How To Pitch A Higher Rate Without Losing The Job
Your dream brand partner has just emailed you. They’re an amazing fit, you know they probably have a good budget, and you want to charge high, but you’re nervous about a rate that’s too high scaring them away. You’d honestly do this job for really cheap buttt of course if you can get the big bucks for it then you want to try! And you really don’t want to send your pitch and just get crickets in return. If this is you, here are some tips for writing a great response email that allows you to pitch high numbers without losing the conversation.
Leave the email on an “open conversation” note:
If you really want to work with a brand, always end the email with “I often can be flexible when the project is a great fit like this one, so please keep me in the loop and I’m sure we can work something out.” Very few brands will take advantage of this in a bad way and low-ball you. Most brands these days are well educated on how much work an influencer puts into their content and that it is worth a lot financially. They want to maintain a good relationship with you as much as you do with them, so if they want to work with you, they’ll be honest about what they can really pay you! This is a great way to make sure you get a reply, even if your initial rate is too high for them.
Hold off on mentioning any rates at first
It helps to show that you value the partnership for more than just the money before you discuss rates. Sometimes brands do ask for rates right away, which you can of course offer in response, but if they haven’t asked yet, don’t share yet. We highly discourage having a standard “rate card” because sending one up front means you lose your chance to negotiate and charge more than you typically would. Instead, spend the first few emails pitching only your ideas and showing the brand that you are really interested in working with them! When they finally ask for your rates, they will already feel connected to you and have invested time into your ideas, and they’re less likely to throw it all out without a conversation. It’s all about relationships! Give them a chance to see why your idea is worth a lot before you ask for the money.
List your rate at your largest package
Brands will typically not ask for/offer more than you pitch, so offer your most inclusive package when they ask for your rates. For example, rather than saying “This is my rate for an IG story and This is my rate for a TikTok,” you can say “My typical package includes 1 TikTok Video, 1 IG Story and 1 IG Feed Post plus 3 months exclusivity and 1 year of ad usage.” That way, if their budget is lower, you can negotiate to remove time from exclusivity and ad usage, or, you can easily say “I think I could work out the lower rate — what do you think about removing the IG Story?” Pitching a package gives you much more space to negotiate while staying professional, and keeps you from having to say “Actually it’s fine, I can just do it for less.” It also gives the brand a brief idea of why you’re charging them higher than some other influencers — because you’re already considering usage rights etc in the price. When you end the email with #1 Above (that you can be somewhat flexible) this turns the exchange into a conversation rather than a yes or no from the brand. It gives you a chance to figure out what they care about most and offer that to them!
Add in a rush fee
If you feel like you have the job solidified but it’s not quite paying as much as you hoped, consider the timeline of the project and see if you can chat about a rush fee: “Typically with such short turnaround I do ask for a $x rush fee. Any chance we can add that on?”
Be nice, concise, and timely
Brands love influencers who are enthusiastic but professional, who can explain their idea and rates without paragraphs and paragraphs that take too much time to read, and who respond quickly to their emails. Show the brand that you’d love to work with them but be so professional that they feel like they can count on you to get the job done. It’s actually very frequent that brands have to deal with influencers not sending content on time, not following directions, backing out or taking forever to respond and this creates such a headache on the brand/agency side that it’s not worth working with the influencer again even if their numbers are amazing. Show them you will be their dream influencer and they can count on you as a business partner! And be nice — no need to act like an industry shark or try to be intimidating. It doesn’t work as well.
Hope these tips help you out next time you’re trying to find a way to charge a high rate without losing the conversation! Influencer Marketing is changing so quickly, but it’s all about relationships!