Before Pitching to Brands: What You Offer and 5 Must-Dos
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After our introduction to sponsorships and UGC, this article explains what you offer brands and what to prepare before pitching.
Before you pitch to any brand, it helps to know exactly what you are offering. In this article, we explain the offering in sponsorships and UGC, how to present it, and the five must-dos before pitching to brands.
What you offer brands: a digital service
Your offering in sponsorships and UGC is a digital service. It is “providing exposure for a partner.” In most cases, that partner is a brand that asks you to create tailored content featuring its product or service.
This tailored content sits alongside your regular content. By posting it to your audience, you create exposure for the brand. In a sponsorship, brands pay you for both the tailored content and the exposure, while in a UGC deal they pay only for the tailored content.
That is why sponsorship payments are typically higher than UGC payments. Either way, make sure your content creation skills are solidly in place. If the four types of offering are new to you, our article on what you can sell online explains them.
Partner agreements with brands
In sponsorships and UGC work, you enter direct partner agreements with brands. Unlike affiliate marketing, these agreements are far less automated. Brands usually review creators before selecting them, even when AI is used for the first screening.
You can pitch for these opportunities through platforms designed to connect brands with creators. These platforms often use the word “influencer,” since they usually expect applicants to already have an audience.
How to present your offer before pitching to brands
Your offer is the visual and creative presentation of the digital service you provide. You can show it in two main ways, matching the two types of service involved.
Your public profile
First, publish social media content consistently that informs, entertains, inspires or educates your audience, whether or not a brand partnership is involved. Always link this public profile when you pitch to brands. It is your living proof of quality and consistency.
Your creator portfolio
Second, build a structured portfolio on an influencer or creator marketplace. There, brands can review your work and contact you behind the scenes. This is especially useful for UGC, where brands care most about the content itself.
Pitching takes real time
From the outside, it may seem that creating content is most of an influencer’s work. In practice, pitching takes a significant amount of time and plays a major role in earning through brand deals. Outreach and proposal writing can take up a meaningful share of your week.
It is similar to applying for grants in academia. Strong work matters, but opportunities rarely appear without deliberate outreach. Brands may eventually contact you directly once you have a sizable, engaged audience, but reaching that stage usually takes time and consistency.
Five must-dos before pitching to brands
There are many ways to approach brands, but a few basics are essential. Have these five in place before your first pitch.
1. Build around a real interest and post consistently
Choose a topic you truly enjoy and post regularly, optimizing for algorithmic reach. Your content creation trains the algorithm to show your posts to the right people. We explain this in our article on going viral on social media.
2. Develop a recognizable style
Develop a consistent look or style that makes your account memorable to brands. It might be a color, a sound, a format or a tone. Our article on a consistent content style helps you define it.
3. Know your industry’s trends
Follow the trends in your field, so that when you contact brands, you speak about something relevant. Brands respond better to creators who understand their market.
4. Prepare your faceless angle, if relevant
If you prefer not to show your face, explain why you are still a strong choice for the brand. Your unconventional approach may bring something fresh to their communication. Turn it into an advantage in your pitch.
5. Know your analytics before pitching to brands
Be ready to read and explain your profile’s key numbers, such as reach and engagement rate. Brands will ask. Our article on engagement rate explains the most important one.
Common mistakes before pitching to brands
The first mistake is pitching before you have any content to show. Even a handful of strong posts or sample videos helps. The second is a generic pitch sent to many brands at once, which rarely gets answers.
The third mistake is not knowing your numbers. If a brand asks for your engagement rate and you cannot answer, you lose credibility.
An example of preparing before pitching to brands
Imagine a creator who posts calm morning routines with herbal teas, showing only her hands and her kitchen. She posts five times a week for three months, always with the same warm lighting and soft music. She follows tea industry news and notes which brands are launching new blends.
She learns her engagement rate and audience locations from her analytics. Only then does she pitch to a tea brand, linking her profile and offering a sample video.
Building a sample portfolio before pitching to brands
If you have no brand deals yet, create your own samples. Choose three products you already own and love, and create content for each in your usual style. Present them as examples of what you could do for a brand.
These samples show your skills right away. They also help you practice the exact kind of work brands will pay for.
Starting small and staying private
Brand deals need no shop and no stock. We recommend spending no more than about 20 dollars on your setup, using free tools for your content and your media kit, with no monthly fees before brands know you. You can grow your audience yourself, without an agency.
Brands still often prefer creators they can see, but faceless creators can succeed too, especially with UGC. If the idea of self-branding is what held you back so far, Lynnaider recaps the alternatives for you.
Your next step
The next article shows how brand deals work step by step, through the sponsorships and UGC process flow. The complete module, alongside the other online income techniques, is in the book on our products page. If you would like help preparing before pitching to brands, see our services page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most important must-do before pitching?
Consistent content in a recognizable style. Without it, brands have little reason to choose you.
Do I need a media kit before pitching to brands?
It helps a lot. A short media kit with your niche, audience numbers and best content makes your pitch look professional.
What do creators offer brands?
A digital service: creating tailored content featuring the brand, and in sponsorships also giving the brand exposure to your audience.
Why are sponsorships paid more than UGC?
Because the brand pays for both the content and the exposure, while in UGC it pays only for the content.
How do I show brands what I offer?
Through your public social media profile with regular content, and through a structured portfolio on an influencer or creator marketplace.
Are brand deals automated like affiliate programs?
No. Brands usually review creators before choosing them, even if they use AI for the first screening.
How much time does pitching take?
A meaningful share of your time. Outreach and proposal writing are a big part of earning from brand deals.
What should I do before pitching to brands?
Build around a real interest and post consistently, develop a recognizable style, follow industry trends, prepare your faceless angle if relevant, and know your analytics.
Can faceless creators pitch brands successfully?
Yes, if they explain why their unconventional approach brings something fresh to the brand’s communication.
Can I get step-by-step guidance from Lynnaider to set up one of the 10 online business models without spending much?
Step-by-step tutorials with free or minimal-cost setups may be made based on interest. Please add your name to the waitlist, and we will inform everyone who signed up as soon as they become available.
Will brands contact me on their own?
Sometimes, once you have a sizable, engaged audience. Reaching that stage usually takes time and consistent work.
Can I start with the Sponsorships & UGC technique at no or low cost?
Yes. Lynnaider teaches setup routes for the Sponsorships & UGC technique that cost nothing, or very little (under 20 dollars), to go live, so you do not pay setup costs long before you earn. Our free AI agent, Lynnaider Compass, guides you through them step by step, in the same logic as the whole Lynnaider teaching.
Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and should not be regarded as legal, tax, or business advice. Pursuing an online business does not guarantee income; results depend on many factors including the business environment, individual effort, skills, and consistency. Some links on this site may allow Lynnaider to earn a commission at no additional cost to the reader.
