Learning how to get sponsored on Instagram is an ongoing process, but there are a few basic strategies you should use. These include growing your Instagram following and having better communication skills. However, once your account gets big enough, you’ll naturally see an increase in brands finding you.
Sponsorship deals on Instagram are highly rewarding and lucrative. It depends on various factors, such as your audience size, niche, and reputation.
Read on as we discuss how to get the best brands in your niche to contact you.
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What Are Instagram Sponsorship Deals?
Instagram sponsorship deals refer to brands using influencers for marketing purposes. Typically, the influences receive money or free products, and the brand can access a new audience. In most cases, this is a win-win situation, and the reward typically matches the audience size.
Some Instagram influencers create accounts to get brand sponsors. That’s because it’s a lucrative business model that can yield large returns. It’s also a way to pursue hobbies while getting paid for them, so it’s a great way to make money on Instagram.
Brand Advantages of Influencer Marketing
Now, let’s take a look at the top reasons why brands put a lot of faith in influencer marketing:
- High return on investment (ROI): Influencer marketing has one of the highest ROIs in the market. This means that brands get more for their money, and that’s their goal. However, this depends on if they can find the right Instagram target audience. Also, the high ROI stems from the ability to find influencers who don’t ask for much.
- Fast: The speed at which Instagram influencer marketing works is fast. This means brand growth is fast, which is ideal for ambitious scaling goals. In comparison, methods like SEO are much slower.
- Authenticity: Brands will appreciate the high levels of authenticity in the marketing campaign. That’s because audiences are likelier to trust the influencer than the brand. Hence, the brand can piggyback off the reputation of the influencer.
- Lots of choice: There are many different influencers on Instagram in many niches. Therefore, advertisers can find the right match in any niche. Also, when one partnership breaks down, a brand can find replacements.
- Professionalism: The professionalism of Instagram influencers is improving since it’s become a more popular marketing model. Therefore, brands can expect good execution and communication from regular influencers.
How To Get Brand Deals
There are many good strategies for how to get brand deals. In this section, we’ll discuss the various strategies that will improve your chances. This ensures you can beat competitors who are also trying to get brands to sponsor them.
1. Pick a Niche
It’s important to carve out your niche on Instagram. This allows brands to identify what kind of audience they have and if it matches their expectations. However, having an influencer business is still possible if you don’t pick a niche. It’s just that the brand deals you get will be random and potentially low-paying.
When picking a niche, you need to consider a wide range of things, such as:
- High income: It’s a good idea to find niches where marketing teams spend a lot of money. This ensures that you will get paid more for your time. Top-paying niches include finance, fitness, insurance, mortgages, real estate, and health. That’s because these are highly competitive niches with many products. Also, customers pay a lot of money in these niches.
- Many active brands. Furthermore, ensure you look for niches where many active brands seek influencers. This increases your chances of getting a deal. Also, you can have backup options when brand deals break apart or become inactive.
- Genuine interest: It helps when you are interested in your niche. Ideally, you will have good knowledge and a lot of experience. Therefore, you can bring value to our audience, and brands will notice, too. Also, it makes it easier to create content and grow followers.
2. Create Content About Brands
You can start the relationship on the right foot by doing product reviews and brand mentions for free. This is easy for brands where you’re already using the products.
The brands in question will notice your posts and may reach out. They can already visualize and see the quality that you bring to the table. This makes it easier to negotiate better rates and stand out from competitors.
Also, you can tag brands in your posts. This will alert their account and give them a reason to check your posts. Also, brands should use the right hashtags to find accounts they want to work with.
3. Grow Your Instagram Followers
Increasing your Instagram follower count will increase the number of brands seeking collaboration. It also boosts the size of the offers since follower count is a proxy for the expected viewership.
Therefore, the work you put into growing your Instagram account will pay for itself through better deals. However, you shouldn’t buy Instagram followers to achieve this aim. You may get fake followers that add no value to your account or the brand. The brands will see the lack of ad engagement in the analytics and remove you from their marketing.
4. Improve Your Communication Skills
You’ll need to communicate with multiple brands to find the right deal. This means you must learn how to negotiate better terms and determine the expectations. Some brands might be difficult to work with due to poor communication. This might be because they are a new business or English isn’t their first language.
However, when communication is hard, you must find a way to make things work. As time passes, you’ll improve your communication skills, which takes practice. You’ll typically start with Instagram direct messages. However, you can ask for Slack details or email to improve communication. You can also set up a Zoom call for a more productive meeting.
How To Get Sponsored on Instagram for Free
Are you wondering how to get sponsored on Instagram for free? You don’t need to spend money to get sponsored as a full-time influencer. That’s one of the key strengths of this business model for regular influencers. Here are some of the top strategies to get brand deals for free:
- Post regular content: You can create and post organic content for free on Instagram. This may take up your time, but you will not need to pay a penny. The more content you create, the bigger your following on the social media platform. As your size increases with the posting frequency, so will the number of brands who contact you.
- Contact brands: Take an active approach by being the first to contact brands for a deal. You can look for active brands on Instagram and work with your competitors. This is a good place to start since they may also give you a deal. Create a spreadsheet to track your progress and organize your current communication.
- Optimize Instagram URL: The Instagram URL is the webpage where people can see your account profile. You can state that you are into influencer marketing and want brands to contact you. This allows brands looking for micro-influencers to reach out. You can ensure the text is optimized and leave additional contact details. This could be a phone number and email address.
How To Get a Sponsored Ad on Instagram Without Making Mistakes
Now, let’s examine the top mistakes you must avoid when getting a sponsored ad. Otherwise, you will undo the hard work of getting the right brand on your account. There’s no need to make the mistakes of other accounts when you can hit the ground running. Here are some things to avoid when learning how to get a sponsored ad on Instagram.
1. Get What You Are Worth
Don’t make the mistake of accepting the first offer that comes your way. You need to evaluate the quality of the offer to determine if it matches your value. This is difficult to do at first since you have no reference points. However, you’ll have a better understanding as you work with more brands.
As a rule of thumb, you must attempt to negotiate to see if there is wiggle room for a better deal. Just don’t be too forceful in your negotiations since the brand may decide to look elsewhere for an influencer.
Furthermore, you can communicate with other influencers to compare notes on the best way to get your worth. Also, you can share payment rates to determine the correct market value. However, you may need to get to know your competitors well before they are willing to share such details.
2. Follow the Instagram Guidelines
Brands don’t want to work with influencers breaking the Instagram community guidelines. That’s because it will negatively affect their business, which can lead to a loss of sales. Furthermore, it shows that you are not a professional who can maintain your composure.
Therefore, you must read the Instagram community guidelines frequently to avoid breaking the rules. They are updated frequently, so visiting the page a few times yearly is good practice.
3. Don’t Stop Looking
You need to constantly look for more sponsorship deals to ensure that you can increase the overall revenue. That’s because it’s better to have deals with multiple brands than a single one. After all, if one brand decides to stop marketing, you can then fall back on others. Also, it can take a while before you can strike up a lucrative deal with a brand.
Therefore, you must allocate time to pitch brands and explain why you are the best Instagram influencer for them. Also, your success rate will improve the more you practice. Consider outsourcing this task to an influencer agency if you don’t have the time to look for yourself.
How To Make a Living From a Paid Sponsorship on Instagram
Are you wondering if it’s possible to make a living from a paid sponsorship on Instagram? Yes, you can, but it depends on a lot of factors. For example, you need to have a professional approach to your account. This includes making a regular posting schedule and improving your equipment.
Starting with a smartphone camera might be enough at the start. However, you can also invest in a dedicated camera and drone to produce better content. This leads to an increase in the follower count, and brands will take notice.
Also, you must be patient since you can expect to make a living from your account in the first month. Take a long-term approach, giving you the perseverance you need to grow the account.
Also, you can hire an Instagram agency to help you grow your account and get influencers. They will handle the hard work so you can get on with the content production. You can learn from their strategies and do them yourself in the future.
How To Get Sponsored on Instagram in Any Market
With the right strategy, there are ways to get a sponsorship deal in any niche or market. This includes markets where there are no obvious brands. You can opt for generic brands or create unique angles for content.
Now that you know how to get sponsored on Instagram, try it yourself. Optimizing your strategy is ongoing, and the rewards can be lucrative with the right approach.
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