Are the days of 1 off brand deals over?

You know how when you find a hairstylist you like, you stick with them? When you find someone who provides a service, and it goes well, it makes you want to keep going back. Yea, this is just like that!

Working with brands is the same. If you land a brand deal, or have 1 that you’ve done in the past, it is easier to build a relationship based on that experience. If a brand has a good experience working with you, and you with them, you are more likely to go back to them and pitch again. I’ve even offered various extras or add-ons exclusively to consistent partnerships because you appreciate the positive relationship.

5 reasons why brands want to work with you on a consistent basis

It’s not just better for you – there are definitely benefits to them too!

1. It provides less work for them in researching new creators to work with
2. Minimal surprises. They know how you work and communicate
3. They are comfortable with you
4. They know your value, because you’ve already shown it!
5. The content is consistent social proof to your audience that you have brand loyalty

How to get ongoing partnerships with brands

If you’ve already worked with a brand, you are 1 step ahead. You have the contact, you have results, you have content, you have information. Information is gold when it comes to building an ongoing partnership with a brand. How you stand out and what you do to set yourself apart from other content creators they have worked with is going to make the decision on if they choose to work with you again.

3 things you can do to stand out after you have completed a campaign with a brand

1. Send a follow up email with campaign results and your personal feedback. (Even if they didn’t ask for it).
2. Ask what else they have coming up that you might be able to help with.
3. Send content ideas their way, something along the lines of “I loved working on this campaign with you, I actually have (insert topic) planned (insert date or time frame) that I think you would be perfect for. I’d love to send over a proposal or jump on a call to review this further. My audience absolutely loved (product you promoted) and I think this could be a great fit for us both.

If a brand doesn’t have anything coming up in their calendar, no worries! Ask them if you can add them to your email list so they stay up to date on everything you have going on. I use Flodesk and have a separate email list just for brands and companies that I bulk send emails to (with their permission of course).

I’m currently working on a break down of how I use Flodesk as a content creator, but it isn’t ready just yet. It’s a lot of information, and I want to make sure I have all the pieces and break down how I use it for my audience and brands. So if you want to know when it’s ready, sign up below!

How I built long lasting rapports with brands

Ok, so if you’ve already worked with a brand, and it was a good experience, it can be pretty easy to keep that going. The trust is already there. What about brands that you haven’t worked with yet? You know, the ones you are pitching that don’t respond or say “no”.

The biggest frustration I had with brands was that I was pitching, but seemed to be missing something. I was too early, too late, budgeting wasn’t right, or there was a revolving door of contacts I couldn’t seem to get straight.

Honestly, I was tired of pitching. I quickly realized they were probably tired of being sold to. So I took a deep dive in. How did I feel when someone “cold” emailed or called me. I didn’t know who they were and I didn’t have any connection to them or their business. For me, it didn’t work. So I started to go through my emails that I liked getting. The ones that I opened, and I realized they were the ones that were providing value. They were setting me up for success without selling me anything. Trust was built, and if it made sense, I bought what they were offering.

When you have a service, you should start by serving your audience. Brands aren’t any different. They are your audience, just a different branch of it.

The 80/20 rule

Think of all of the emails you send to brands – are you following the 80/20 rule? 80% of the time serving and 20% of the time selling? Serving your audience when it comes to brands includes aspects like letting them know you understand them and their audience. Explaining your value and how working with you would benefit them.

Are you stuck on what to send? Don’t worry, I’ve got you. I’ve complied a list of 20 email topics that you can send to brands that AREN’T just a pitch. I’ll send it right to your email, just fill out the form below.

Feel like your constantly making new content? Check out How I turn 1 piece of content into 10!