What makes a great influencer brand pitch: How brands can better collaborate with influencers

It isn’t uncommon for companies to receive hundreds of brand pitches in their social inbox from influencers and creators. Sprout’s Influencer Marketing Report found that 93% of influencers say the quality of a brand’s existing content impacts whether they agree to collaborate.

But what separates a perfect brand pitch from a bad one? How can you identify which influencers to partner with based on their outreach?

We’ve outlined everything to look out for in influencer brand pitches, from metrics and optimized account bios to a unique POV, so you can start finding the right influencers for your brand.

What is a brand pitch?

A brand pitch is a message, usually through emails or social DMs, where an influencer (or an agency representing influencers) reaches out to a brand to collaborate. Sometimes they also include detailed documents like a pitch deck.

Influencers create brand pitches to convince companies to work with them on future content campaigns. They usually include information like who an influencer is, their recent metrics and successes, and a proposed campaign idea.

What separates a good influencer brand pitch from the rest?

Not all influencer brand pitches are created equal. These outreach messages can help you identify whether an influencer is worth working with, or if they’re not quite the right match for your brand.

But to do that, you need to learn what separates a great brand pitch from a bad one. We’ve listed the main things brands should be looking out for when going through brand pitches.

Look for notable metrics

The best way to determine if an influencer’s content will succeed in the future is to check how successful they’ve been to date. Metrics show their audience size, how engaged their following is, the types of results they get from their posts and more.

Check if an influencer has listed any metrics in their message. They should have included data like their follower count, engagement rate and average post reach. Ideally, they’ll also have specific readouts for individual posts or campaigns.

Look for network-specific metrics, especially for networks your brand prioritizes. A breakdown of their network performance shows their preferred platforms, their reach across all social channels and if their audience aligns with yours.

Performance should be well-presented; this shows an influencer is committed to preparing their pitches and maintaining their brand. However, the actual metrics themselves are more important than their presentation.

Compare performance across all your brand pitch messages to figure out which influencers stand out.

Check they pass the brand safety test

For this next evaluation stage, scroll through the influencer’s profiles. Look at their content, and perform a quick audit for brand safety.

Check an influencer’s content and comments section don’t include nudity, profanity or discrimination. It’s also worth performing these checks across other social networks and through traditional Google searches. This could reveal controversies that aren’t happening on the influencer’s profile but are nevertheless having a big impact on their reputation in the wider world.

A perfect brand pitch might include an influencer’s self-audit into their content to prove they’re reliable to work with. This can be a good sign, but it’s always worth double-checking yourself before you proceed further. Skipping this stage risks serious reputation damage in the future if you work with an influencer who posts insensitive or abusive content.

Cheapholidayexpert is a notable UK influencer who regularly appears on UK TV and radio shows; due to her reliable reputation, she partnered with South Korea’s Tourism Organization on a travel-related campaign.

Check for optimized bios and profiles

After your brand safety audit, dive deeper into the influencer’s profile. Look out for how often they post, any brand collaborations, and if they’re part of any special interest groups or initiatives.

A bio is the first thing a user sees before following an influencer, so it should give you a concise summary of the type of creator they are and the values they promote.

Don’t forget to review their link in bio, as these show an influencer’s reach beyond their profile. Comedian and positivity influencer Troy Hawke has a comprehensive link in bio that includes his comedy tour, YouTube channel, merch store and more, with a funny heading that exemplifies his brand.

Finally, think about how a user might find their profile. Look at any keywords they’ve used in their headings, and make sure they align with your brand’s audience.

Reference their previous collaborations

A strong brand pitch should include several examples of an influencer’s previous collaborations. Presenting at least two or three different completed campaigns shows that an influencer has worked with a diverse range of companies. These case studies should all include success metrics and links to the content they produced during these campaigns.

This is possibly the most important part of an influencer brand pitch because it gives you a clear view of an influencer’s experience, performance and content types.

These examples show the types of brands an influencer has worked with already. Check whether these companies are similar to your values or audiences. For the perfect brand pitch, an influencer should have tailored these examples to relate specifically to your company.

Queer-friendly YouTube creator SuperButterBuns regularly creates videos about Atlus videogames. Whilst not partnered, these videos proved their expertise, and their interest. To support the release of Metaphor ReFantazio, Atlus and Sega partnered with them on an exclusive video, likely because of SuperButterBuns’ previous work, and have already received 120,000 video views from an audience keenly interested in their games.

Review the content they created in these previous collaborations alongside the content a creator typically makes for themselves. Look at any success metrics, but also the creative approach they took to see if it aligns with your vision for influencer partnerships.

If you need something to compare their work to, check out Sprout’s examples of influencer marketing campaigns.

Determine whether they add value to your brand

Influencer-brand relationships are always a two-way street. An influencer is using this brand pitch to work with you, but they should also be thinking about how you stand to benefit from the collaboration.

In the best-case scenario, an influencer should have included a value proposition. This outlines how working with them will benefit your brand. Check if they’ve linked their value proposition to specific success metrics, as this shows they understand exactly what level of reach they can offer.

The Costco Guys and The Rizzler, both major internet celebrities thanks to their social followings, recently partnered with the wrestling company AEW. They created a unique value proposition thanks to Big Boom AJ’s (of the CostCo Guys) professional wrestling background and organized a collaboration match during one of AEW’s recent events.

A value proposition might also include a specific campaign pitch. If an influencer has included this, use it to review how creative their content ideas are and whether they fit with your current content strategy.

Don’t treat this like a deal-breaker; even if you don’t think an idea works for your brand, use it to determine if an influencer has done their homework on your brand and its messaging. In most cases, an influencer will be happy to work closely with you to develop a different campaign or to follow your initial creative direction.

Determine if they can bring a unique POV to your brand

Influencers form a unique and integral part of today’s social media culture. They each curate audiences centered around their individual content and personality.

One of the key benefits of working with influencers is to collaborate with, and benefit from, this unique perspective. When evaluating an influencer’s POV, first make sure they’re authentic.

Influencer authenticity can be tricky to determine, but it involves reviewing whether an influencer has a genuine connection with the community they’ve created. You can assess this by performing sentiment analysis on their comments, and looking at how they interact with their community on and off their profile. Also, check whether they practice what they preach when it comes to values, such as activism or inclusivity.

An influencer’s POV is also shown through the content they produce. How unique is the content they make at the moment? Are they following influencer industry trends, or are they the trendsetters? Your influencer partner doesn’t have to be fully unique, but if they are, it can help your brand collaboration stand out on today’s increasingly crowded social media platforms.

Katelyn Ohashi has a unique POV and following thanks to her background as a professional gymnast. This meant she traveled to the Paris Olympics. During her trip, GetYourGuide partnered with her to appeal to this niche audience through her unique perspective.

This POV should come through in an influencer’s brand pitch. Review how well an influencer presents themselves and their understanding of their audience.

Proactively start scaling your influencer marketing program

It’s good to know what to look out for when receiving influencer brand pitches, but don’t just wait for the right influencer to come to you. Follow these same principles to source influencers and creators to start, scale, or grow your influencer marketing program.

Finally, don’t turn an influencer away just because they don’t tick every box. Micro and mid-sized influencers with less experience can still become valuable partners because they often have highly engaged audiences.

Once you’re ready to start finding influencers for your own partnerships, follow Sprout’s 7-week influencer marketing strategy. Our approach outlines the steps you need to take each week, and the tools you can use to start planning, launching and tracking your next major influencer campaign.