Gaining Sponsorships

After establishing a presence on social media and having decent followers, the natural next question on any influencer’s mind would be: “How can I get sponsored and start making money from this community I have steadily built?” When it comes to getting sponsored on Instagram, there are a few things that brands consider when researching Instagram sponsorship. Not only is it about your audience, but your overall aesthetic, what your niche is online, and how engaged your followers actually are with your content that’ll help you stand out.

Here are some of the techniques you can follow to drastically increase your chances of getting sponsored:

Strong Brand Identity: But how strong is your brand really? When it comes to who you are and who you target online, is it clear? Knowing exactly who you are online is going to be a key part of your strategy and being able to show a brand why they should work with you! Scroll through your Instagram account and identify the posts of influencers you follow. Being able to instantly recognize what their niche is making their audience more likely to trust them and their opinion (and we love trustworthy people!).
Know your Audience: This might sound obvious, but you have to know your audience when it comes to convincing a brand to work with you! Who are they? Why are they engaging with your content? What’s their age? Where are they from? Getting the basic demographics of your followers is vital when pitching partnerships or showing a brand why you are the best person to work with. Also, you have to make sure they are loyal and engaged! When you have an audience that comments, DMs, and tags you in content, a brand is more willing to trust you with their product which equals getting sponsored on Instagram. Learn more about this by visiting our Gaining Followers section!
Use Hashtags: Nothing will help your content be discovered more than using hashtags. According to statistics, finding the perfect hashtags to use for your posts can help you get a 12.6% increase in engagement over those who don’t use any at all. However, hashtags must be used correctly. When you use generic hashtags or overly saturated hashtags, you’re likely to get lost in the sea of photos. Learn more about this by visiting our Gaining Followers section!
Tag brands: Now that you’ve got your niche and an engaged following, start tagging the brands you want to work with! Make them see you in your beautiful glory. By tagging the brands in your photos, they will get a notification and see your post. The more you actively try to engage the brand, the more they will recognize your account. When you want to get sponsored on Instagram, it’s imperative for a brand to see your content consistently. Not only will brands see your posts, but followers of that brand can see the photos they’re tagged in and might stumble upon you and your page.
Include Contact Information in your Bio: While brands can slide into those DMs directly, using your bio as a way to show brands that you’re interested in collaborations and being sponsored on Instagram by adding in an email address is hugely important. Use your bio in an effective way! Add a title. Add a website. Have a press kit? Add that too! This will make it clear to any brands or sponsors browsing Instagram for new creators that you’d be open to a conversation about working with them.
Pitch to Brands: No one knows your audience and what they want quite like you do, so start pitching to brands that align with your content and brand! When going to a brand, explain to them who you are, what you do, what your specific niche is on Instagram, and how that will benefit them as a brand. When reaching out, be sure that you include your follower count, engagement rate, and other info that’ll help them see the value of doing sponsored content with you. It’s a good practice to reach out to the brands you already love and follow as it’s so much easier to negotiate your pitch. Tell a unique story to say why you love them. Something personal that you can connect to. Tell them why you want to collaborate with them and always try to get them on a call as it’s a lot easier to have a conversation and it isn’t as formal.
Know your Metrics: One of the hardest things to do though? Figuring out your worth. Calculating how much you should charge for a post is complicated because you don’t want to undercut yourself but you also don’t want to be unreasonable with your ask. The best way to do that? Find out the exact metrics that will help sell yourself to these brands. Which metrics should you send to show your worth? Go into your Instagram Analytics and pull your key metrics like Engagement Rate and Conversion Rate. Learn more about this by visiting our Instagram Metrics section!

If you have ever wondered how influencers make a living by posting to social media or if you want to know how to get sponsored on Instagram, here are our top three ways to earn money through Instagram:

Sponsored Posts: Brands are willing to pay creators a sum of money to influencers create content and post it on their accounts to promote their product or service.
Affiliate Marketing: Another way to earn money through Instagram sponsorships is through affiliate marketing. Affiliate Marketing is when you make a sale through an affiliate link or unique code, you can get paid a percentage of the value of any sales provided, aka a commission. Therefore, you can make money selling someone else’s products or services. You can include these links when you recommend a product, and if someone makes a purchase, you get paid.
Selling The Rights To Photos/Videos: If a brand wants to use your content, ensure you ask for additional payment to cover the ‘use of repurposing your content for their adverts.