How to Contact Companies as an Influencer

Pitching your first brand partnership can feel like shouting into the void, but a strategic approach transforms that shout into a conversation. Getting a yes from a brand you love is less about luck and more about preparation, a personalized approach, and clear communication. This guide breaks down the exact steps to go from creating great content to landing paid collaborations, covering everything from building your media kit to crafting the perfect follow-up email.

Before You Click “Send”: Lay the Groundwork

Successful outreach starts long before you write a single email. Before you reach out to any company, you need to have a clear, professional foundation in place. Brands are looking to partner with creators who aren’t just popular, but also professional, reliable, and aligned with their own message.

Solidify Your Niche and Brand Identity

You need to be able to describe your content and ideal follower in one or two sentences. Brands don’t partner with generic "lifestyle" influencers, they partner with creators who serve a specific audience.

• Who is your audience? Be specific. Instead of "women who like fashion," try "millennial women in North America who value sustainable fashion and invest in capsule wardrobes." Knowing this lets you pitch brands with confidence about audience alignment.
• What is your unique value proposition? What do you do better than anyone else? Is it your honest, funny product reviews? Your cinematic-quality travel vlogs? Your step-by-step DIY tutorials for beginners? This is your hook.
• Is your branding consistent? Your visual aesthetic, your bio, your captions, and the way you engage with your community should all feel like they come from the same person. Brands review your entire profile, not just one impressive Reel.

Build a Professional Media Kit

A media kit is your influencer resume. It’s a 1-3 page PDF document that presents all your vital information in a visually appealing format. Sending this along with your pitch shows you’re a serious professional, not a hobbyist looking for freebies. Don't overthink the design, a clean template from a tool like Canva works perfectly.

What to include in your media kit:

• An Introduction: A short, engaging bio that explains who you are and what your channel is about. Include a professional headshot.
• Audience Demographics: Go into your platform’s analytics and pull key stats. The most important ones are age, gender, and top locations (city/country) of your followers. Brands need to know if your audience is their target customer.
• Key Platform Metrics: For each of your primary social platforms, list your follower count, average reach, average impressions, and - most importantly - your engagement rate. An impressive engagement rate is often more valuable to a brand than a massive follower count.
• Past Collaborations & Testimonials: If you've worked with brands before, showcase them here. Include logos and a one-sentence description of the campaign. If a brand gave you positive feedback, ask if you can include it as a testimonial.
• Your Services & Rate Card: Clearly list the types of content you create (e.g., a dedicated Instagram Reel, a set of 3 Stories with a link, YouTube integration) and your starting prices. Even if you say rates are available "upon request," outlining your offerings shows you’ve thought about your business model.

Identify the Right Brands to Pitch

Don’t just spray and pray. A smaller list of highly aligned brands will yield much better results than an email blast to hundreds of random companies. Think of this as strategic matchmaking.

• Create a Dream List: Start a spreadsheet and list 20-30 brands you legitimately use and love. Authenticity is everything in this space. Your audience can tell when you’re promoting a product you don’t actually believe in.
• Check for Value Alignment: Does the brand's mission align with yours? If your platform is about eco-conscious living, pitching a fast-fashion brand creates a disconnect that will damage your credibility.
• Look for Brands Already Working with Influencers: If a company is already running influencer campaigns, they have a budget and strategy in place. Check their tagged photos on Instagram or search for hashtags like #[BrandName]Partner to see who they’re collaborating with. Find creators who are a similar size to you, this is a good sign that they're open to working with micro-influencers or growing creators.

Finding the Right Person to Contact

Sending your carefully crafted pitch to a generic `info@brand.com` email address is where most outreach efforts go to die. Your goal is to find the person whose job it is to manage influencer relationships.

Where to Look for Contact Information

1. LinkedIn is Your Best Friend: This is the most effective method. Go to LinkedIn and search for the company. Then, filter through their employees. Use job titles like "Influencer Marketing Manager," "Social Media Manager," "Brand Partnerships," "PR Coordinator," or "Marketing Communications Manager." Once you find a potential contact, you have a name. You can then use a tool like Hunter.io to find their specific email address, or make an educated guess (e.g., firstname.lastname@company.com).
2. The Company’s Website: Check the "Press," "Media," or "Contact Us" pages on the brand’s website. Sometimes, they’ll list a specific email for media or partnership inquiries (e.g., `partnerships@brand.com` or `press@brand.com`). This is much better than the general info inbox.
3. Ask on Social Media: If all else fails, send a polite and professional DM to the brand’s Instagram or X profile. Keep it short: "Hi! I'm a content creator interested in discussing a potential collaboration. Could you please direct me to the best email for the person who handles influencer partnerships? Thank you!"

Finding the right contact takes a few minutes of detective work, but it increases your chances of getting a response tenfold.

How to Write an Email That Gets a Reply

Now it’s time to actually write the pitch. The key here is to make it about them, not just you. Your email should answer the brand’s unspoken question: "What's in it for us?"

Let's break down the perfect pitch email, section by section.

1. The Subject Line

This is your first impression. Make it clear, professional, and intriguing enough to get opened. Avoid generic subjects like "Collab" or "Hi."

Good examples:

• Influencer Collaboration Idea: [Your Name] x [Brand Name]
• Partnership Inquiry from a [Your Niche] Creator
• [Brand Name] Feature Idea for My [Number] Followers

2. The Personalized Opening

Start by showing you’ve done your research. This opening sentence is the most important part of your email. It proves you're not just spamming them.

• Bad Opening: "Hi, my name is Alex and I'm an influencer who would love to work with you."
• Good Opening: "Hi [Contact Name], I've been a huge fan (and customer!) of your new Fresh Start cleanser for months - it's become a holy grail in my skincare routine that my followers are always asking about."
• Good Opening: "Hi [Contact Name], I was so inspired by your recent #SustainableSummer campaign and the focus you put on reusable materials. It aligns perfectly with the eco-friendly content I create for my community on TikTok."

3. The Quick Introduction

Keep this brief and focused on the value you bring to them. Link your primary social media profile and any other relevant platform up front.

Example:

"My name is Alex, and on my Instagram page, @yourhandle, I share practical skincare tips for women over 30 with sensitive skin. My community trusts me for honest, in-depth reviews."

4. The "Why Us?" Section

This is where you connect the dots for them. Explain exactly why a partnership makes sense. Mention your audience alignment and any data you have to back it up.

Example:

"I know your target audience includes millennial women who are conscious about clean ingredients. My audience analytics show that 78% of my followers are women in the US aged 28-40, and my DMs are constantly filled with questions about gentle, effective skincare solutions like yours."

5. The Concrete Idea

Don't just say, "Let’s collaborate." Propose a specific idea. This shows you're a creative partner, not just someone waiting for instructions. It makes it easier for the brand manager to say "yes" because you’ve already done some of the thinking for them.

Example:

"I have a content idea for a 3-part Instagram Reel series called 'Sensitive Skin Swaps' where I would feature your Fresh Start cleanser as the solution for removing makeup without irritation. The series would showcase the product in action, touch on its key ingredients, and end with a strong call-to-action to check it out online."

6. The Call to Action (CTA) and Closing

End your email with a clear next step. Attach your media kit and give them a simple way to continue the conversation.

Example:

"Would you be open to exploring this idea further? I've attached my media kit with more details about my audience and past collaborations. Happy to hop on a quick call next week if that's easier."

Then, sign off professionally: "Best regards," followed by your name and a link to your main social profile again.

The Art of the Follow-Up

Marketing managers are busy. They get hundreds of emails a day. A lack of response doesn't always mean "no" - it often just means your email got buried. A polite follow-up is an industry-standard practice.

• When to Follow Up: Wait about 5-7 business days after your initial email. Any sooner can feel impatient.
• What to Say: Keep it short and sweet. Reply to your original email (so they have the context) and say something friendly. "Hi [Contact Name], just wanted to gently follow up on my email from last week. We think there’s a great opportunity for [Your Name] and [Brand Name] to create some fantastic content together. Let me know if you had any thoughts! Thanks, Alex."
• How Many Times: One or two follow-ups is enough. If you don’t hear back after the second message, it's best to move on to the next brand on your list. Don't take it personally, their budget, timing, or strategy may just not be a fit right now.

Final Thoughts

Contacting companies as an influencer is a skill that blends professionalism, an understanding of marketing, and authentic relationship-building. By doing your homework, making your pitch about mutual value, and following up gracefully, you shift from simply asking for a partnership to proving you are a valuable collaborator they want on their team.

Building a brand that companies want to partner with requires consistency, and nothing kills consistency faster than burnout from "feeding the algorithm." From our experience, we know how exhausting it can be to constantly create, customize, and post content across multiple platforms to keep your brand visible. With Postbase, we built a visual calendar and a rock-solid scheduler specifically to make planning and posting content - especially short-form video for Reels and TikTok - feel organized and effortless. We help you stay on top of your content strategy so that when you're ready to send that perfect pitch, your portfolio of work is already polished and waiting to make a great first impression.