How To Email Brands (Free Email Template)
The cursor is blinking. The page is blank. You know you need to email brands to get more work, but you have no idea what to write. Finally, you send out a couple emails. Compulsively, you refresh your inbox again and again, waiting for a response.
There has to be a better way, right? There is. It’s called an email template. Response rates on cold emails are notoriously low, so templates help you email more brands faster and better, to get the work you need. Take a look at my tips for crafting a great brand email, and then try out the template I have at the bottom.
Write an eye-catching subject line
Brands consider two things during the split second in which they decide whether or not to open your email: the sender and the subject line. Since you’re sending a cold email, they won’t recognize the sender. This means your subject line needs to be eye-catching and interesting.
There’s a fine line between a boring subject line and a clickbait-y subject line. You need to live on that line. Take the most interesting word, or few words from your email, and turn those into the subject line. A boring subject line says, “Creator collaboration request.” A clickbait-y subject says, “URGENT REQUEST.” An eye-catching subject line says something like, “Is this a good fit?” It’s interesting, but it’s not misleading.
Use a familiar tone
Good emails to brands have a familiar tone, even if you’ve never spoken before. Brands get pitchy sounding emails with an unfamiliar tone every single day. The only way to fly under the radar is to email as if you’re already comfortable with them. Don’t pretend like you know them, just try to sound familiar. Skip the pleasantries. Get straight to the point.
Part of sounding familiar is keeping things short and sweet. People inside the brand don’t start their emails with, “Hello! Kindest regards, I hope you’re having a great day. My name is Ernie and I’m 25 years old and I live in Boulder Colorado and I just graduated…” Snooze fest. Nobody cares how old you are or where you went to school. They care about how you can help them look good in front of their boss, so write an email about that.
Ask to get on a call
An email without a call to action at the end is wasted. It’s presumptuous to send a bunch of information about yourself, ask for work, and then leave the call scheduling up to them. When you send an email to a brand, list two or three times that work for you to have a quick phone call. The phone call is the next logical step for the brand to get more information about you. Don’t skip this part. Don’t just hope they’ll send you contact or confirm over email. They’re going to want to talk to you, so take the initiative and schedule a call.
Add a P.S. line
Don’t fool yourself. You skim emails. You scan them quickly, searching for useful information before you close your Gmail app and swipe back to Instagram. People who work at brands do this too. When people skim emails, they start at the top, skim through the middle, and end at the bottom. Don’t bury your most useful information in the middle of a paragraph. P.S. lines are always interesting, and fun anyway, so put something in there that you know the brand would want to read.
Template
Hey [name], good to be connected!
I’m [name] and I [what you do] for [who you do it for].
My portfolio is linked here, I’m available if you ever need anything. I’d love to hop on a call this week to hear more about your goals for [insert year]. How’s [date / time]?
Chat soon!
P.S. I love the work on [insert campaign]. What were you in charge of on that one?
Example
Hey Sara, good to be connected!
I’m Reese and I write killer sales copy for DTC brands.
My portfolio is linked here, I’m available if you ever need anything. I’d love to hop on a call this week to hear more about your goals for 2022. How’s Tuesday at 10am PT?
Chat soon!
P.S. I love the work on the brand anthem video. What were in charge of on that one?
Download my Photo + Video Pitch Deck Template. It’s free and it works, with tested copywriting prompts that win pitches.
