In today’s episode, we’re chatting about all things pitching brands and working on sponsored posts. Ever since I started working with brands, it’s what drives the most questions from other bloggers and influencers. So today, we’re going to break down what a sponsored post is, should you work with brands directly or through a platform, what goes on your media kit, the lifecycle of a brand deal, what to include in a cold pitch, and more!
If this is your first time listening to the podcast, hi welcome to bloggerbytes! My name is Jenna Urben and I’m the food and lifestyle blogger behind The Urben Life. I share allergy friendly recipes, travel guides, and more with my audience. I started blogging in 2016 and landed my first brand partnership about a year after. At the time, I had 1,000 instagram followers and about 5,000 monthly page views on my blog. The collaboration was with a dairy free cheese brand for $630. It was a two post campaign where I developed a recipe using their product and posted it to my blog and social.
After that partnership, I realized there’s money to be made in this business. You just have to find the brands that align with your niche, connect with the correct contact, and put yourself out there.
Since that partnership, I’ve worked with both large and local brands on paid partnerships such as Sprouts, Walmart, Kroger, Mr. Coffee, Coca-Cola, Quaker Oats, Walt Disney World, and more.
Shortly after my sponsored posts go live, like clockwork, I receive several messages from fellow bloggers asking how I landed the brand deal, how they can pitch brands as well, and if I had any tips for them!
I would spend a good chunk of time essentially 1-on-1 coaching these creators on how to find brands, what to say back, and how to negotiate. And while I love connecting and helping other bloggers, it was really starting to bite into my own time. SO I wrote out my entire pitching process from start to finish, included any notes or stories that would further explain the back and forth that comes with pitching and negotiating, included several sample pitches and I launched an ebook with all of that and more inside! It’s been updated a few times since its first launch and now includes templates for a media kit, rate sheet, invoice, and campaign overview report. I really wanted it to be comprehensive and helpful, so if you’re interested, you can find the ultimate guide to pitching brands linked in the show notes!
Now that I’ve given you an overview of how I got started working with brands, let’s break down what a sponsored post actually is or what it could entail.
In short, a sponsored post is a piece of content that a creator publishes highlighting a brand or product, in collaboration with that brand. This content can be in the form of a blog post, instagram post, tiktok, video integration, email feature, and beyond. There are 3 main types of sponsored posts: Unpaid, where the creator is not compensated. Paid, where the creator and brand determine a rate to be compensated. Or in-kind, where a brand provides a product instead of money.
Depending on your niche, experience, and what the brand is looking for sponsored posts can really vary. As a food blogger, they commonly entail developing a recipe featuring the brand’s product and photography or videos featuring the product.
Sponsored posts aren’t the only way to work with brands though! You could also offer freelance content creation, which is exactly how it sounds, you create content for the brand to use on their social channels, website, marketing materials, or wherever you determine. You don’t need to post anywhere and often aren’t credited. This is somewhat similar to UGC, which is user generated content. However, this content is typically either shared by the brand organically, used in ads by the brand, or whitelisted. Lastly, you could join a brand’s ambassador program or affiliate program and when you share about their products, you include an affiliate link and earn commission on the sales earned. For the sake of this podcast episode, we’re going to focus on sponsored posts but most of the same concepts apply to any of these.
Let’s do some rapid fire Q&A and I’ll try not to get too in the weeds. But just know that working with brands, pitching, and negotiating have so many variables so it’s not exactly one size fits all. You have to figure out what you’re comfortable with and how flexible the brand is willing to be.
- How many followers do you need to start pitching brands?
Y’all this question makes my blood boil. There is so much misinformation out there that you need 10,000 followers to work with brands or some random number you need in order to get paid. Let’s just squash that here and now. I’m proof that you can secure partnerships with under 10K followers on social media and your blog doesn’t haveee to see millions of pageviews each month. Sure, some brands do want their creators to have a certain amount of followers or engagement. But it’s not a hard and fast requirement. It’s our job as bloggers and influencers to gain the trust of our audience, understand our strengths, and how they can ultimately help the brand. That could be brand awareness, promoting a new product, driving sales, etc. Just know that you do not need a certain follower size to get started.
- What’s better: Pitching brands directly or influencer platforms?
Influencer platforms serve as the middleman between you and a brand. A few popular platforms include AspireIQ, Maverick, Quotient, and Sway Group. They can be especially good when you’re first starting out, because they kind of hold your hand while you figure all of this out. The downside to these, in my opinion, are the contracts are often more difficult to negotiate, the pay tends to be lower or projects just aren’t paid at all, and there’s little room for long-term partnerships. They’re often one and done! When you pitch brands directly, you’re really able to establish a connection, hash through ideas, develop a creative concept in collaboration with the brand, and best of all have a better chance at landing repeat work once you impress the heck out of them. So I can’t say one is better than the other, they’re just different and you have to find what works best for you. I personally have seen a sharp decline in opportunities coming from these platforms, but I think it’s still important to sign up and see what’s out there. A quick note: These influencer platforms are different from PR or marketing agencies. They actually sometimes use these platforms to find influencers and track programs.
- What is a media kit?
A media kit or press kit is a blogger’s resume. It should include at a minimum who the blogger is, what their niche is, who their audience is, what services they offer, and contact information. It’s meant to be a quick snapshot you can quickly send off to a brand so they can get a feel if you’re a good fit for their campaign or not. I suggest also including relevant stats such as your blog’s pageviews, social followers, as well as previous work. After chatting with several brands and PR reps, a one pager is good as they don’t always have time to go through a long portfolio. This is of course personal preference, but that’s always a common question as well!
- How often should I follow up with brands?
FIrst of all, yes! Following up is so, so important. I’d say it’s just as important as your initial pitch. I like to wait a week after sending my pitch to follow up. After that, I’ll wait another week, then if I still don’t hear back make a note to follow up in about 3 months. Again, this is totally personal preference so if you want to wait a week and a half or two weeks to follow up after your first pitch, that’s fine too. Just make sure you’re following up! Lately when I’m pitching brands, I won’t include my media kit in my initial email then when I follow up, I’ll mention that I’ve attached my media for them to review. It feels a bit more natural than just “hey following up”. But of course you could also follow up with a quick note that asks if they’ve had a chance to review your pitch and how you’re looking forward to hearing back from them and hopefully getting their brand on your content calendar.
- What does a brand deal look like from start to finish?
In my experience, here’s the lifestyle, if you will, of working with a brand. It starts with the pitch, then some negotiation regarding rates, usage, and more. After that, some concepting and determining what exactly you’ll be providing, get that in a contract that all parties sign. Then, onto creating the content and oftentimes submitting a draft, then publishing and promoting. But you’re not done there! If you really want to stand out, once your post goes live and a couple days have past, pull the key insights and put it together in a campaign overview report. It’s incredibly impressive, brands love it because you’re making their job easier, and it could just lead to repeat work. I’ll be chatting all about what to include in these reports in the next episode, so be sure to subscribe and be the first to know!
- Do you send a rate sheet or make estimates based on the project scope?
This totally depends on the brand and where you’re already at with them. First and foremost, you definitely need to understand the full scope of work. That is what are the deliverables, when are they due, what does the usage look like, etc. Before sending a rate sheet, I always like to ask “what does your budget and timeline look like?” That will give me an idea of what they’re working with and if we’re in the same universe or not. Even if the budget they say is lower than my standard rate or they say they don’t even have a budget, I’ll still let them know that for X deliverable, my rate starts at whatever the rate is. The key is “starts at” as that gives you negotiating power should something pop up later down the line. You could also just know what your rates are and send off your rate sheet, that’s fine too! Like I said, you kinda have to feel out the situation and understand what you’re comfortable with. Lastly, If the brand comes back with a lower budget than the rate you quoted, you could also go for “do you have any wiggle room with that budget?” That line has never failed me!
- Should we pitch in DMs or email?
I prefer and suggest pitching via email. It’s more professional and helps keep track of all communication. DMs are great if you need to find the best contact but if a brand reaches out via DM, let them know your media kit is available via email @ your email address.
- Can you break down what should go in a cold pitch?
Absolutely! First off, try and use their first name to personalize the email. Include a little nicety then jump into who you are, what your content is about, and who your audience is. Let them know why you want to work with them, and include either a personal story of why you resonate with the brand, how your audience always asks about them, or how you’ve already shared the brand or product and how your audience reacted. From there you could ask if they have any upcoming collaboration opportunities or toss out some of your services and concept ideas. End the email letting them know that your media kit is available upon request and/or you’re able to provide a custom proposal based on their goals. Click send, make a reminder to follow up in a week, and walk away from your computer.
If you found value in this week’s episode, I would really appreciate you leaving me some feedback through ratings and reviews. And feel free to reach out, I’d love to connect and chat with you!
If you’re interested in exploring brand partnerships and want to learn more, be sure to check out my ultimate guide to pitching brands. It covers so much more than we can possibly get into here. Including doing an audit of your accounts, where to find brand’s contact info, pitches you can literally copy and paste, what to look out for in contracts, how to determine your rates, a handful of templates, and so much more.
It doesn’t have to be scary! If you’ve been waiting around for brands to come to you, this is your sign to put yourself out there. Create a list of your dream brands as well as brands that you already use and love, find those brand contacts, and pitch! Don’t forget to follow up! And when you land that dream brand, please DM me and let me know how it goes. I’m rooting for you!
Thanks so much for joining me, Jenna Urben, in this episode of Bloggerbytes.
