If you happen not to know me, I’m Marie a sponsored travel blogger guru (according to others!). I want to take this time to talk to you about the Mistakes Travel Bloggers Make When Pitching To A Sponsor.
I help travel bloggers get sponsored travel in exchange for exposure on social media and reviews on their blogs.
Today we’re going to dive into the 3 Biggest mistakes travel bloggers make when pitching to a sponsor and how to avoid them.
If you’ve been trying to get sponsored travel in exchange for what you’re already doing like social media shout outs, live Facebook and Instagram posts and writing about the experiences you have in destinations around the world, you might be making some of these mistakes.
I’m sure a few of these mistakes are going to surprise you and get you moving in the right direction to get sponsorships quickly.
A Huge Following
One of the biggest mistakes that travel bloggers make is to believe that they need to have a million followers to get sponsorships from a tourism board, hotel, restaurant, tour or other travel company.
This is simply NOT true.
What sponsors are looking for is engaged followers. People who care about what you have to say and who interact with you on your social media regularly.
A sponsor would much rather see 1000 engaged followers than 1,000,000 who never interact with you.
When they check your social media out (and they WILL), they want to see conversations, people who care about what you have to say and where you’re traveling to.
Building an engaged following is the most important part of social media for any blogger and is one of the things sponsors look for.
So spend those hours building an engaged following, not trying to get more likes.
The followers will come when you offer valuable insights and quality posts. Click To Tweet
Find The Right Person
Another mistake that travel bloggers make is not doing their due diligence and finding the right person to pitch for a sponsorship to.
The average tourism board, hotel, resort, restaurant or tour company gets hundreds of emails every week.
Knowing who and where to send your pitch letter to is vital in getting the right eyes on it and in getting a YES when it comes to your sponsorship.
Although you might get someone to pay attention to your pitch if you send it to an “info@”, your chances of gaining a sponsorship is best when you find the correct contact information for the person responsible for making those decisions.
A well-crafted pitch letter to the right person says you’re professional, to be taken seriously, and is very much appreciated. It saves the sponsor time AND it saves you time!
Here’s a pro tip…when all else fails, send a message via FB messenger! Keeping it short and sweet, and ask for the contact details for the PR rep or manager of the place you want to be sponsored at.
Follow Up
Following up is another oversight made by travel bloggers when pitching to a sponsor.
Listen, these people are busy. Like I said they have thousands of emails to deal with every week and not just from sponsors.
Sponsors are busy running their own businesses and have responsibilities.
I can’t tell you how many times one of my sponsors thanked me for sending 1 or 2 follow up emails asking them if they received my pitch.
Often they are away on their own vacations, out sick, or just swamped with work and forget.
After you send a pitch, if you don’t hear back in a week, send a follow-up email telling them that you understand they’re busy but hoping that you can work with them on a sponsored collaboration.
Pro tip – If you don’t receive an email after a second follow up, pick up the phone and call direct!
Don’t assume that the answer is no. The sponsorship might not be a priority at the moment but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to work with you.
Persistence is often appreciated.
Also, If you get a reply declining your sponsorship, RESPOND with a thank you for the consideration and ask them if there was a specific reason why they declined the proposal.
It’s great to get feedback to use for future pitches. There’s always something to learn!
Have you made some of these mistakes when pitching to a sponsor?
Have any of the three or all of them stopped you from pitching for a sponsorship?
Imagine what it would feel like if you sent the right pitch to the right person and got a yes 75% of the time!
If you’ve been traveling for a while and haven’t gotten the sponsorships you’ve wanted, chances are your pitch letter needs attention. Check out my mini course with my proven pitch letter template. It’s the fastest way to get a YES from a sponsor.
If you’d like more information about sponsored travel specifically, hop over here.
I’d love to share more tips with you! Hop over to my Facebook Page, Seriously Travel Tribe and join my great community of like-minded travelers and bloggers and discover more great tips for sponsored travel.
I love hearing about your travels so leave a comment or visit my Facebook page and let’s connect!
