The four-sentence structure
Four sentences. Under 120 words. No attachments on the first send.
- Sentence 1 — a specific observation — Something true about their product or their current marketing. "I've been using the overnight mask for about three months and the texture is genuinely different from the three others I've tried." This proves you're not mail-merging.
- Sentence 2 — the angle you'd shoot — Name the concept. "I'd shoot a 30-second piece on the first-week routine — the part people give up on before the product works." You're handing them a finished idea, not asking for a brief.
- Sentence 3 — proof — One link to your portfolio and one line of context. "Recent work here — the second piece was used in paid social."
- Sentence 4 — the ask and the price — "Rates start at $X per video including 90-day organic usage. Worth a quick call?" Stating price qualifies the conversation immediately and costs you nothing you were going to get anyway.
Subject lines
The subject line's only job is to get opened by someone triaging 90 emails. Specific and plain beats clever every time.
- "UGC concept for [product name]"
- "Three video ideas for the [product] launch"
- "[Their brand] × short-form video — rates attached"
- Avoid — "Collaboration opportunity", "Quick question", anything with an emoji, anything that reads as a newsletter.
A worked example
Subject: UGC concept for the Recovery Balm
Hi Maya — I've been using the Recovery Balm since March, and the thing I'd actually put on camera is how it behaves on day-three skin, which is where most balms get greasy and yours doesn't.
I'd shoot a 30-second vertical piece built around that: a hook on "the day-three test", a close demonstration, and two alternate hooks so you can test them against each other in paid.
Recent work is here [link] — the skincare piece at the top was used in paid social for a client last quarter.
Rates start at $220 per video including 90-day organic usage; paid-ad rights are quoted separately. Happy to send two concepts before you decide. — Jordan
Why this works
It proves product familiarity in the first line, hands over a shootable idea, offers hook variants (which is how brands buy media), links proof, and prices itself. The recipient can approve it without a meeting.
The follow-up is where the replies are
Most creators send one pitch and conclude that pitching doesn't work. A large share of positive replies come from the second or third contact — not because persistence wears people down, but because the first email arrived on a bad day.
- Day 7 — Reply in the same thread. Two sentences, add one new thing — a second concept, or a relevant recent piece. Never "just bumping this".
- Day 18 — Final touch, different angle: tie it to something that changed — their launch, a seasonal moment, a new piece in your portfolio.
- Then stop — Mark them cold and re-approach in three to six months when you have new work. Three touches is professional; six is a block.
Track it or you're guessing
Log every pitch: who, when, what angle, what price, and what happened. Two weeks in, you'll be able to see which category replies, which price point stalls, and which angle gets forwarded internally.
Without tracking you'll send 200 pitches and learn nothing from them. With it, your reply rate roughly doubles by the second month because you stop repeating the pitches that don't land.