Pitching yourself to a brand for a collaboration is sometimes tricky. You don’t know what to say, you don’t have a media kit, and you don’t want to be rejected. But honestly, you have nothing to lose and only an opportunity to gain by pitching yourself!
Start by identifying a few companies that you would love to collaborate with. Maybe it’s a fashion company, a beauty company, a restaurant or even a blow out bar right down the street from you. I would try to find companies that have collaborated with people you follow, or ones that you absolutely adore! The worst thing that they can say is no, so don’t be afraid of rejection!
I believe that the best way to contact companies is over email. If you go onto their website, half the time they will have a specific email just for collaborations. Make sure to send an email to that one and if they do not have a collab specific email, just send it to their info/customer service.
To start off, I would introduce yourself and include your Instagram handle, it will be important for the brand to see your profile. If you are trying to collab with a local brand, mention that you are in their area!
Next I like to mention how many followers I have. This tells the brand the potential of how many people will see your post if they decide to send you product. If you are approaching a certain number, like 3,000, say something along the lines of, “I am increasing in followers everyday, and I am about to reach 3,000 total followers”. Play around with words and see what feels most natural to say for you.
An important part about this email is making sure to say how this will benefit the company. You always want to sell yourself by saying how you can help them if they provide you with their product. Saying something like, “I want to show my followers your adorable dresses and skirts” or “I would love to promote your brand and shop location to my followers in exchange for a collaboration with your amazing blow out bar.” Keep it simple and concise and tell them exactly why you want this collab!
So this is an example of a short pitch that I like to send to a brand, let’s use a clothing brand for example: “Hello! My name is Ellie and I run the fashion, beauty and lifestyle Instagram account under the handle of @thesevee. I currently have over 10,000 followers with more following my account everyday. I would absolutely love to promote some of your clothing items to my followers with a few Instagram feed posts and multiple story posts. Would this collaboration be possible at this time? Please let me know and I look forward to hearing back from you!”
Another way you can contact a brand, typically a local brand or one with a smaller following, is through a DM on instagram. This is a great way to get a direct response from them quickly, since they typically will respond a lot faster.
For example, you could DM a new shop that is opening in your area and say something like: “Hey babes! Congratulations on opening! Is there any chance you would be willing to do a collab? I would love to promote your business on my feed and stories!”
Overall, just try it and see what happens! It doesn’t have to be perfect and sometimes companies are begging for accounts to collab with so they will not even hesitate to collab with you.
If a company asks for your media kit, I would not reply if you do not have one. A company asked me for mine, I didn’t reply, and a few days later they emailed again almost begging for a collab. You never know if they will reach back out again, its possible!
Be patient, be yourself, and go get those collaborations girl!!
I believe in you, and you should believe in yourself too!
Xoxo, Ellie – @thesevee