HOW TO REACH OUT TO BRANDS AS A MICRO-INFLUENCER

Working with brands is one of the many perks of becoming a blogger and/or influencer. When I first began blogging four years ago, I actually didn’t know working with brands was possible until I received my first PR email from a brand. Blogging was and still is a hobby of mine. Yes, it’s true, bloggers and influencers do get paid for many sponsored posts but do not go into this thinking this way. Trust me, a lot of time goes into creating content especially when there isn’t a team behind you. Just do it because you enjoy it! 😀

After being reached out to by a few brands when I first started blogging, I decided that instead of waiting around for more to come my way, I’d reach out to them. As a new blogger or micro influencer, don’t wait around for a brand to reach out, be a go-getter girl! Four years later and I’m still reaching out to brands!

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO BEFORE REACHING OUT TO BRANDS FOR PARTNERSHIPS:

Put yourself in a brand’s shoes and ask yourself why would they want to work with you. You want to be able to stand out, especially with the number of new bloggers starting– is this partnership mutually beneficial?

1. HAVE AN APPEALING INSTAGRAM PAGE – I say Instagram because it’s the most popular social media platform right now. Treat your Instagram like your portfolio. Make sure your IG is cohesive and within your niche.
   • Include location + Contact info in bio
   • When posting always tag the brand in your pictures. If it’s an OOTD post and you’re wearing small studded earrings? Tag the brand! If it’s a curly hair post? Tag ALL the brands too! This is a way of you promoting yourself. Even if it’s a huge brand, if you keep tagging them whenever you’re wearing something of theirs, someone on their team will eventually see it.
2. GROW YOUR PLATFORMS – Having an appealing Instagram page will lead to you authentically growing your following.
   • Like and comment on others pictures but be genuine with your comments.
   • Post frequently but don’t spam your audience. On a good week, I post about 6-9 pictures. You want to stay consistent to keep the audience you have and get new followers.
   • Host giveaways with other influencers you know or within your niche. I like to stick to curly hair giveaways since it isn’t so broad and caters to my blog (have a max of 10 bloggers/influencers)

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WHERE TO LOOK FOR BRANDS CONTACT INFO:

Okay, so by now you have a great number of followers (say about 2K+), your Instagram page is poppin’ and cohesive, and (if you have a blog site) you have published enough posts (8+) to have a brand get a feel of your writing style and content.

This is when you send that bomb ass email! But where do you get the brands PR email from? Wanna know the secret? Research girl. Same way you help your BFF search for the guy who’s last name you two don’t remember :D. Just kidding, sometimes it’s a lot easier than that but here is where I look:

1. Brand’s website under ‘contact us’ – any email that says brand collaborations/partnerships, digital marketing, public relations. If I can’t find any of those, I send my email to their info@domain.com and usually they direct me to their PR dept.
2. Brand’s LinkedIn account – search for anyone under their PR dept
3. Direct Message via Instagram – Not professional at all but sometimes when I cannot find a single email, I’ll kindly ask if they have a PR email address they could direct me to. It’s worked for me in the past. Never hurts to try, right?

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN EMAIL PITCH:

You really wanna sell yourself. Try to include as much info in your email pitch as you can. Remember, they are receiving tons and tons of emails a day from other influencers wanting to work with them as well.

• Introduce yourself and say what your blog is about with a link to your blog
• Talk about engagement rate, especially if you are just starting (how your IG page has grown 20% etc). For blog sites – monthly views
• Explain why you’d like to work with them and what you can offer (a blog post + 3 social media shares etc) and pitch any great ideas you have in mind – I’d love to create a post on “how to transition from winter into spring”
• Include other top brands you have worked with or links to awesome posts you’ve created

You’ve got this babe! Always remember to stay true to yourself and never sell yourself short. It’s okay to work for free only IF the partnership will be mutually beneficial. In this case, let’s say you get a partnership with a brand who has a huge following, you could be reposted to their page and get traffic to your Instagram or blog page. The only times I’d say to decline partnerships is when it does not fit your niche or a brand makes you purchase an item first before being able to collaborate. A lot of the time they may say it’s because they want to see how well it does. NOPE. Decline girl…bye! That does not benefit you in any way. You should never have to pay for a product to collaborate, not even shipping!

If you’re a new blogger or thinking of starting a blog, head over to this post to read about three things I wish I would’ve known before I started blogging.