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Hi my loves and welcome back to The Wanderlover Podcast. Hope you’re all having a great start to the New Year!
My social media manager pointed out that we ended 2024 with episode 224 of the podcast and we’re starting 2025 with episode 225. I just love the synchronicity and I have such a great feeling about what’s to come for all of you this year!
Ragz and I are loving Brazil, and we are getting settled in to Rio so nicely. We are eating great food, meeting amazing people, enjoying the summer weather on the beach, and finalizing our birth team for the birth of our baby boy next month, which is in two weeks. Insane!
I am mentally and physically preparing to be a full mother and I truly just think that it’s something that won’t hit me until it actually happens, but I am welcoming this new chapter with open arms.
How To Land Brand Collaborations
Today we are diving into a topic that every influencer or aspiring influencer needs to master, which is how to reach out to brands. And this may seem quite straightforward, but I work with a lot of new influencers and everyone gets a little tripped up because the first few are always the hardest to land.
So whether you’re just starting out or looking to refine your approach, this episode will break down actionable goals, steps to land brand collaborations and build lasting relationships so that you can really run a sustainable influencer business.
In this episode, I’m also going to be sharing my personal script so that you can use it too. I’ve tried and tested this, I’ve sent out so many emails in my career and I just want to be able to help you so that you don’t have to be starting from ground zero.
If you want a comprehensive guide to get started as an influencer, if this all seems really exciting, I’ll also link the Travel Influencer Handbook in the episode description that you can download.
You have the option to add on over 100+ Platforms that Pay Content Creators and also my exact media kit and rate card template.
So with that being said, let’s get started.
Can I Get Brand Deals As A New Influencer?
One of the most common questions that I get, and I’m just going to tackle it first and foremost, is can I start reaching out to brands right now, even if I am new?
And there’s really no one size fits all answer or approach to this, but the matter of fact is if you are starting a brand new account, if you are literally starting your business from scratch (see my tips for that here!), it’s going to be harder to land them because you really have nothing to show for it.
But let’s say you’ve been in business for a few months or a few years and you have an engaged following or you have an audience and you have something to offer.
My answer would be send out those emails, make those connections and just get started.
So full disclaimer, I’m going to go through this episode as if you do have that foundation that we’re working on and we’re going to cover specifically how to reach out to brands.
Depending on where you are at this stage, it’s not going to guarantee that you’re going to see success with this approach, but at least you’re going to know how it all works and make those connections.
You really have to do the heavy work of creating the content and building your business and brand before reaching this stage.
But if you are ready, if you have a solid online presence and you are purely just wondering how do I Refine my approach, or how do I get better responses than this is for you?
Understand Your Unique Value
And the first point being, you need to understand your value and what your unique selling point is.
You really have to look at your brand from a third party’s perspective and figure out what exactly you bring to the table. What makes you stand out online? Is it your highly engaged audience? Is it your ability to create high quality photo or video content?
Is it your ability to drive sales? Your knowledge of websites or email marketing? Is it your expertise in the surf industry? And this is really where your unique selling point comes in.
For example, if you have a niche audience like eco conscious travelers or foodie families or in Let’s say my case, digital nomad and surf lifestyle communities highlight that brands want to see how you align with their goals.
And it makes it so much easier to work with brands that specifically are looking for people like you. I have a long term partnership with SafetyWing, which is travel medical insurance, specifically for digital nomads. I’ve been using them for years, even before they reached out to me to work together.
And so I have experience working with them. It’s something I use in my daily life. I remember when I first found them, I saw that they were created by nomads for nomads.
You can see how I would be their ideal partner and vice versa. I’m very clear about who I am online. And so when brands see me and when I see them, it is a perfect match.
Remember, it is not about the size of your following. You don’t need over a hundred thousand or a million followers to reach out to brands.
Many micro influencers with just a thousand or 10, 000 engaged followers land deals because they offer authenticity and trust many times they’re in the same location as a brand that they want to work with, so if you know exactly what your unique selling point is, you really can make it a no brainer for them to work with you.
Another tip for those of you just starting out, start locally. If you are in a very niche city or a very small city, odds are you’re not going to have that much competition, especially if you’re a local there. So if you do want to work with location specific brands, it could be an advantage for you if you are specifically there.
And this goes for anywhere you’re traveling to. If it’s a lesser known area, it’s probably going to be a lot easier for you to land collaborations and partnerships in smaller places than in really well traveled places like New York City or Hawaii.
Strategically Choose Your Target Brands
Next, you’ll want to make a list of brands you want to work with. This can be done on an Excel spreadsheet or Google Sheet.
Start by following their Instagram accounts, engaging with their content, and understanding their values.
Also, think about their budgets. Smaller brands might not offer monetary compensation, but could provide valuable experience and free product while larger brands may have the budget to pay.
I would recommend creating a mix of small and large brands to maximize your opportunities and just keep track of everyone you are reaching out to, the contact email when you last reach out so that it’s all organized.
It really doesn’t hurt to modify your expectations and rates accordingly. As the co founder of a jewelry business, I can tell you firsthand that sometimes we just don’t have the budget per quarter to work with a ton of influencers and really appreciate the ones who go out of their way to create quality content, offer value and establish relationships with us.
And so those are the ones we usually go to first when we do have the marketing budget because they put up all that work up front.
Understandably, not every one of you is going to have the time or the energy to do that with every single brand, but just coming from experience from the other side, don’t take it personally when we’re you know, they just don’t have the budget and regardless, make sure the brands align with your niche.
Your audience should care about what you’re promoting and you don’t want anything you’re promoting to come as a surprise. I don’t want any of my followers to one day be like, whoa, that’s clearly a brand deal because there’s no way that she would even think about using that product before.
Find Specific Contacts
When you’re ready to reach out, find the PR or marketing contact. Sometimes this requires a little digging. Check their website or LinkedIn for email addresses.
Email is always more professional than a DM and on Instagram or on social media now there’s like different folders, so sometimes you end up in the hidden requests or others folder and it just gets So you always want to make it a point to communicate via email, depending on how big the brand is.
They might have an entire influencer marketing team, or sometimes you could literally be talking to the owner who manages all of the collaborations themselves, whatever it may be. You can always ask to be redirected to the correct point of contact.
Pitch In Advance
The other thing to note is you want to give brands more than enough time to think about it and review all of your profiles and make their decision.
So ideally reach out at least one to two months before a campaign launch, hotel stay, or collaboration idea. Brands often have internal communications, budget approvals, and contracts to work through. So the sooner you can reach out, the better.
The last thing you want to do is make the whole thing seem put together last minute.
Like, oh, just had this random idea and I really want to work with you and we have three days of turnaround time.
You don’t want that pressure and you really want to remember you’re not only representing yourself, but your business as a whole, right? So you want to be polished and ready and allocate more than enough time for this to be completed successfully.
Plus brands always love when you respect their time. So know that they’re putting in a lot of time to work with you. And so you want to reciprocate.
Crafting A Perfect Pitch
Next, let’s dive into crafting the perfect pitch. Your pitch is your first impression. So after years of pitching hundreds, if not thousands of brands and businesses, I’ll read the template I usually use.
You can find this exact template along with sample contracts and other templates in the Travel Influencer Handbook.
My Email Pitch Template
The subject line I usually use is Media Inquiry – The Wanderlover x [BUSINESS/BRAND/HOTEL NAME].
Let’s just use a hotel for this example. So it would be:
Subject: Media Inquiry – The Wanderlover X [HOTEL NAME].
My name is Danielle. I run the travel Instagram, The Wanderlover, with a reach of 115,000 followers, TikTok with 16,000 followers and a blog with 30,000+ monthly page views.
Ragz and I own the creative agency Wanderlover by Fern Colab, where we create content for luxury hotels and travel experiences. We are wondering if you’d be interested in a collaboration!
We would love to photograph and feature [name of hotel] on our platforms and are flexible with our dates of arrival and departure depending on the scope of work.
Do you work with influencers and creative agencies? If so, please find our media kit and rate card attached.
Thank you in advance for your consideration, and we look forward to hearing back from you.
Warm Regards,
Danielle and Ragz
So this is modified depending on who I am or we are reaching out to. This is specific to obviously a hotel where Ragz also has his unique selling point, and we have our unique proposition that we are really highlighting and selling in this email because we have a lot more to offer as a team.
And of course we are linking everything. So linking my website, my Instagram, our agency portfolio, and then also attaching our media kit and rate card or in other instances, just my media kit and rate card.
Follow Up
Set a reminder if you don’t hear back in a week and this should be tracked in your spreadsheet. So you know exactly when you sent the emails, follow up.
If you don’t get a response, sometimes they’re just super busy. And a follow up email doesn’t hurt. A lot of times they really appreciate that.
And they know that it’s not just like a one time send that you’re actually keeping track of the collaboration with them because you want to work with them.
Keep it short and friendly, referencing your initial email and just have the intention, set the intention to create that relationship.
Refine your Media Kit
I mentioned a media kit and you might be wondering what a media kit is. I think that this is the attachment that makes an influencer stand out from the rest.
Some teams get dozens of email pitches per day. So to stand out, you’ll really want to customize your approach with a bit about yourself, your metrics, and think of a media kit as your resume that you are presenting off the bat.
It really personalizes an email instead of just having texts. It is a professional portfolio. It should include your bio audience, demographics, engagement, stats, past collaborations, and content examples.
If you have a rate card, make sure it’s clear and flexible. You can write rates starting at, 200 or whatever it is. This shows you’re prepared and professional.
Trust The Process
And remember if you’re just starting out, outreach is a numbers game. Not every brand will respond, and that’s okay.
In my first year as an influencer, I emailed a travel backpack company. I DM’d them on Instagram, and I just didn’t hear back for years. But years later, they reached out to work with me via Instagram, and you can still see the original DM of mine that they didn’t respond to.
So it just shows that over time, your connections, your authority in the industry and your network will also expand.
Depending on your industry, people will be happy to refer you and work with you. Don’t give up hope too early. And then when you do hear back and when you do land your first collaborations, deliver more than promised.
Over Deliver
This helps build strong relationships with the PR contact, especially if they work for an agency that manages multiple brands.
Staying in touch can lead to future opportunities and you never want to be in that mindset where you’re like, I don’t want to deliver more than what’s expected of me. Really make it a point to over deliver.
And finally, my last tip is don’t overlook influencer platforms like AspireIQ. These platforms connect you with brands actively looking for collaborators, so it makes the whole process easier because you don’t have to go out of your way to see who’s working with who.
You literally get campaigns delivered to your inbox on a daily or weekly basis. So I’ll also include the link here for over a hundred platforms that pay content creators if you want to sign up and get these campaigns delivered to your inbox.
Final Thoughts
Remember guys building an influencer business and online brand. It is a journey. It is a marathon, not a sprint.
Keep planting seeds for future opportunities. Don’t expect it to be a quick win that yields immediate results. Keep planting seeds for future opportunities. And I promise you it is the most fun and rewarding career out there where you get paid.
If you found this episode helpful, I would love if you could share it with a friend or tag me @thewanderlover @thewanderloverpodcast on Instagram in your stories so we can repost you.
If you have a minute, I would also so appreciate if you could just rate us on Spotify or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.
Thank you so much for tuning in my loves and I will see you next week!
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