Sell collab? (200% growth YOY”)”
Call the brand manager by their name (if known)
Ever notice how you pay closer attention when someone addresses you by name? Do the same in the subject line. Examples:
“Emily, anything in Q4 for Mom Can Sell?”
“Emily, dozens of brands have already done this”
Have fun and show some personality
Your reader gets the same old emails daily from bloggers wanting to collab with brands. Show that you’re a real person, and something amazing happens – they’ll want to know more about you! Examples:
“I couldn’t resist sending this”
“the collab my mom requested” (change “mom” to whatever would fit with the brand. For example, you could change it to “dog” if you’re pitching to a pet food company.)
“the bad day that inspired this email”
Make sure your email content delivers on whatever you promised in the subject line. If you mentioned your dog in the subject, for example, your main message needs to follow up on it.
2. Introduction to you and your blog
Every brand outreach email template needs to tell the reader who you are. But unlike your about page, you don’t need to go into details.
Instead, you need a strong sentence or two with the name of your blog, your target audience, notable brands you have worked with (if any), and any other useful tidbits about your reach, mission, or unique value.
3. Your connection to the brand
You may send dozens of pitch emails to brands, but you need to make each one feel unique – if you spam the same generic message to everyone, you won’t convince the best ones to work with you.
So, how to pitch to brands in a unique way? Explain what makes each one special to you.
You’ll feel “closer” to some brands than others, so here are a few ways you can establish a connection:
- How you found the brand
- How the brand’s products or services benefited your life
- How their mission, values, or target market align with yours
Your email pitch to brands needs some kind of connection in every single message. That said, it’s best to reach out to brands that you truly love or fit well with your niche. You’ll sound more genuine and increase your likelihood of getting a response.
4. Your quick pitch
Some influencers say you should come to brands with unique ideas for how to work with them. You can do that if you like, but it’s not necessary for the first email pitch to brands.
The fact about brand pitch emails is that you won’t get a response for every one. It’s not worth your creative time to come up with ideas to suggest for every pitch until they show interest.
So if you don’t have any ideas, don’t force one! Just ask if they’re available to work together in the near future.
What NOT To Include In Your Email Pitch To Brands
You’ll feel tempted to include as much information as you can in your blog pitch email template, but many items can wait until brands show interest.
Here’s what you don’t need to include (yet):
- Your media kit
- Your rates
- Creative ideas (unless you have one already)
You may have a beautiful media kit and blogger rate card ready to go (and if you don’t, you can use my premium free media kit templates!).
If you send these right away, though, you risk scaring your reader away. Why? You’re giving them too much information before they’re ready.
Brand sponsorship conversations are exactly that – a conversation. You don’t introduce yourself by telling someone your entire life story and then having the audacity to ask for money from them!
Same goes for creative ideas. Only spend the energy on these if the brand wants to learn more, or if you have one readily available.
Plus, some brands already have campaigns in mind and don’t need that much creative input from you. If they want ideas, they’ll ask for ideas.
The Best Brand Pitch Email Template
Let’s create a blog pitch example that combines all these elements into a short, concise message.
As a small blogger, your pitch to brands might look something like this:
Subject line: Emily, partner with this blog? (200% growth YOY)
Hi Emily! I’m Amanda, the founder of Mom Can Sell – a blog that targets moms who want to maximize their productivity and turn their blog into a real business. My site has grown 200% year over year since 2021!
I’ve been using Brain.fm during my writing sessions and it has profoundly improved my work output. I believe it would help my other readers with their blogging goals as well. Just wondering if you’re open to partnerships in Q1 or Q2?
Happy to send a media kit if you’re interested in my stats and how I work with brands. Thanks so much!
If you’re a larger blogger or have more experience working with brands, your blogger brand collaboration email sample might look more like this:
Subject line: Brain.fm + Mom Can Sell? (4% engagement)
Hi Emily! I’m Amanda, the founder of Mom Can Sell – an award-winning blog with over 1 million total followers, 9 million in reach, and 250,000 email subscribers.
Brain.fm is a perfect fit for my audience of mom bloggers who need to make the most of their fragmented blogging time. Just wondering if you’re open to partnerships in Q1 or Q2?
Mom Can Sell has worked with brands like SNOO, Philips, and Alani Nu with engagement rates over 3x the industry average for deliverables like blog posts, reels, Instagram, and more.
I’d love to hear more about your marketing goals and send you a media kit to learn more about how we can work together! Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Use these examples for how to pitch to brands and make them your own! Showcase the strongest aspects of your blog to get them interested in you.
How To Pitch A Blog Post To Brands Effectively
Your content pitch will look different every time, but you’ll want to keep these tips in mind for every email you send:
1. Choose the right brands
Don’t spam every brand! Choose the ones that fit the best with your audience and would have the highest likelihood of working with you.
Since my site targets mom bloggers, for example, I wouldn’t go reaching out to a men’s personal care brand or a health food shake company. Neither of those fit well enough with my niche.
2. Keep it short
In my experience hiring influencers, I rarely read through emails that last longer than a few short, punchy sentences.
Why? Because I’m busy! I just need enough information to make a decision. Influencers who don’t think enough about my problems as their target reader simply won’t get a reply.
With that said, keep your emails WAY shorter than you think you should. Make your paragraphs no longer than 2 sentences. Make every single point as hard-hitting as you can.
3. Don’t dump information
Brand managers don’t need to see your media kit, rates, or creative ideas yet. It makes your email too long and it takes more time and energy from other income-generating activities you can do for your blog.
If your media kit has some strong numbers in it, you can pluck out the best one or two to include in your first email pitch to brands.
If you already have a very strong creative idea you’re convinced the brand will like, you can include it.
Otherwise, wait! Don’t bother assembling all this information for every brand, because not every one will be interested. And definitely wait to share your calculated blog post rates until you know they’re interested in paying you!
4. Stay friendly and grateful
As a possible source of income, brand managers do you a huge favor when they read your emails. Don’t lose sight of that.
Show gratitude to them, give them some grace if they don’t reply right away, and make personal connections if the opportunity arises.
They’re busy people, just like you, so kindness goes a long way.
5. Follow up
Remember what I said about busy brand managers? When they don’t respond, follow up.
Wait a week after your original message and check in with a 1-2 sentence email.
If they still don’t respond, wait another 1-2 weeks and send another quick message.
If they don’t respond after that? Wait 3 months or so, or until a few months before a big budget spending season like Thanksgiving or New Year’s. It pays to follow up earlier than you think and stay on the brand’s radar.
Once you know how to pitch to brands as a blogger, you’ll set yourself up for a long-term blog income stream. Just make sure you create a brand pitch email template that shows off your best strengths in a concise way. Good luck!
