Micro-influencers have a place on Instagram as well. They can lead flourishing content creator careers with a strong online presence. They just need to know how to master their social media platforms. If you’re curious about how to secure brand deals for influencers, this article should help.
We will talk about securing brands for sponsorships in your particular niche. You may not even need to join an influencer marketing platform. We will give you an alternate option in this article. It is a very popular household name. Let’s get started!
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How To Get Brand Deals as an Influencer in 4 Easy Steps
Everyone else seems to be doing it with such ease. You want to know how to get brand deals as an influencer as well. Do you want to use that #ad like those big-name creators?
There are different ways to secure these brand deals for small influencers. You won’t have to worry much longer. We will explain how to be successful here.
1. Pick a Niche
We get it. You are a true creative of many interests. It’s hard to decide on just one type of content to create. You are a gym girl who likes to give online fitness advice. You’re also somewhat of a chef and would love to dabble in the food influencer arena. It can be tricky to decide on what needs you should specialize in.
Don’t worry because there is a way to narrow down your options. Look at your Instagram insights. If you don’t mind creating anything, focus on what your followers want to see the most. Your Instagram Insights will give you all the details on what grabs people’s attention the most.
With this information, you can make a business decision to focus on a certain type of content. Perhaps in the beginning, you can dabble in multiple areas. You can show everyone your range of interests. Then, you can get their help to decide what to focus on.
2. Create Quality Content
Of course, you shouldn’t be creating content to compete with everyone. However, the reality is that there are many people on the internet with the same goal as you.
If you want to secure brand deals from top-notch brands, you have to be competitive. You have to make sure that your content is of such a standard that these brands would use you.
You don’t have to go out and splurge on the most expensive camera. You don’t even have to worry that you don’t have the stereotypical aesthetic background that so many creatives have.
However, you should make sure that you upload at the highest possible quality. You should try to give diversity in the Reel that you create. Try to shoot from different camera angles and put the videos together.
There are so many tricks that don’t require expensive equipment but just a little patience instead. Invest some time into learning the tricks that make your content seem high-quality.
3. Keep Up a Healthy Engagement Rate
Brands like to see that you have a good engagement rate. Having a lot of followers is cool, but do those followers interact with your content? Brands want to know that when you post, your followers flood your content. You need to keep your engagement rate up. There are some simple ways to do this.
When you see these comments trickle in, make sure you comment back. You could just comment with an emoji or show appreciation with a “Thank you!” Incorporate some interactive stickers when you post Stories. You can use stickers that feature Instagram polls or quizzes. You could even use ones that invite questions from your followers.
These things reflect positively on your overall engagement rate. This number rate will be the strongest bargaining tool with these brands. When you catch a brand’s eye with your amazing content, they will want to know your overall engagement rate. Make sure they see that your followers show up for you.
4. Tag Brands To Show Interest
Tag brands when you use their products. It could be on your Instagram Stories or in the post on your Instagram feed. Let these brands know that you are a longtime supporter. Tagging them will let them know you’re open to promoting their products. Don’t be afraid to rave a little bit in the post.
Some Brand Influencer Programs Are Easy To Join
You may not have to wait around for a brand to notice you. You are a consumer, so you already use products. You already enjoy creating Reels for your Instagram page. It may be unofficial, but people consider you an influencer already.
They ask where you get your things from, and you give them recommendations. The only thing left is for you to benefit from this monetarily.
We can help you with that part. Some brand influencer programs will come to you with ease. Think of Amazon. This is a marketplace that is in our household name. You likely bought from this place recently. Did you know that you can become an Amazon influencer? You just have to set up a storefront where you share links to your favorite products.
When someone buys a product through your storefront, you get a commission. You just need to let them know to purchase the product through your storefront to benefit. To do that, all you have to do is create promotional reels and engaging content to promote the storefront.
When you create this content, just tell everyone that you have conveniently placed the link to it in your bio. They will appreciate it. It’s so much more specific than saying that you bought it on Amazon.
This way, you don’t need a big-name brand to sign a contract with you. You just have to promote the products that you already enjoy using.
How To Reach Out to Brands as an Influencer
You’re probably sure that you can create the content that brands want. You know everything about angles and how to create a B-roll. You even have a pretty good camera and have studied all the Instagram features.
Connecting with a brand that wants your services is the only thing stopping you now. You need to know how to reach out to brands as an influencer. We have two methods that you could try out.
Be Casual About It
If you’re not the bold type, this approach is for you. It involves you letting the brand know that you use their products. Utilize the tagging feature when you upload your post, Reel, or Story. Tag all the brands that you can see in the photo.
You can even throw in a few hashtags in anticipation of people searching for this product or brand.
The brand gets a notification when you do this. Instagram makes sure that they know that people are tagging him. This way, you end up on the radar. They will take the post that you make as an audition of sorts. They will see if they like your content, that includes them.
If they like your content, they may ask you to make content specifically for them. This is how quite a few influencers secure deals. Brands may like the idea that you have a genuine interest in their products.
It shows a level of authenticity that they want to achieve on social media. So, give it your best shot whenever you mention a brand on Instagram. You never know if they are watching. Hopefully, they are.
Take the Direct Approach
This approach is for the creator who is not afraid of brands. If you don’t mind sliding in a brand’s DMs, you could go ahead and do that. You could also send a direct email.
However, you have to ensure you’re using the best possible verbiage. Try to strike a balance between being personable and serious.
As far as possible, share the content that you have already created. Your portfolio would likely be your Instagram feed. This way, they know what you’re capable of. Let them know you are open to negotiations and leave the most convenient way for them to contact you.
Consider Using Influencer Platforms for Paid Collaborations
You may have followed all the steps above but did not see the desired results. This means that you need to take your strategies to the next level. You should use influencer platforms for paid collaborations with brands.
Some creators secure influencer brand deals by joining platforms for that purpose. Essentially, these platforms are a meeting ground for both brands and creators. Some of them have very intuitive methods of categorizing content creators. There are so many ways to do it.
You can do it by niche or audience size, for example. Some platforms even monitor the entire process until execution. It is a great way for both parties to feel safe and secure in the arrangement.
Brands Looking for Influencers Sometimes Use Brand Outreach Emails
You could be a content creator looking for influencers to collaborate with. You might want to expand your existing target audience. You might be ready to make some sales. Whatever the reason, you want to make the first move to find these influencers. As you can see, you have a lot of options.
Instagram is crawling with influencers. Imagine reaching out to every influencer that caught your interest. It would take you a very long time to narrow them down. This is why brands looking for influencers utilize a template. This means they follow a guided set of words to speak to prospective influencers. They tweak a few words here and there where appropriate.
This method is free and saves you a lot of time. We have some influencer outreach templates here that you can check out. You can use them when you want to gift items to influencers. Or you can use a version where you request that the influencer create content for your brand.
You could send these out in large numbers. When you get your replies, you can start to narrow them down.
We’ll Help You Get Those Brand Deals for Influencers
Influencer brand deals don’t have to be some elusive thing. They are fully within your reach, even if you are a small creator. You just have to know how to put yourself on their radar.
If you think having a big following will make you more competitive, we can help. Plixi is a highly-respected growth site that creators trust.
They trust us because we have excellent growth tools. There is an in-house platform for Instagram influencers. You’ll get support from a propriety AI targeting algorithm we’ve worked on over the last ten years. You can be sure to secure brand deals for influencers with us. Start growing your platform today!
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