How to write a winning proposal
What is a proposal & why is it important?
A proposal is a written indication of interest to work with a specific brand. As a YouTuber in Grapevine, you are required to write a proposal for every opportunity you apply to.
YouTubers get to share their creative vision with brands through proposals and help brands identify which channels are a good fit for their product.
How to write a proposal
The proposal is your chance to show why you’re interested in working with the brand in the first place. It’s also an opportunity to express your creative vision of how you will feature the brand in your video.
In your proposal, you should describe three things:
Your type of channel and why it fits the brand message
Your audience and why they would be interested in the brand/product
The kind of video you want to make
Take a look at some examples of strong and weak proposals we’ve seen in the past.
Here is an example of a strong proposal:
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“I would love to share outfits from Lookbook Store that compliment curvy bodies! I love providing my audience with Curvy Girl fashion inspiration and love directing them to companies that provide trendy fashion pieces at affordable costs! This would be perfect as a “My Spring Lookbook” video”
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This YouTuber shows enthusiasm for Lookbook Store’s products, explains why the brand is a fit for her channel, and says which type of video she plans on creating. A brand can easily understand why their products would fit a channel like this, so they would feel comfortable sponsoring this YouTuber.
Here is an example of a weak proposal:
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“I would love to share outfits from Lookbook Store on my channel! I have over 15,000 subscribers and would do a great job talking about the clothes. I share a lot of different things on my channel and I think this would be a great! fit”
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This is not a strong proposal because it doesn’t add any valuable information a brand wouldn’t already know. Brands already have access to your channel statistics like subscriber count, so providing it in the proposal is unnecessary. This YouTuber also doesn’t make a strong case why Lookbook Store would be a great fit for her channel. To improve this proposal, the YouTuber could give a few relevant examples of products her audience likes and explain how she would talk about the products.
There are 3 mistakes YouTubers make when writing a proposal, which you should NOT do:
1. Don’t include any channel statistics in your proposal
Brands already have access your channel stats through Grapevine, so you don’t need to repeat them in your proposal. Instead, focus on your channel’s creativity.
2. Don’t copy/paste the same proposal for every brand
Each proposal should be tailored for the specific opportunity you’re interested in. If your proposals are too general, you won’t stand out as a unique channel.
3. Don’t include your email or other contact info in your proposal
Brands will exclusively communicate through the Message Center, so it’s unnecessary to include other contact information. Plus, it’s a violation of our terms of service to communicate outside of Grapevine. The best way to secure a sponsorship is to apply to the ones that fit your channel to begin with.
Following these guidelines won’t guarantee you a sponsorship, but they will help you craft stronger proposals which will increase your odds of landing one.
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