How to Find Brand Partnership Contacts (Without a Manager)

Last updated March 2026

I know this is annoying. You've made a great video, you know brands would benefit from sponsoring your content, and then you hit the wall: who do you actually email?

Most creators don't have a manager handling outreach for them. And even if you did, plenty of managers are just blasting generic emails to press@ addresses and hoping for the best. So whether you're doing this yourself or just want to understand the process, here's how to actually find the right contact at a brand.

First: Understand Who You're Looking For

Before you start hunting for email addresses, it helps to understand the different teams at a brand that handle creator partnerships. From what I've gathered, there are roughly three types of contacts you might end up emailing, and they're not interchangeable.

• Influencer marketing / creator partnerships team. This is your ideal contact. These are the people whose entire job is to find and work with creators. They have budget allocated specifically for sponsorships. At bigger companies, they'll have titles like "Influencer Marketing Manager" or "Creator Partnerships Lead."
• PR / communications team. PR teams handle press coverage, product reviews, and media relationships. They can sometimes facilitate sponsorships, but their primary focus is earned media, not paid integrations. If you're pitching a product review or unboxing, PR might be the right door. For a paid sponsorship, they'll probably redirect you.
• Agencies. Many brands outsource their influencer marketing to agencies. If the brand uses an agency, you'll need to pitch the agency, not the brand directly. This isn't necessarily worse — agencies often manage multiple brands, so one good relationship can lead to several deals.

Where to Find Contacts

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is probably the single best tool for finding brand contacts. Here's the search approach I'd use:

• Search for the brand name plus keywords like "influencer marketing," "creator partnerships," "brand partnerships," or "influencer relations."
• Look at the person's title. You want someone with decision-making power — a manager or director level, not an intern or coordinator (though coordinators can sometimes be a good entry point if you can't find anyone else).
• Check if they've posted about working with creators. People in these roles often share campaign results or creator spotlights. That gives you conversation starters for your pitch.

Brand Websites

Many brands have a dedicated page for partnership inquiries. Look for links labeled "partnerships," "work with us," "press," or "collaborations" — usually in the footer. Some brands even have a form specifically for creator applications.

This is less targeted than finding a specific person on LinkedIn, but it at least gets your pitch into the right department's inbox.

Agency Directories

If you suspect a brand works with an influencer marketing agency, check agency websites. Many agencies list their client rosters publicly. Companies like Viral Nation, Obviously, and The Influencer Marketing Factory all have client pages.

Sponsored Content on Other Channels

This one is underrated. Watch videos from creators in your niche who are doing brand deals. The video description often thanks the brand and sometimes even tags the brand's social accounts. From there, you can look up who manages their influencer program.

Some creators even tag the specific person they worked with. That's your contact.

Finding the Actual Email Address

Once you know who to contact, you need their email. Here are a few approaches:

• Company email patterns. Most companies follow a standard format: firstname@company.com, firstname.lastname@company.com, or first initial + lastname@company.com. If you can figure out the pattern (check LinkedIn for other employees at the same company, or use a tool like Hunter.io), you can probably guess the right address.
• LinkedIn messaging. If you have LinkedIn Premium or Sales Navigator, you can InMail the person directly. If not, sending a connection request with a short note works too — just keep it brief and professional.
• Generic inboxes as a last resort. Addresses like partnerships@brand.com, press@brand.com, or influencer@brand.com are worth trying when you can't find a specific person. They're less effective, but they at least get your pitch into the system.

Building Relationships vs Cold Pitching

Cold emailing works. I don't want to pretend it doesn't. But I think the creators who consistently land good deals are the ones who build relationships over time, not just pitch out of nowhere.

What does that look like in practice?

• Engage with the brand's content. Follow them on social media. Comment on their posts. Share their launches. This sounds small, but it means that when you do pitch, your name isn't totally unfamiliar.
• Feature the brand organically first. If you genuinely use a product, mention it in a video before you pitch. Then when you reach out, you can say "I already featured your product in this video — my audience loved it, and I'd love to do a dedicated integration." That's a much stronger pitch than "I'd love to try your product."
• Attend industry events. Conferences, brand events, creator meetups. Face-to-face introductions are still the most effective way to build relationships with brand teams. Even virtual events can work.
• Follow up consistently. I wrote a whole article about why the 12th email matters. The short version: don't give up after one unanswered pitch. Follow up quarterly. Persistence is professional, not annoying.

Keeping Track of Everything

Here's where it gets messy. You've found 15 potential brand contacts across LinkedIn, email, and agency websites. You've sent pitches to 8 of them. Three responded, two said "not right now, try again next quarter," and you need to follow up with the others in three months.

Without a system, you'll lose track of all of this within a month. I know because that's what happens to most creators — the spreadsheet gets abandoned, follow-ups slip, and opportunities disappear.

This is why I built the brand CRM inside SponsorAlert. It's designed specifically for this workflow: store your brand contacts, log your outreach, set follow-up reminders, and track where each conversation stands. It's not a generic CRM — it's built for creators who are managing their own brand relationships.

Whether you use SponsorAlert or a spreadsheet or a Notion database, the point is: have a system. Finding the contact is only useful if you actually follow up.

The Short Version

1. Know who you're looking for (influencer marketing team, not PR).
2. Search LinkedIn with the right keywords.
3. Check brand websites for partnership pages.
4. Look at who other creators are working with.
5. Use email pattern tools or LinkedIn messaging to make contact.
6. Build relationships before you need to pitch.
7. Track everything so you don't lose leads.

It's not glamorous work, but it's the kind of work that actually leads to paid deals. And once you build your contact list, it only gets easier from there.

I'm Becky Isjwara — content strategist and the gal behind youtubeproducer.app. If you're looking for help with your online branding and content strategy, let's have a chat.