Can you pitch a brand whose product you haven't tried?

What can you pitch if you haven't used the product?

Pitch the idea, the format and your reason for choosing this brand, because none of those depend on having used the product yet.

A pitch sells how you would make the video, not a review of the product. Lead with the format you have in mind and the hook you would open on, and show you understand what the product is for. Draft that opening line with how to write a UGC hook that stops the scroll open beside you, and build it on a situation you are really in, not on the product's effect.

The structure of the email itself stays the same as any other pitch, and how to write a UGC pitch email to a brand covers it. What changes is one honest sentence, covered next.

How do you say you haven't tried it without losing the pitch?

Say it in one plain sentence and pair it with a next step, so it reads as a plan rather than a gap.

Put it after the idea, so the brand judges the idea first. Wording you can adapt: “I haven't used [PRODUCT] yet, so I'd want to live with it for a few days before I write the final script. If you can send a sample, I'll have the video to you by [DATE], and every line in it will be something I've seen for myself.”

Leaving the sentence out is the bigger risk. If the brand assumes you already use the product and you don't correct it, every line you film later starts from a false premise. The same goes for anything you attach: when you choose samples using what to send a brand with a UGC pitch, label which products you have actually used.

Should you ask the brand for a sample first?

Ask for a sample whenever the video depends on how the product looks, feels or works in your hands, because you can't script that honestly from photos.

• Ask in the pitch itself, so the brand can say yes to the idea and the sample in one reply.
• If the brand can't send one, ask whether it is happy for you to buy it, and agree in writing who covers the cost.
• If the product is an app or a service, ask for access instead, such as an account set up for you to test.
• If you can't get the product before the deadline, offer a format that doesn't rest on use, such as a first look, and say on camera that it is your first time.
• If you have used an older version, say which one, so the brand knows exactly what your experience covers.

A first look can work well here, and how to script an unboxing UGC video shows how to build one around reactions you are having for real. Whichever route you take, agree it in writing before you film, because it decides what the script is allowed to say.

What should the script say if you've only just tried it?

It should say only what you have seen, done or felt yourself, and nothing about how the product holds up over time.

Write the script after you have the product in your hands, not before. Then go through it line by line and ask one question: did I see this, or am I repeating the brief? Anything you are repeating goes into the brand's approved wording, or it comes out.

A line like “first time trying this, and the lid is the first thing I noticed” is honest on day one. A line like “I use this every morning” is not, until it is true. If you want the longer story, offer the brand a second video later, once you have lived with the product.

What if the brand wants you to say you've used it for longer?

Turn that line down and offer an honest version, because saying you've used something you haven't misleads the viewer and puts your name on it.

Keep the reply short and give the brand a way forward: “I'd rather not say I've used it for longer than I have. I can say this is my first week with [PRODUCT], or film a first look now and a follow-up on [DATE] once I've lived with it.” Two options read as help, not a refusal.

If the brand goes quiet after your honest pitch, how to follow up when a brand doesn't reply to a UGC pitch covers what to send next. If the job goes well, that follow-up video is a natural reason to talk again, and how to get a brand to book you again shows how to raise it.