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Are you wondering how to get sponsored on Instagram and become an influencer? The influencer marketing industry is expected to be worth $15 billion by 2022. While almost every social media platform leverages influencer marketing, Instagram is considered to be the front-runner in this game. 79% of brands predominantly opt for Instagram to run influencer campaigns, as opposed to 46% on Facebook and 36% on YouTube.
That being said, there is no reason you wouldn’t want to monetize your Instagram account by becoming an influencer. However, the life of an Instagram influencer isn’t as sunny as it seems on their Instagram feed. It takes hours of thought to craft an Insta-worthy picture, and while some influencers are earning a 5-figure amount from Instagram alone, many others are struggling to even make a dollar.
That is not to demoralize you from opting for this career path. You need to create a game plan to get sponsored on Instagram and become a paid Instagram influencer, not give up hope altogether. Here’s a go-to guide just to get you started.
Btw. To become an influencer, you need to post on Instagram consistently. Social media scheduling can help you with that! Postfity has an Instagram scheduler to help you stay on track by planning posts directly from your desktop – from just $ 8.33 per month!
How To Get Sponsored On Instagram
1. Establish Your Niche
Influencers become renowned when people can associate them with a specific niche. The idea here is an Instagram influencer focuses on a particular sector and drills down on that.
For instance, let’s say you’re a foodie who loves trying out new recipes. You go to the Explore section on Instagram and come across a mouth-watering picture of a chocolate-fudge brownie. Naturally, you visit the profile to know more. You notice that the said account essentially offers a ton of recipes and that the pictures look fantastic. Right that instant, you start following that profile.
Now pause and think back. What would’ve been the likelihood of you following that profile had it been randomly filled with pictures of food, babies, dogs, and fashion? You have your answer.
One look at Minimalist Baker’s profile (@minimalistbaker), and you know what they’re all about. Likewise, you’ll notice the best possible engagement when you can define what you’re doing as an influencer. Are you focusing on travel, food, or fashion? Whatever it is, make sure you explicitly mention it on your bio and go with it.
Create a theme that matches the overall aesthetic of your feed and style your content accordingly. You’d want to give a solid message to your audience.
2. Identify Your Audience to Get Sponsored on Instagram
Once you’ve established your brand, the next step is to know your audience. This is crucial to understand which brands will benefit from making you their sponsor.
Start off by gathering basic info about your target market – age, gender, geographical location, psychographics, etc. Next, figure out what drives the most engagement. What type of posts do they like best? When are they most responsive to your content? What is your takeaway from these behaviors?
The better you understand your target audience, the more it’ll help you pitch partnerships with the right brands. Brands want to know you’ve done your research right. Proposing to a brand that you’ll reach young adults from metropolitan areas looking for affordable drugstore makeup is definitely more convincing than proposing you’ll reach ‘people interested in makeup’.
3. Post Consistently to Get Sponsored on Instagram
In order to grow your Instagram follower count, it is important for you to post at least once a day. However, if you’re just starting your journey as an Instagram influencer, you’d be better off publishing 2-3 different content every day.
It’s also important to understand WHEN you’d be publishing your content. Posting 5 different pictures at the crack of dawn when most of your followers are asleep is a pretty futile way to go about it. For best results, schedule your content at different hours of the day. Use a trial and error method to figure out when your followers engage with you the most.
Remember not to overwhelm your followers with dozens of posts every day, though. You don’t want them to get annoyed and unfollow you.
4. Use Hashtags to Get Sponsored on Instagram
Instagram hashtags are known to generate more engagement and make your content much more discoverable in front of your audience. Hence, use hashtags relevant to your content once you’ve ensured they don’t fall under the banned list. You can use up to 30 hashtags per post, but according to a study conducted by TrackMaven, it’s best to use nine, especially if you’re just starting off as an influencer.
Check out how love and travel bloggers Marie & Jake (@mariefeandjakesnow) used relevant hashtags for one of their posts.
5. Tag Brands to Get Sponsored on Instagram
Once you’ve done your research, defined your niche, and curated quality posts, it is now time to gradually make yourself visible in front of the brands you want to partner with.
Pro tip: start small. If your content is all about clothing, don’t just straight up tag Ralph Lauren. Rather, try tagging local clothing startups who have, much like you, just started their journey.
Once you tag these brands in your caption, respond to comments that relate to pricing, shipping, and quality of the product. Soon enough, the brand will notice you as a suitable partner.
Check out this post by Dede Raad (@dressupbuttercup), where she wore a dress she got from Pink Lily (@pinklily) and tagged them. She also did a good job of describing what the dress is like and encouraged her followers to look up the brand’s spring collection.
6. Provide Your Contact Information In Your Bio
Your bio has to have two things: what your profile is about and how you can be contacted. This gives a solid signal to brands that you’re an interested influencer up for collaborations.
If you have your own blog or website, make sure you include that as well. This gives you a chance to demonstrate your versatility in front of brands. Check out this simple yet super informative bio by Leonie Hanne (@leonniehanne).
7. Pitch To Brands
Instead of waiting for brands to come to you, why not go to them? With a persuasive pitch, you might even be able to land a couple of gigs and jumpstart your career as an Instagram influencer.
Approach brands that are relevant to your niche. Make sure they’re actually interested to spend time and money and boost their Instagram presence. Again, start with smaller brands and build your portfolio.
8. Set Your Worth
Before you reach out to brands, make sure you know how much you’re going to charge them. While the average industry standard is $10 for a thousand followers, it may vary based on the likes and engagement in your posts. Negotiate with brands for higher pay while having a minimum bar. Moreover, as you grow bigger, you’ll be able to charge higher.
9. Leverage Instagram Stories
Besides posts, Instagram Stories is yet another brilliant platform to connect with your audience. Every time you post something, add it to your Instagram Stories to grab the attention of your followers about new posts.
Using Instagram Stories, you can also add stickers and share web content. Check out this story by Dani Austin Ramirez (@daniaustin), where she adds a sneak-peak of her sports clothing while her followers simply need to swipe up to know more.
How to Get Sponsored on Instagram Tip 10. Engage With Your Followers
Last but not least, the most precious tip – ENGAGE with your audience. If you’re a travel blogger, post captions asking your followers about their most favorite destination. If you’re a food blogger, ask your followers what cuisine they’d like to see on your feed next. Reply to comments and post Instagram stories with ‘Ask Me Anything’ stickers. Brands love to see meaningful engagement with followers. So, this would play a huge role in getting you sponsored.
How to Get Sponsored on Instagram – Final Words
The journey to becoming a paid influencer will not be easy, and it’s definitely not something that will happen overnight. There will be rough days where you’ll feel like giving up. Remember to be patient amidst and despite it all. Follow these tips religiously, and days (perhaps even months) of time, energy, and dedication later, you’ll find your hard work bearing fruit.
