Writing a pitch that gets replies · 3 min read

Subject lines and first lines

The two sentences that decide whether the rest of your pitch is ever read, and how to write them fast.

A brand contact sees a sender name, a subject and roughly eight words of preview text. That is your entire pitch until they decide to open it. Write those first, then the body.

Subject lines

Name the product or campaign. Specificity reads as relevance.
Say what you propose in three or four words: “Tutorial series for the new refill range”.
No emoji, no all caps, no “collab?”. They pattern-match to bulk.
Never fake a thread with “Re:”. It converts once and burns the relationship.

First lines

Your first line is preview text. Do not spend it on “Hi, I hope this email finds you well” — that is a wasted impression. Open with the observation that makes the pitch make sense: a launch, a gap, an audience overlap.

Test it the lazy way

Send the pitch to yourself first. Look at it in your own inbox list view, not the composer. If you wouldn't open it there, rewrite the subject.

Take it with you

Pitch template pack

Markdown

Six openers that lead with value: launch timing, audience overlap, content gap, UGC, event and re-pitch.