How to reach out to brands and land deals as an influencer

• Brand deals are a top income source for many influencers.
• These collaborations often start with a pitch, through email, DMs, or other methods.

One of the earliest questions many aspiring influencers will ask themselves is: How do I start working with brands?

An influencer's inbox — whether it's email or direct messages on social media — is often where that process of getting in contact with a brand begins.

Many influencers, like Gigi Kovach (a part-time lifestyle influencer), go straight to email to reach out to brands for collaborations. What do you say when reaching out to brands? Kovach told Business Insider that she keeps a "pitch bank" of email templates handy when she's approaching brands and potential sponsors.

Read one of Kovach's email pitch templates she uses when emailing brands for sponsorships

For some creators, like Clemson University track and cross-country runner Makenzie Steele, keeping an email in your bio does the job of getting her in touch with brands.

Meanwhile, other influencers will contact brands by cold DMing them on social media, like Instagram for a collaboration.

Micro influencer Ashley Jones said that her strategy consists of posting on Instagram about products she loves and tagging the brand. She then reaches out to the brand to introduce herself and explains why she'd like to work with them. She'll often ask for a proper PR contact too, she said.

Read more about how Jones lands brand deals and sets her rates

LinkedIn is also a tool creators use to connect with PR reps or influencer-marketing contacts at brands. For instance, TikTok star London Lazerson uses LinkedIn to DM CEOs.

Read how 3 influencers are using LinkedIn to make money

In addition to the pitch, many influencers create and attach a media kit — a document that includes basic information about an influencer's account, engagement data, previous work, and contact information.

Some influencers will send a media kit to every advertiser they work with. They keep this document up to date by adding new metrics and collaborations every few months.

Maesha Shonar, a TikTok and Instagram creator, opted for a three-page pitch proposal instead of a standard media kit to land brand deals.

Read the exact pitch proposal document Shonar sends to brands

BI has spoken with several influencers who all have different approaches to pitching brands. Here's how they reach out brands for collaborations, including several email templates they use.

How to contact brands as an influencer to pitch a paid sponsorship

It takes time to figure out what type of pitch sticks and grabs the attention of brands.

"You get a lot of no's when you first start to pitch brands, but then you sort of fine-tune your approach," Kovach told BI.

To land her first paid deal, creator Jen Lauren used a media kit. She sends her media kit to the brands she wants to work with directly, through email, direct message on Instagram, or sometimes through LinkedIn, she said.

Lauren charged about $350 for an Instagram sponsorship (one in-feed post) or YouTube sponsorship (brand mention), and that price would vary depending on the scope of work, she told Insider when she had just under 3,000 followers.

But media kits aren't the only way influencers get their foot in the door.

Shonar, who uses a pitch proposal template when she reaches out to brands, has inked deals with brands like Fishbowl and Aavrani.

"Pitching yourself and your talent as a creator is kind of similar to consulting, so I put that hat on and thought about how I'd approach brands," Shonar said. "Pitch proposals, where you showcase your value proposition, the timeline, and the deliverables, are the perfect way to do that."

Here's how 35 influencers pitch brands, from email templates to media kits.

Email templates influencers use to reach out to brands

• Tori Dunlap, a personal-finance influencer with 2.2 million TikTok followers. She shared two templates she uses to pitch brands on Instagram.
• Rayquan Smith, a college football and track-and-field athlete with 112,000 TikTok followers. He shared the email template that helped him secure 86 NIL deals.
• Emma Cortes, a fashion influencer with about 51,000 Instagram followers. She shared the email template she uses to turn gifting offers into paying deals.
• Dominic Schlueter, an 18-year-old podcast host with 37,000 Instagram followers. He shared the email template he used to earn $60,000 in brand deals.
• Diti Goradia, an investment banker and fashion influencer with 34,000 Instagram followers. She shared the email template she uses to pitch brands like Anita Dongre and Google Pixel.
• Lillian Zhang, a TikTok influencer with about 22,000 followers. She shared the DM she used to get her first sponsorship deal.
• Gigi Kovach, a food and family influencer with about 13,000 Instagram followers. She shared the 200-word email pitch she uses to reach out to brands.
• Jalyn Baiden, an Instagram influencer with about 5,700 followers. She shared two of the templates she used to land her first few deals.
• Julie Tecson, a nano influencer with about 7,100 Instagram followers. She shared three email templates she uses to pitch brands for different types of sponsorships.
• Jack Betts, a college athlete with about 5,400 followers. Here's the email template he uses to score NIL deals.

Message templates and DMs influencers use to contact brands

• London Lazerson, a TikTok creator with 9.3 million followers on TikTok. He shared two examples of DMs he sends to brands.
• Ashley Jones, an influencer with 60,000 followers on Instagram. She shared her starting rates for brands and how she pitches brands over DMs.
• Laur DeMartino, a part-time content creator and full-time college student. She uses LinkedIn to find brand contacts and shared her 9-page media kit.

Setting rates for sponsored content:

• Maesha Shonar sends brands a pitch proposal with rates. Read the three-page template she uses.
• Baiden also shared her starting rates as a nano influencer.
• Tyler Chanel, a sustainability and lifestyle micro influencer with 13,000 followers. She shared the rate calculator she built to help her negotiate brand deals after a pitch.
• Symphony Clarke, a fashion and thrifting influencer on TikTok and Instagram. She broke down her rates and how she pitches herself to brands.

Media kit examples

• Marina Mogilko, a business and education creator with 6.8 million YouTube subscribers. She has a 24-page media kit she emails to the brands she works with.
• Brianna Seaberg, a travel creator with 680,000 TikTok followers. Read the four-page media kit she's used to get deals with brands like Amazon and Netflix.
• Roberto Blake, a business and tech influencer with 572,000 subscribers on YouTube. Here's his 26-page media kit for pitching tech brands.
• Joel Bervell, a medical student with about 631,000 TikTok followers. Here's his two-page media kit.
• Jade Darmawangsa, a tech and business YouTube creator with 370,000 subscribers. She shared her four-page media kit.
• Eric Stoen, a travel creator with about 340,000 Instagram followers. He shared his one-page media kit.
• Lauren SoYung Lim, an influencer with about 254,000 TikTok followers. She shared the nine-page media kit she used to pitch brands.
• Dr. Sally Choi, a medical resident and content creator with 200,000 TikTok followers. Read the two-page media kit she's used to get brand deals with Microsoft and Paula's Choice.
• Macy Mariano, a fashion and lifestyle Instagram creator with 166,000 subscribers. Check out her nine-page media kit.
• Gigi Robinson, a creator with about 142,000 followers on TikTok. She shared the 17-page media kit she used to get brand deals with Amazon and Tinder.
• Joanna Franco, a travel influencer with 133,000 YouTube subscribers. She uses a two-page media kit to pitch brands like American Express and Priceline.
• Paulina Perez, a micro influencer on TikTok with 53,000 followers. Check out her two-page media kit that helped her secure more than 20 brand deals in a year.
• Blake Newby, a beauty creator with 45,000 TikTok followers. Read her seven-page media kit.
• Justine Jakobs, a creator with over 36,000 OnlyFans subscribers. Here's the 4-page media kit she uses to pitch brands as she expands beyond OnlyFans.
• Chase Griffin, a UCLA quarterback with 36,000 Instagram followers. Here's the two-page document he sends to brands.
• Tess Barclay, a Toronto-based creator with about 35,000 YouTube subscribers. Here's the latest version of her one-page media kit.
• Stacy Kim, a travel and fashion influencer with 3,400 Instagram followers. Here's her one-page media kit.
• Jen Lauren, a YouTube nano influencer with about 7,200 subscribers. She shared her simple three-page media kit.
• Kayla Compton, a nano influencer. Here's the eight-page media kit she uses.