Have you ever reached out to a brand’s email address and had the email bounce? Nothing is more frustrating than crafting the perfect email pitch just for it to not make it through. Today, I’m sharing my tips on how to find brand and PR contacts to pitch yourself to without the barrier of an email bounce!
How Do I Find the Right Contact?
Let’s use Edelman, one of the largest PR agencies in the world, for example. Say we are hoping to find someone who works as an Account Executive or in influencer relations:
Step 1 – Search in LinkedIn for the company:
Step 2 – Search for the job title in the “people” area.
Common job titles/keywords in PR/Marketing are: Account Executive, Marketing Coordinator, Marketing Associate, and Influencer Relations.
I’ll also sometimes search contacts by my college, University of Florida. This allows me to personalize my pitch even further knowing that we have a connection based on where we went to school.
Step 3 – Review search results and consider who the best contact may be.
You may see a wide range of search results and that is OKAY! I like to search for someone that lists that they specifically work with the brand I’m interested in as one of their clients. Even if you pitch to the wrong person, they can likely help you reach the right one if they respond.
If I am pitching a brand directly and looking for the contact who manages their socials, I typically look for “influencer relations” “social media” or just “marketing” if it a smaller company.
For example, I clicked on one of the individuals above and saw on her profile she manages cheese brands. So if I were a foodie influencer, she might be a great contact:
If you get lucky, you will find that the PR associate or brand contact may list their email in their contact info section on LinkedIn. Most often, this is NOT the case as they would likely be SPAMMED. Don’t worry, I’ll walk you through the process of how to find contacts through a direct email.
Step 4 – Find the email format for the company.
I’ll usually just Google “COMPANY email format.” I’ve had the best luck with Hunter.io so far. So, if I worked at Edelman for example, my email would be [email protected].
Step 5 – PITCH!
Not sure what to say? Check out my pitching techniques post! I’ve shared a ton of tips to perfect your pitching techniques there, but check out a recent pitch I sent below. Feel free to adapt and use this template too! Note: brand name redacted for privacy!
Hi NAME,
I am reaching out with an exciting opportunity for a collaboration between BRAND and Hello Emily Erin (IG: @helloemilyerin). My name is Emily Croslin and I am a colorful content creator and lifestyle blogger based in Florida. Most of my audience (19.2K+ on Instagram) is based in Florida, Texas, California, Georgia, and New York. For more information about my brand, I’d be happy to share my media kit! You can also view some of my past branded work on my blog here.
I would love to team up with BRAND to promote your tequila as the perfect addition to any spicy margarita! I know we have a few fun alcohol-based holidays coming up that could be applicable for this campaign – Cinco De Mayo (5/5) and National Tequila Day (7/24). We could plan around those or I could also showcase BRAND in a spicy marg poolside or beachside this summer since I am based here in Florida! We could brainstorm some summer content ideas and cocktails – open to any ideas you have! I think we would be a great fit for a partnership and I know that BRAND will undoubtedly resonate with my audience.
I know my personal brand and audience demographics (women between the ages of 18-24) strongly align with the TEQUILA BRAND. My engagement is at 4%, so a partnership between our two brands could be great to raise awareness for the ghost brand! In the past I have worked with brands such as Anheuser Busch, Empress Gin, Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey, Winn Dixie Wine, Poema Cava, The Seeker Wine, Sip Cozy, and more!
Please let me know if you agree that we could be a great fit for a partnership! I’d love to know how best I can support your marketing needs.
Excited for our potential partnership,
—
Emily
Pitching Pointers
- Consider the time you are sending your email. I typically aim to send my emails between 1-3PM.
- Consider the day you are sending emails. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT send pitch emails on the weekends (yes, this includes Friday!). I like to schedule my emails to be sent Tuesdays-Thursdays.
- Follow up! I usually aim for 2-3 follow ups after I send my first email. Brands get hundreds if not THOUSANDS of emails each day. Make their jobs easier by bumping your email to the top of their inbox!
What next?
Do NOT be discouraged if you don’t hear back or even if the email bounces. Sometimes, the email bounces because of an inbox rule as the company knows you are from outside their organization. It is not always easy to find contacts, but worth a try!
When the email bounces, I typically will find their general press or info email address and send my pitch over that way. I prefer to try to make a personalized connection when pitching, but understand that it isn’t 100% foolproof.
I’ll find the more general email address by going to the company’s website and clicking “contact us.” There is usually a section dedicated to press, media inquiries, influencer inquiries, or just general questions. You can typically find the email here.
Another spot I’ll look is on the company’s Instagram page. NOTE: you can only see this on MOBILE. This is another reason YOU should have your brand’s email address in your Instagram bio – I explain why in this post dedicated to optimizing your IG bio. When you click the EMAIL button below their bio, it’ll often list a contact email address for the firm:
Once you pitch, be patient
Like I mentioned, the emails don’t always make it through. But why not try? If you get lucky, you will reach someone who can be a valued contact for years to come!
Pitching to PR agencies is a bit different than pitching to brands in that it requires more patience. While a PR contact may receive your media kit and value your work as an influencer, they may not have any work or campaigns available for you at the moment! That is OKAY. They will have your contact information and portfolio for when the moment is right and they DO have something for you. And if not, you may end up on some awesome PR gifting lists!
Pitching to brands can be absolutely worthwhile as you can begin a relationship that can last years to come. Some of my favorite brand contacts are ones that I have pitched myself!
So why not give it a try? Let me know if you have any questions as you go through the pitching process! Go find contacts who you can truly connect with and grow your relationship with as an influencer! I’d also love to hear any tips or strategies that went well for you when pitching to PR contacts or brands.
Are you a new blogger or content creator looking for more resources? Check out these recent posts:
- How to Create Engaging Content That Will Get You Noticed
- What Rates to Charge as a Content Creator in 2021
- How to Choose the Best Platform for Blogging
- How to Provide Quality Content to a Brand
- My 2021 Content Calendar
- 9 Blogging Essentials You Need
- How to Maintain Relationships with Brands
- Pitching to PR Contacts (+ How To Find Them)
- Boost Your Instagram Story Engagement
- How to Get Noticed By Brands for Collaborations
- Pitching to Brands as an Influencer (+ real email templates that I actually sent!)
- The Tea on Instagram Giveaways
- Influencer Marketing Platforms to Help You Make Money
