You know the feeling. You sent a great pitch. Maybe you even followed up once already. And now you're just staring at your inbox, wondering if you should nudge them again or if you already blew it.

Here's the thing — the number one thing my coaching clients obsess over isn't the pitch. It's the follow-up. When to do it, what to say, which channel to use, and when to finally give up.

So let's fix that. Here are five specific approaches you can use when a brand goes quiet, so you can stop second-guessing yourself and start getting responses.

Stop Just "Circling Back"

I'm going to call you out for a second.

I'm willing to bet the entirety of your follow-up strategy sounds like this: "Hey, just wanted to circle back on this." Or, "Just wanted to bring this to the top of your inbox."

Guilty? Don't worry. I did the exact same thing constantly when I was starting out pitching brands.

But here's what I noticed — none of that adds any new value for the person reading it. If you want a follow-up that actually gets a response, tie it back to something. Maybe the brand just posted something on social. Maybe there's a seasonal angle you haven't touched yet. Maybe there's a trend blowing up right now that you know their small team doesn't have the bandwidth to jump on.

Brands would love to inject themselves into the cultural moment. Most of them just don't have the manpower. So instead of "just circling back," try: "I don't know if you saw this is blowing up right now — here's the spin I think your brand could run, and honestly, I could execute it for you."

That's not a nudge. That's a reason to open the email.

Change the Channel

If you've only ever talked to this brand contact over email, stop. Switch it up. Try LinkedIn. Try a DM.

I can't tell you how many deals I've unstuck just by doing this. Maybe it's just me, but when I have an email sitting in my inbox that I know is going to take real mental effort to respond to, I shove it into a folder and avoid it. It becomes this big, heavy task I keep putting off.

But somehow, the same person who's ignoring my email is active on Instagram Stories right now. Posting on LinkedIn right now.

I've sent voice notes to contacts through the LinkedIn mobile app and gotten a response in five minutes. Five minutes — after weeks of email silence. There's something about the social dynamic that removes the weight. Suddenly it's "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I'll respond to your email this week," instead of nothing at all.

Make Your Follow-Up Impossible to Ignore

If your original pitch was squishy — something like "would love to hop on a call to pick your brain" — that's part of the problem.

That feels heavy to a brand contact who barely knows you. They don't know your audience. They don't know what collaborating with you would even look like. And they've probably got a dozen other DMs saying the exact same vague thing.

So your follow-up needs to be the opposite of squishy. This is where the ROPE method from Sponsor Magnet comes in:

Relevant — tie your pitch to a campaign they're currently running or have run before. Organic — point to content you've already published that shows your audience has real affinity for their brand or industry. Proof — show the results you've driven for other brands. Easy to execute — make it so clear they can picture it happening immediately.

Instead of "just wanted to follow up," try: "Here's exactly what I'm proposing — three Instagram Reels, two newsletter blasts, usage rights through year-end. Are you free Thursday at 10am to talk through it?"

That's a message someone can actually respond to. Even if the answer is "that's not the platform we're prioritizing right now," you've given them something to react to. And a reaction is a hundred times more valuable than silence.

Offer Something They Didn't Expect

For years, one of the highest-converting moves my wife and I made — both personally and back when I ran an ad agency — was offering a lunch and learn.

"I'd love to come into your office, cater lunch, and share what we're seeing on the ground as creators. What's working on YouTube right now. What's working on social. Can you get 10 or 15 people from your team in a room?"

Can't do it in person? Do it over Zoom. Get lunch DoorDashed to their office and run the same session virtually.

Now you might be thinking, Justin, I'm not an expert. I just run my own page. Here's the truth: brands rarely get the chance to talk to an actual creator who has their finger on the pulse. These brands are not posting at the cadence or the quality that you are. Believe me. And if you're in a hyper-focused niche, you understand your audience's appetite better than almost anyone on their team ever will.

You're not just a creator to them. You're a market research source who's in constant dialogue with their ideal customer.

Yes, some people will worry — "what if they just take my ideas and run with them?" Sure, that's possible. But far more likely, they think, "This person clearly knows what they're doing," and they hire you. Either for consulting or for the content itself.

Screw what's normal. Strive to be abnormal. Nobody else pitching this brand is offering to teach their team something.

Know When to Throw In the Towel

My rule of thumb: at least three or four follow-ups before you hear back.

I know — three or four sounds like a lot. But here's a true story. I went to an in-person event and pitched a brand this incredibly comprehensive proposal — a full post-campaign report, ideas for future partnership, the works. They said, "This is amazing, no one's ever done this before, we just need time to chat as a team."

I had to follow up three times before they finally said yes.

Turns out they were juggling two or three back-to-back high-profile events. It wasn't malicious. It wasn't personal. They were just busy. If I'd given up after the first follow-up — or even the second — I never would have gotten that call.

What would you do? Would you have let it go after follow-up number one?

Instead of internalizing the silence — instead of thinking "this brand hates me, they'd respond if they wanted to work with me" — recognize what's actually happening. They're busy running paid ads, YouTube pre-rolls, print campaigns, billboards, a dozen other priorities. Creator partnerships are one line item on a very long list.

That said, there is a point where you let it rest. Not forever — just for now. Put the contact in your CRM under "circle back next quarter" and move on. It's not no. It's not yet.

The mindset shift that matters most here: you are not annoying them by following up. You're doing them a service by staying top of mind, in a friendly way, unless they explicitly tell you to stop. And even then — fine. Not every brand is a fit.

We talked a lot in this one about what to do once you've already pitched and the brand goes quiet. But if you're still stuck on the initial pitch itself — how to actually get that first conversation started — check out Sponsor Magnet for the full framework, or if you want direct help on your pitches, pricing, and packages, that's exactly what we work on inside Wizard's Guild.

So — which of these five are you actually missing right now? The channel switch, the ROPE follow-up, or just the patience to send follow-up number three?