Get money (or in-kind support) for your business, non-profit, or group with these super clear-cut and actionable tips on how to pitch a sponsorship to a PR firm or in-house marketing team in the outdoor industry.
Learn:
What information to provide in the very first email (scroll down for a great example from Campbell!)
Who to pitch to
How to build a relationship with brands.
Our powerhouse panelists include:
Sarah Knapp, Founder, Mappy Hour
Shanti Hodges, Founder, Hike it Baby
Campbell Levy, VP, Turner PR
Campbell provided the below example of a successful pitch that would actually GET ANSWERED! His comments are below. This example is for a travel destination.
Personalization is Everything. This particular example is clearly personally tailored — when someone is clearly hitting send on 100+ emails, and just inputting a different organization into each email; that’s really a great exercise in futility. PR pros know a good pitch better than just about anyone, so keep that in mind. Some ways to tailor:
Connect on a personal level (why specifically do you want to work with this brand). Be Human, utilize inspiration and why something matters to you, or better yet, aligns with your personal beliefs.
Consider your competition: It’s you versus everyone else. A lot of folks are vying for dollars, partnerships, etc., so consider this whenever you hit send:
Subject Line: It’s pretty much everything. It should guarantee your email gets opened. Study story titles that beg you to click them – in an ideal world, it encompasses the reason you’re reaching out, but begs your recipient to open.
Opening Sentence: I should be able to sum up your proposal and reason for outreach in this sentence; ideally, it also includes some sort of qualifying sentence, or acknowledgment (this can even be a shameless nod to a previous piece of work, campaign, etc). This basically shows: I’m pitching you this idea, and I know it’s a great fit because…
This shows me you understand the organization and have a specific reason you’re reaching out to ME; true personalization. I read on whenever a sender does this..
Measurement: We ALWAYS are going to want to know audience numbers, engagement rate, and demographic, so you might as well include it.
Instant turnoff: Artificially inflated metrics. We’re going to know if your followers are fake, engagement is low, etc., so no sense in inflating. If your numbers are low, and you’re just starting to build an audience, that’s okay (and also means you likely need to work on trade to build into paid partnerships).
Be Specific regarding timing for travel, activities, deliverables, etc.
Include a Great Deck. It should contain past examples/case studies, and ideally real-world numbers associated with past work. If you have great references, those are also wonderful.