When I used to run a frugal blog I was sending out pitch letters to companies all the time. I remember my first letter was so choppy.. unprofessional and just plain horrible, there’s no surprise that I never got any response from it!
Over the years though I realized what companies wanted and what worked on getting a reaction or email back from them. The letter isn’t about you or your site, the letter should be about THEM! Because if you think about it… companies really don’t care that your readers want free stuff (they actually DON’T want to hear that!) all they want to know is what the promotion you’re pitching can do for THEM.
So here are a few tips when writing your next pitch letter, I guarantee it will get you a much larger response than before!
1. Focus on what your promotion can do for the company and make the pitch all about them, you know, feed their ego.
If you’re wanting to run a review, let them know the type of readers you have that fit the demographic they’re trying to reach. Let them know how it is much more affordable than running an ad online or commercial and the review comes from a real person, which is more appealing to readers.
2. Have a set game plan and let them know what exactly you plan to do.
Companies like when they know exactly what they’re going to get and you look more professional when you have a game plan. Let them know how many photos you plan to include, links, what your review will entail and any other perks you’re adding along with it, whether it be sidebar ads for a certain amount of time, social media promotions and whatever else.
3. Be honest about your numbers, don’t try to inflate them.
There are many different ways for companies to get an idea of your monthly numbers, so trying to inflate them or make them look better than they are can hurt you in the long run.
If your numbers are low try to focus on other areas like the types of readers you have, if they’re loyal, how many shop through your posts, etc etc. Page views or Facebook fan numbers don’t always mean much, especially if only 5% of those fans are actually seeing your post.
4. Include your demographics.
If your blog focuses mainly on moms, women in their 20′s or whatever else, be sure to include that in your pitch to the company so they know what type of audience they would reach. If you plan to pitch for a men’s item but your audience consists mainly of women this may or may not work well for you. You can always try to use a spin on it and target it towards Christmas gifts, Birthday presents, etc. that could be bought by the women/moms.
5. Give them a time frame for the promotion to go live.
Let the company know when you plan to post, how long the giveaway will stay live, how many times it will be posted to social media, etc etc. This falls in line with #2 above, companies want to know your game plan and the better laid out it is the better chance you have at receiving a reply.
6. Make the pitch personal, include name(s) if possible.
When searching for an email for PR rep for a company, if their name is listed on the page make sure to include that in your email. Make it personal to the person receiving it and make the email personal to their product. Never send out a mass pitch! Just as much as most bloggers hate receiving a blanket pitch, PR reps are the same way.
Make sure to include their product name, what you like about said product and include their company name at least once. This lets them know that you truly want to test THEIR product and not just one out of 10.. whoever replies to the mass email.
7. Include links to prior promotions/reviews
You will want to include links to other product reviews, promotions, etc. that you have done in the past so the company can see what your work looks like. I suggest including up to three covering different types of items so the company can see how flexible and different each one is.
8. Be friendly, be unique and stand out!
This is by far the most important aspect! In all reality companies/reps get hundred of email(s) each day, you want to make sure your email and/or pitch stands out from the rest. Include something humorous or something personable to make sure your email stands out above the others!
Using all these techniques above landed me plenty of opportunities I would have never imagined!
I received a $1,000 closet organizer system by offering up a unique promotion for one company. With three posts on the process of removing my old, designing the new and installing the new one. All those posts are still linked from the companie’s website and receive plenty of traffic showing their own customers how the process works.
I received TWO paid in full trips to Tennessee including hotel and show tickets by offering one company a set game plan, social media posts and being friendly an honest with the rep. It initially included one trip but they were so happy with my honest and personal posts on the first I was offered a second.
I’ve included an example pitch below to give you an idea on how to write your letter.
Hi Allison,
My name is Laura and I run http://MyOldSiteURL.com a site for moms and women alike with great coupons, freebies, store and online deals and life as a wife!I am currently expecting our first child on July 1st (or before… you never know really) and I have shared my process of finding deals and decorating our nursery/prepping for baby with my readers. I would love to share your baby swing with my readers to show them how great the quality is and that some items are worth paying full price for, especially when it comes to a little one!
I was curious if your company would be interested in participating with my site for a product review and giveaway (optional) of your baby swing to gain exposure to over 40,000 unique monthly readers. The promotion would include a detailed review of your swing including my honest thoughts and opinions to give readers a realistic review that they can relate to.This promotion would include a review upon arrival including how it works, the quality of how it’s built and more plus an additional follow up once our little one arrives to show how much she loves it!
Product reviews are fantastic for both you the company and my readers, it gets them prepared for little one with ideas on what products are great quality and they get to see first hand how it works and get a real moms opinion! This is also a big plus for your company since there’s no guess work at what type of demographics you’ll reach, you know you will be seen by thousands of current and expecting moms!
How these promotions work :
- A review product is chosen by myself or the company, all review items are nonreturnable due to the fact that I actually thoroughly review the item.
- In exchange for the item you will receive a thorough and honest review posted on my site and shared with thousands of people and expecting/current moms.
- Reviews consist of product and/or company details, images, videos when applicable, pricing of the item, where to buy and of course the review itself.
- Include a 125×125 Ad on the sidebar of my website for one month to go along with the promotion so readers can click through and check you out even after the post goes live.
- Each giveaway will stay open for two weeks with promotions to email subscribers, Twitter followers, Facebook fans and any other social media sites.
You can view my site here http://URLHERE
Some examples of products I have reviewed :
Closet Organizer:
URL HEREZaycon Foods:
URL HEREMiche Bag:
URL HEREI look forward to hearing from you and working with your company!
Thank you,
Laura N.
This was so informative and helpful. As someone considering getting into this form of blogging, it’s great to see and understand how bloggers get this stuff done. I had always just assumed that companies contacted the blogger. Please post more articles like this, I am in love with your writing and insight!