We’ve talked about pitching brands. But not the process of how to negotiate with brands you’re in contact with. Today, we’ll run through a few scenarios and how to handle the negotiation process no matter what you are faced with.
Scenario #1: The brand reaches out to you and you are interested in partnering.
When brands reach out to me initially without any mention of rates or budget, I always counter and ask them what kind of a budget they are working with. This starts the conversation of budget and allows me to begin to negotiate by providing my quote for the statement of work required.
Not sure about the language or starting this conversation? Talking about money can sometimes feel a bit awkward. I’m here to help you out as you negotiate! Here’s what I say when a brand reaches out without mentioning budget:
Hi NAME,
Thank you so much for reaching out. Working with BRAND would be a great fit for my brand that would absolutely resonate with my audience. SPECIFIC FACT OR SENTENCE ABOUT WHY I ENJOY THE BRAND OR PRODUCT. Given the time, effort, and expenses that go into shooting a campaign, I’m prioritizing paid collaborations. Is the brand working with a marketing budget for this campaign?
Best, Emily
P.S. Huge shoutout to Danielle Gervino and the Blogging Unscripted Podcast for inspiring my response here! Highly recommend checking out Danielle’s podcast as another great resource for bloggers and content creators.
Okay, what’s next?
So you responded with the above template. Now what? Well, this can go a few ways.
- The brand will confirm that they have a budget. At this point, they will like ask you to send over your rates. You can also use this as an opportunity to share your media kit and any statistics on past branded partnerships’ performance.
- The brand will let you know that they do not have a budget. Then, you can decide if you’d like to politely decline the collaboration or accept the gifted offer. You can also try to negotiate more, but I typically move on once a brand says they do not have budget.
Scenario #2: You pitched the brand and they are interested in partnering with you, but you need to bring up that you’d like to be paid and begin to negotiate.
Hi NAME,
Thanks so much for getting back to me. I am so glad you are interested in partnering up. I know we could create some amazing content together! SPECIFIC FACT ABOUT WHY I ENJOY THE BRAND OR SPECIFIC PITCH IDEA. What did you all have in mind for the deliverables for this campaign? (Alternatively: TRY SHARING SOME IDEAS OF YOUR OWN FOR THE CAMPAIGN!) Do you have a budget in place for this collaboration?
Looking forward to working together!
Best, Emily
Okay, what’s next?
So you responded with the above template. Now what? Well, this can go a few ways.
- The brand will confirm that they have a budget. At this point, they will likely ask you to send over your rates. You can also use this as an opportunity to share your media kit and any statistics on past branded partnerships’ performance. From there, the brand may want to negotiate more and provide a counter offer.
- The brand will let you know that they do not have a budget. Then, you can decide if you’d like to politely decline the collaboration or accept a gifted offer.
Scenario #3: The brand pitched you with a specific payment mentioned up front.
Hi NAME,
Thanks so much for reaching out! I would love to partner for the new product launch. Thanks for sharing all of the details ahead of time! I can certainly work with this timeline.
I am hoping we can align on the payment for this collaboration. Given the time, effort, and expenses that go into a collaboration, my standard rates are as follows for the outlined deliverables:
- Instagram Static Post: $XXXX
- Instagram Stories (Set of 3): $XXXX
Looking forward to continuing our conversation and to partnering with BRAND!
Best, Emily
Okay, what’s next?
So you responded with the above template. Now what? Well, this can go a few ways.
- The brand will confirm that they can work with your quote. Ideal!
- The brand will counter with a higher rate but lower than what you proposed. If you’re newer to negotiating, consider asking if they can meet in the middle. Alternatively, you can use points like exclusivity, usage, timeline, and requirements of the campaign to leverage your higher proposed rate. Analytics can be a great deal-breaker too to push the brand over the edge.
- The brand will let you know that they cannot go higher than what they initially mentioned. I typically push back once in this case using some of the points I mentioned above, but if the brand does not budge, it is up to me to decide if I am willing to make it work, or if I’d rather walk away and try pitching again in a few months!
If you choose to walk away from a collab because they couldn’t meet your rates, this template is a polite way to decline and suggest that you’d like to partner again in the future.
Hi NAME,
Unfortunately, as of now, I am not able to move forward at that rate. I hope we can partner up in the future should the budget increase.
Best, Emily
Let’s Get Paid!
Will you use these negotiation templates and advice? I highly encourage you to give it a try! If you are feeling nervous about asking a brand to pay you, think about how much value you are providing to them! I am passionate about the topic of knowing your worth as a content creator and sharing that information with brands. You can check out my journey as a content creator in this post, where I dive in to how I transformed my gifted partnerships into paid ones and shared some of my “big breaks!” Will you try to negotiate with brands who reach out to you?
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