Step 1: Find who's already sponsoring in your space
Go find other newsletters and podcasts in your category that already run sponsorships.
Look at their sponsor shoutouts, ad reads, or "thanks to our sponsor" lines
Write down every brand you see
Pay extra attention to brands that show up more than once, that means they have budget and they keep spending it
This gives you Brand List #1.
OR
You could use platforms like - Appeared.in
Before the next step, know your Audience.
Not "marketers"…. be specific
For example: "My audience is marketers at funded SaaS startups, mostly Series A to C, who own the marketing budget."
Step 2: Ask Claude to expand that list
Once you know your audience, go to Claude and give it:
Exact job titles of your audience
What kind of companies they work at
Whether those companies are funded (and roughly what stage)
Company size
Then ask: "What tools or brands would people like this use daily or weekly?"
Claude will hand you a list of tools and brands that fit. These are brands who already have budget allocated for people exactly like your audience - which makes them fast, warm leads.
This gives you Brand List #2.
Step 3: Enrich the list with the right contacts
Take your combined brand list (from Step 1 and Step 2) and run it through Apollo.
When you enrich, don't grab just anyone at the company. Look for titles like:
Media buyer
Paid media / paid ads
Sponsorships
Partnerships
Advertising related titles
Influencer Marketing
Brand Marketing
These are the people who actually control or influence sponsorship budget.
Step 4: Run a multi-step outreach sequence
Don't send one email and wait. Use a multi-step sequence (3-4 touches works well) to get replies.
Do this right, and you'll have your first 20 warm replies before you've spent a single dollar on ads.
Email Sequence template: link