Brand Pitch Preparation: A Structured Checklist for Creators

[00:00:00](upbeat music) - Hi everyone, my name is Nina Zadeh and I'm Director of Partnerships at Sidewalker Daily.

[00:00:22]And today, I want to talk a little bit about kind of like a checklist to prepare you before you start pitching to brands.

[00:00:28]So, things you may want to consider to be organized ahead of time before you, you know, press go.

[00:00:34]If you don't know anything about Sidewalker Daily, just to give you the quick run down, we work with travel brands mostly.

[00:00:41]And we work on their influencer marketing.

[00:00:43]So we're receiving pitches like all the time.

[00:00:45]And we're, you know, creating different influencer marketing campaigns.

[00:00:49]So we're kind of like in a really special place because we can share with you guys the creatives things that you should be doing before your pitch to kind of make sure, you know, all your tees are crossed and your I's are dotted.

[00:01:01]Excuse me, and obviously we don't want these to be like roadblocks for you to not start your pitching, but it is important to be organized ahead of time to make sure you have your ducks in a row.

[00:01:11](typing) So step one, research the brand.

[00:01:17]I know it may sound intuitive and like, of course But I can't tell you the amount of times I received a pitch that just looks like a copy and paste, you know, from someone else... from another email that you guys are sending to another brand.

[00:01:31]A lot of the times the research phase is kind of under looked, and when I say research I mean go on their website, read their About Us.

[00:01:38]Is there certain news that's come out?

[00:01:40]See if they have a recent press release out there.

[00:01:43]Go on their social media, what are they currently posting?

[00:01:46]You know, take the time to really go on the backend and research the brand that you want to work with.

[00:01:51]Think of it as like a job interview.

[00:01:53]If you were gonna go on a job interview you would've researched the brand, right?

[00:01:57]Well, pitching isn't always done on email a lot of the times it's done face-to-face and sometimes it's in networking.

[00:02:03]So the more you know about like a brand or an individual, you know, before you meet them the more prepared you will be And kind of like shows that you care.

[00:02:11]So like if, you know, I've been at a conference before and someone came up to me I know they've researched me, you know.

[00:02:16]They're like, "Oh, we saw you speak at so and so."

[00:02:18]Or, "We watched your video on this," and it makes me feel like they've done their homework before even, you know, coming up to me.

[00:02:25]You'll want to make sure that you research their mission statement, their key messages, like a rundown of their products, as well.

[00:02:34]And, again, the more information you have the more, you know, prepared you'll feel.

[00:02:39](typing) Step two, you're gonna want to research their past influencer campaigns.

[00:02:46]Is this a brand that has even worked with influencers before Are they a veteran in this space and you know for sure they have?

[00:02:53]Or they're a newbie, they may need to be like handheld a little bit more.

[00:02:57]Research to see if they've... you know, if they've actually done influencer projects before.

[00:03:01]And you can do this by going like on their Instagram account, seeing, you know... Or taking a look at different influencers and seeing who they're posting about.

[00:03:09]You know, if you see a influencer, or a content creator that you like and they have the hashtag ad, (snaps fingers) Bingo, that means there's brand engages in influencer marketing, so I would definitely add them to a certain list, and that list should be brands that, you know, work in influencer marketing 'cause you already know they're open to it.

[00:03:27]And it's helpful when you're pitching, like back to what I said about being organized, you know making sue you have a list of the brands that you know that already engage in this type of marketing, it's only gonna make it easier for you.

[00:03:39]Also, if you see like different micro influencers, like influencers with like smaller, you know, followings are posting ad then that's... and you're a smaller influencer that is a great way for you to kind of do like a comparison.

[00:03:53]Of course, if someone's doing ad and they have like millions of followers but you haven't seen like any like smaller... People with smaller followings, you know, using the hashtag ad in association with this account then that maybe like kind of a signal that they're only working with like really big accounts.

[00:04:08]On the flip, if you see people with really small accounts, you know, using this term hashtag ad when you're getting organized, you want to make a note of that.

[00:04:17]Like this brand works with micro influencers or nano influencers, and that's just gonna help you because you're gonna be able to compare where you are at on your journey and then kind of like pitch accordingly.

[00:04:27](typing) So we've talked about researching, right?

[00:04:31]We've talked about researching the brand, we've talked about researching their past influencer projects.

[00:04:36]Now, you've done your research you want to make sure you have the right tools to send out those pitches, this is if it's via email.

[00:04:42]So, your media kit, step three.

[00:04:45]Media kits are, obviously, it just depends like where the pitch is being done.

[00:04:50]If it's being done via email you can afford to send a larger media kit that's like longer in length.

[00:04:56]If it's in a conference and you're putting in person you're not gonna want to show up with like a six, seven, eight page media kit.

[00:05:02]It's just like too much, so make sure, you know, to think critically where's this pitch going?

[00:05:06]Like how is it, you know, being processed?

[00:05:08]If it's in person bring a one pager, back and front, printed on some nice thick solid paper.

[00:05:14](typing) For step four, case studies.

[00:05:19]Now if you're trying to work with a brand, or pitch to a brand the media kit is obviously a necessity.

[00:05:25]Like you need to kind of show an About You because, remember, if you're doing it via email like you want to give them something to understand your brand aesthetic, your past work, who you are, and all that good stuff that goes in a media kit.

[00:05:37]And we actually have a video on media kits so I will make sure to include that at the bottom.

[00:05:42]But, for a case study, which is step four, the case study is gonna take an example of a past project that you worked on and really dive deep down and give that brand that you're pitching to an inside look of what you're capable of delivering.

[00:05:58]Now, it's a lot more focused on, you know, the analytics behind a campaign, how many impressions you were able to bring, content that you were able to create, whatever it is.

[00:06:08]A case study takes an example of something you've done and just defines it.

[00:06:11]You know, the case studies gonna say, This was the project, these are the dates, this was the goal, this is what was achieved.

[00:06:18]Print screens of, you know, the backend of the analytics.

[00:06:20]Things that the brand can't see.

[00:06:22]And I just think it makes you look so much more, I guess, smarter and prepared when you're pitching to a brand and you have a case study because it also shows that you're valuing yourself and you know your value, you're like this is what I can deliver, and you're competent.

[00:06:36]And competence is great when you're pitching to brands.

[00:06:42]For step five, let's talk about, you know, drafting your pitch email and knowing who to contact.

[00:06:48]I think knowing who to contact is probably even more important, right?

[00:06:52]You got to get your Nancy Drew hat on and get creative because sending it to like an info or a hello, you know, email like [email protected], it could get lost in the wind.

[00:07:03]It's always better to find a direct person.

[00:07:05]And the same thing goes for in person pitching.

[00:07:08]You know, you want to know if you're going to a conference, for example, if you're planning a meet and greet with a PR agent, you know, someone at a PR agency.

[00:07:16]Like, you know, we said you're gonna research step one, but you're gonna also want to know like who to send that pitch to.

[00:07:22]It's gonna make you're life so much easier.

[00:07:25]So a few tools that you can use to find email addresses, like our favorite, we would recommend RocketReach.

[00:07:32]It's a great way to just use usernames like LinkedIn and it'll help you find a correct email address.

[00:07:38]You know, you could also go on the company's website to see who the founder is and see if there's on the privacy policy or, you know, get creative, look on their website, try to find a direct email address.

[00:07:50]Not like contact@, and lastly, guess what?

[00:07:54]There's the good old phone, we always forget about the phone, if there's a phone number call.

[00:07:59]Like jut pick up and call and say, "Hi, you know, my name is so and so, "I'm looking for the contact information "of someone on your marketing team."

[00:08:07]If you know who that person is you can just straight up ask for this person.

[00:08:12]Like 9 times outta 10, people will be like, "Okay yeah, you can reach her here."

[00:08:15]Or, "Let me direct you to her, you know, her voicemail."

[00:08:19]Imagine that, getting direct access to someone's voicemail versus just like an email to the wind.

[00:08:24]So, you know, it may seem really old school to pick up the phone, but I'm a big believer in it.

[00:08:31](typing) If you're pitching in person, you know, you're gonna want to have your elevator pitch prepared.

[00:08:37]That means what's your 30 second, 60 second spiel on yourself?

[00:08:41]You need to have that kind of figured out before you go up to someone, right?

[00:08:45]So you can kind of be like, "Hi, my name's Nina, "I'm Director of Partnerships at Sidewalker Daily.

[00:08:49]"I work with influencers and marketing," and blah, blah, blah, you get the drift.

[00:08:54]If you're pitching via email, you know, keep it simple, keep it direct, and make sure that you have, you know, what the ask is.

[00:09:02]There's a little like a concept that we think is really great.

[00:09:05]Is before even pitching to a brand via an email you can start by like "warming up" the engine.

[00:09:10]So this would be like asking that brand, you know, do they have a recent press release, or a facts sheet.

[00:09:16]That's kind of like putting you on their radar before you even start the pitch and say what you want.

[00:09:22]I think it's helpful, it can just kind of open that door of communication with a person on the other side.

[00:09:28](typing) For step six, when you're looking to work with a brand you gotta kind of think, you know, about your rates, what your ask is, what you're doing before you pitch, right?

[00:09:39]Like a lot of times people will pitch and then they're like, "Oh wait, "you're interested in me?"

[00:09:43]And then there's not enough foresight as to what your rates are, or what you're actually... You know, what you're even offering.

[00:09:50]So make sure you take some time to think about your rates.

[00:09:53]You, obviously, are not gonna tell them this in your pitch but you're gonna think about it ahead of time so that when you get that response you kind of know how much, you know, you're gonna be charging for whatever it is that you're proposing.

[00:10:04]Now, we know that a lot of the things we covered in this, you know, in this video can take a lot of time.

[00:10:10]But think of it as like an in investment in yourself.

[00:10:12]You know, that media kit, that case study it's annoying to create and it takes time.

[00:10:18]But once it's done it's done and you can send it out as many times as you need to.

[00:10:23]So I hope this video was helpful in helping you guys organize, you know, your brain and your thoughts on how to, you know, work with brands and before you pitch what to kind of start to do.

[00:10:37]If you like this video make sure you like and subscribe to our channel.

[00:10:41]I'd be curious to know if any other tips that you guys have in the comments below about before you pitch, I'd like to see what you guys... You know, any thoughts you may have, would love to read them and I will see you in the next video.

[00:10:53](upbeat music)