When I first started pitching brands, my emails were… honestly? a crime against humanity. One of them was over 1,000 words long (yes, i counted) - aka completely useless for a marketing manager skimming through 100+ emails a day.
And shocker: no one replied.
So if your pitches aren’t getting replies (or you’re still refreshing your inbox hoping), let me tell you - opens don’t land you deals, replies do.
The big turning point for me was realising that every strong template boils down to 3 things:
If you fix those 3 things, your replies will jump. No overpromising here - it’s worked for me and 100+ other creators. So let’s get into it!
1. WIIFM (What’s In It For Me?)
This one hurt to learn. Brands don’t care about your life story (imagine my face when i realised this). They care about how you can help them.
And heads up, they’re skimming - not reading - especially if there’s 100+ emails in their inbox. So your job is to show them, ASAP, why you’re worth replying to (because you are).
3 quick fixes for WIIFM:
2. USP (Unique Selling Point)
This was a huuuuge mental block for me. I used to sit there like: “I’m not unique enough, what do I even say??” But listen - everyone (even your cat, even your plant) has a USP.
Maybe it’s your humour. Your storytelling. Your energy on camera. Your dog who steals the show. Your tattoos. Your accent. Whatever it is, that’s what makes you memorable.
Here’s the best part: one brand actually said no to me at first. But the manager replied, “I read 100+ emails a day, and yours was super memorable. Loved your vibe.” She told me to reach out next quarter. I did. And now… she’s a retainer client. All because I leaned into my USP instead of trying to sound like everyone else.
So yeah. Your USP isn’t “too small” or “not enough.” It’s literally the thing that sticks.
3. CTA (Call To Action)
Open rates are nice. Buuuut replies? That’s what pays the bills.
My early CTAs were tragic (closing my eyes as I type this). Stuff like: “If you’re looking for a creator, let me know.” …and then silence.
But the day I changed my CTA into a question… my reply rate 10x’d. I sat there like, “how the heck did a question mark do that??” But it worked. People are wired to answer questions.
These days, I always end with a question that adds value - like offering to send over a few campaign ideas or concepts. The exact words don’t matter as much as the vibe: make it curious, make it easy to reply, and make it about the brand. That shift alone has landed me waaaay more deals than I expected.
So if you’re sending pitches and getting crickets, don’t go ripping up your whole template or throwing your laptop out the window (been there, done that). Just fix these three things: WIIFM, USP, CTA. Small changes. Big difference.
And btw, if you don’t know where the heck to start with templates, Bento has a template creation chatbot. It does the heavy lifting, you just put in your WIIFM, USP, and CTA.
And at the end of the day? You’re unique. You’ve got value. And when brands see what’s in it for them?
They’ll reply ☺️
