Creator TakeOff Academy
Brands don't decide to work with you in the month the post goes up. They decide four to six weeks earlier, out of a budget that was set months before that. And the calendar is different in every market. Pick yours.
Work backwards from the go-live date. Most deals are agreed four to six weeks before the post goes up, so the month you pitch is roughly the month before the one you're pitching for. This is indicative, not a rule. Sometimes a campaign converts a week before go-live. Sometimes it's eight weeks out.
This isn't a hard rule. Brands can have budget at any time of year. This is just what it usually looks like.
The brands named in each month are a mix of ones we've worked with and well-known names in that market. Use them as a starting point for who to pitch.
Some dates move every year: Ramadan, Eid, Diwali, Lunar New Year, Easter. Check the actual dates before you build a pitch around them.
Each month does two jobs at once. Work is going live, and you should be pitching for the month ahead. Amber marks the highest-spend months in that market: budget is there, but mostly committed, so the best time to pitch for those months is earlier.
Highest-spend months. Budget is here but mostly committed; pitch for these in the months before.
Every market runs on a fiscal year, and money behaves differently at each end of it. Most companies also re-forecast every quarter, so budgets loosen and freeze at quarter-ends too, not only at year-end. These are the four windows for the region you've picked.