If you are an influential person, you can use your influence in different ways. Like convincing people that Crocs are cool again. One of the most attractive ways to use your power, IMO? Making fucking money by partnering with brands and leveraging brand presentation opportunities.
If you’re new to the influencer game, you might be wondering, “How exactly do you get these brand partnerships?”or “Can I have one?”
What can you! All you have to do is ask.
Because an engaged audience and a great grid are just what you need. The real key to creating the collaboration of your dreams is to master the art of brand presentation.
While companies seeking partnerships often approach influencers with a broader profile, partnerships occur and vice versa when influencers approach brands to offer their services.
The good news is that you don’t need to have a six-figure following to get a juicy collab. Micro-influencers (accounts with 10,000 to 50,000 followers) and nano influencers (5,000 to 10,000 followers) typically have extremely high engagement, which is often required by brands.
And lucky for you, we’ve got a quick tutorial to help you learn how to market brands as an influencer, as well as a template to help you secure a nice, sweet marketing partnership with an influencer.
We’ll teach you how to promote brand collaborations so you can earn some cash (or at least earn yourself a couple of free crocs).
What is a brand presentation or email?
A brand presentation is a presentation or email designed to convince a brand to work with you.
More specifically: it means that you (the influencer) reach out to the company to ask if they are interested in partnering on a social media campaign in exchange for money or a product.
Whether you’re making your request in a well-written email or a beautifully designed presentation (more on that later!), you need to be clear about what you have to offer and why you’re the right influencer for the job.
Think of brands as potential investors. They want their investment in you to pay off, so present them with a business plan (i.e. your presentation) that shows how you can help them reach their goals. It’s not really a job interview, but it’s not really, you know?
Too often, a presentation fails because it wasn’t thoughtfully designed and tailored for a particular brand. If you’ve submitted a lot of proposals and haven’t received results, it’s time to change your approach.
Your submission must include:
- A brief introduction to who you are
- Analytics and statistics from your account
- Details of any other brand experience you have had in the past.
The main thing is that it should be short and pleasant. Keep it simple and direct – save the flamboyant language for an evening of slam poetry.
Another key point: try to find the most suitable person in the company to whom you could address your presentation. Contacting a marketing specialist or head of partnerships will be more useful than throwing him into a vague pile of “whom it may concern.”
How to promote brands as a micro-influencer (or any other creator)
It really doesn’t matter what you do on social media: how you approach brands (as a micro or macro influencer) for partnership opportunities will follow roughly the same structure. Whether you’re a junk food vegan or a “fun dog groomer “, here’s what your brand ambassador should look like.
1. Start with a strong subject line
A recent Adobe survey showed that 75% of all emails are never read. (A separate study is needed to find out what percentage of unread emails your aunt forwards.)
The bottom line: Getting someone’s attention and convincing them to open and read your email is an accomplishment in itself. Your topic is your first impression and your chance to engage the reader. Take your time!
Your theme must:
- Be clear and concise
- Formulate brand value
- Be personalized (no copy and paste!)
- Create a sense of urgency
In fact, every word of this presentation should be carefully crafted, from the subject line to the caption. Take your time and do it right.
2. Show off your social profile
Introduce yourself (be brief!) and draw their attention to your profile so they can see what you do first hand.
You are reaching out to this brand because you think your social media presence will benefit them, so make sure you share a link to your account right away.
This is the fastest way to introduce yourself and showcase your personal brand. After all, if you’re positioning yourself as an influencer, your account should match everything else you say in your presentation.
3. Share stats that prove you’re a real pro
There are many horror stories about brands being burned by influencers with fake followers. If you cannot show that you are trustworthy, no one will want to work with you. So show your own proof of legitimacy before they blink twice.
To show that you are a real influencer with real active followers, it is a good idea to include these stats in your media kit:
- Engagement Rate: The best influencers don’t always have the most followers; they are the most involved. Show that you have a loyal, loyal following who love your content by sharing your likes, comments, and shares.
- Monthly Views: Sharing your average monthly views shows that your followers are showing continued interest. Can you also show annual growth? All the better.
- Growth in the number of subscribers. If you can show strong and consistent subscriber growth over the past year, you can offer a data-driven forecast of your content’s potential reach in the future. Brands are looking for sustainable growth – you’d be surprised if there’s a huge spike in followers for no reason, or if your engagement/follower ratio isn’t up to par.
- Conversion Rates: Brands love to see metrics like conversion rates: it shows you can inspire action. If you’re using the URL feature in your Instagram stories or running an Instagram store, be sure to include your conversion rates.
4. Touch the “three R”influence
Just send a note that says, “Partnership like this? how about this? isn’t going to cut mustard in a hyper-competitive powerhouse economy. You need to imagine yourself as the perfect employee by touching on the three Rs: relevance, reach, and resonance.
Following this structure is a great way to make sure you include all the important business details that a brand is looking for.
- Relevance: You share content that is relevant to the brand you are promoting and your audience’s demographics are in line with their target market. Sure, you’re going to build brand awareness by leveraging thousands of followers, but will those followers be interested in the particular brand you’re promoting? It is also an opportunity to highlight what you like or admire about a brand or product and show how your values align with theirs.
- Reach: If you didn’t already make this very clear when you shared your analytics, indicate how many people you estimate you could reach. Base this number on reality – overpromising and failing to deliver is not the best way to make friends in this business.
- Resonance: Explain how you expect your content to resonate with the brand’s desired audience. What level of engagement do you expect to receive from your partner project? Again, base this prediction on reality and avoid wild speculation or strong promises. Guaranteeing 5,000 comments and getting only five is a recipe for a nervous breakdown.
5. Share examples of any past partnerships
Prove that you can deliver the goods – and that you have it with former partners.
It’s like applying for a job: you fill out your resume with relevant jobs to show that you know what you’re doing. (For example, if you’re applying for a big cryptozoology event, you’d better mention your Bigfoot camp internship!)
In addition, sharing information about previous brand partnerships shows that you are experienced and proves that other brands have trusted you in the past.
If you have never worked with any brand before, can you share any other relevant experience? Maybe you helped a friend promote their music festival with a post, or you endorsed a glow-in-the-dark toothbrush in a post that made a splash. Boast about it!
Format the partnership mention as follows:
- Name the brand or product (or just the industry if you don’t have permission)
- Briefly about how you worked with them
- Share success rates, accumulated income, or other results
6. Talk about how you want to work together
At this point, you don’t want to run a full campaign, but your brand presentation should include at least one or two sentences describing how you’d like to work together.
Show them that you have a reason for contacting them and that you have done your homework.
For example, if you know this cat food brand has an annual St. Patrick’s Day campaign and you can reach one of their target demographics (cats that look good in green), say so. You must formulate your idea in such a way that it clearly indicates the benefit to the brand.
This is a good place to give a sincere compliment about why you want to work together. (Besides that sweet, sweet money, of course.)
7. Sign the following steps
Here it is! A grand finale to your email in which you wrap up and share a call to action: what do you hope to get your reader to do next?
Whether you’re sending a cold email or being introduced through someone else, you should aim to set up a call or face-to-face meeting. Be specific (but brief) about what you would like to accomplish in this meeting.
Some influencers like to include compensation and bids right in their pitch email, but it’s okay to keep the discussion on pricing until you know more about the brand’s goals and needs.
That’s all! Email is over! You’ve gone above and beyond to show that you’re a business-oriented and results-driven influencer and have increased your chances of getting a response.
Resist the temptation to attach an animated gif or choose a “funny font”. Just proofread it carefully (maybe even have a friend check it out just in case), cross your fingers, and hit the submit button.
Brand Ad Template
Finding the right words can be stressful even for professional content creators. That’s why we made this template to get you started. It’s like Mad Libs, but, you know, business.
SUBJECT: Partner Presentation: [influencer name] and [brand name] on [social media name]
Dear [insert name of contact person for PR or social media manager],
My name is [insert name] and I am [describe yourself in no more than 5 words]. [Describe what you do in 2 sentences or less].
Over the past [insert number of years] my following on [insert social network with a link to your profile] has increased to [insert number of followers]. My average engagement rate is [insert %].
I’m contacting you because I’m scheduling content for [specify time period]. In particular, [describe the content in more detail].
Would [insert brand] be interested in working with me to create this content? My audience is very interested in [describe specific products or something about a brand your followers are associated with] and would like to know how [brand] can improve them [insert benefit e.g. wardrobe, shopping habits, bike safety, exercise regimen, etc.].
Also, your [specify] values are the same as mine. I admire [brand] and [insert sincere compliment].
I have worked with brands in [specify industry] in the past on similar content. Here are some examples with related results:
[Brand 1]
- [Insert campaign content links]
- [Insert positive results]
[Brand 2 if available]
- [Insert campaign content links]
- [Insert positive results]
If you are open to working together, I would like to arrange a time for further conversation by phone [or in person if you are in the same location].
In the meantime, thanks for your time, and have a nice day!
[name of influencer]
Brand presentation template
Sometimes words just don’t help. A multi-page, beautifully designed PDF that covers all of the same topics we discussed above, the Brand Partnership Presentation is a visual way to package your case.
When should you use a brand presentation? If you’re reaching out to someone who can’t make the final decision, a deck can be a tool that your contact can use in their presentation for your presentation. (Resins in the fields in the fields!)
Branding your presentation presentation can also make you appear more professional or business-like, so if you’re reaching out to a large fashion organization or luxury brand, a presentation might be the way to go.
Some key points to keep in mind as you design your brand presentation:
- Keep it short. Brand presentation should not exceed 10-15 pages. The reader should be able to understand the essence of your presentation without getting bogged down in time-consuming details. (Docusend reports that readers only spend an average of 2 minutes 45 seconds reading a presentation!)
- Keep it fast. Keep text short and to the point—choose bullets instead of paragraphs, infographics and short numbers instead of detailed graphs or charts.
- Keep it on the brand. Align graphic design with your visual identity. If your Instagram account is all about the dreamy pastel lifestyle, your deck should be in the same palette and spirit.
We’ve created a template for you that you can use to present your brand (yes, we’re in love, get over it!) – just click on the link below to get your own copy:
If you’d rather start from scratch, here’s a suggested scheme to help you:
Page 1: Headline An eye-catching image and headline, such as [Your Name] x [Brand Name]
Page 2: About you
A brief introduction about you and your accounts, including your most impressive stats. A screenshot of your social profile here can be a nice touch!
Page 3-4: Analytics
Share your most impressive numbers: follower count and growth rate, engagement rate, monthly visits, conversion rate, etc.
Page 5: About your audience
Marketing introduction for your audience: Share relevant demographics.
Page 6: Why this partnership?
Brief explanation of how and why you think this would be a valuable collaboration.
Page 7-8: Past Collaborations
A brief overview of 2-3 similar partnerships you’ve made in the past, ideally with photos or screenshots. Be as specific as possible with KPIs and metrics!
Page 9: Tariffs and/or next steps
Any details on how to proceed, including rates you would like to share at this stage.
It’s scary to flaunt yourself, but we believe in you! And if you’re looking to level up your social game while you wait for a response from your future brand partners, we’ve got plenty of resources and blog posts to help you. Check out our guide to editing Instagram photos like a pro, update your content plan, or learn how a scheduling tool can help you post at the best time and optimize your reach.