Have you ever scrolled through Instagram posts and wondered how some influencers get paid by brands for sponsorship? Do they have millions of followers? You may think your small account can’t get sponsored on Instagram. Well, the good news is that getting an Instagram sponsorship for small accounts is totally possible.
In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about attracting sponsors and getting paid partnerships on the world’s most popular photo-sharing app. Apart from the tips and tricks to get Instagram sponsorship, joining influencer marketing platforms can increase your chance of being discovered by brands and businesses.
Hence, with so many brands using Instagram to promote their products, you definitely have the opportunity to get sponsorship on Instagram. But if you want to stand out on such a competitive platform, you need a strategy. Here’s what you need to know to get an Instagram sponsorship. Let’s get started!
What Is A Sponsored Instagram Post?
Most online customers rank Instagram as the sixth most influential platform that can affect their buying decisions. Therefore, brands are quickly realizing the power of Instagram sponsored posts to promote their products.
Sponsored posts on Instagram are content published by an influencer on their own account in exchange for payment. This payment can be anything valuable like a free product or money. Above all, Instagram’s popularity allows influencers to take advantage of these influencer sponsorship programs.
Types of Instagram Sponsorship
In general, there are two main types of Instagram sponsorships:
- The first type, as we said above, is when a brand sponsors an Instagram user (influencer) to create content that promotes the brand in some way.
- In the other type of sponsorship Instagram, a brand makes a post and pays Instagram to reach a specific audience. This method is known as promoted posts. Instagram ads are on this group of sponsorships.
Instagram sponsorship for small accounts
Instagram is a great place for small businesses to grow and increase their sales. You may have a valuable account on Instagram but think you should have thousands of followers to score paid brand deals.
Well, you are wrong. You will be surprised after learning about Instagram sponsorship for small accounts. However, the first rule is to reach 1000 followers to make this sponsorship more effective for your business. And that’s easy. Just learn how to reach 1k followers in 5 minutes!
You should note that there are different types of influencers on Instagram. Among all of them, nano influencers and micro influencers are more cost-effective to most brands. And they don’t have millions of followers, like you!
If you don’t know how to get sponsorship for your Instagram account, just keep reading. We are here to put your mind at ease.
How To Get Sponsored On Instagram?
Well, let’s see how to make the most of Instagram sponsorship.
These tips and tricks will help you easily make your name visible to brands on Instagram and increase your followers; even if you currently have zero followers. Keep reading to learn about Instagram sponsorship for small accounts.
1. Define Your Niche
A key to the best engagement is defining your niche. Brands usually search for influencers based on their category. Therefore, focus on one subject so you can attract a group of people who are interested in it.
Aside from the type of content you share, branding has a lot to do with your overall aesthetic, including the style of your posts, the color palette you choose, your Insta theme, and your focused message. Don’t forget reputation. It’s the most important thing that brands look for.
Additionally, creating a website with a similar aesthetic and message is a great way to present yourself to brands. Simply put, the more you unify your social media accounts, the stronger your social media presence will be.
2. Define Your Instagram Strategy
Having a well-developed Instagram marketing strategy will help you grow your account and get ready for more Instagram sponsorships. Set smart goals and define your strategy according to them.
3. Use Influencer Marketing Platforms
One of the best methods to get Instagram sponsorship is joining different campaigns on this platform. However, as an influencer with few followers, it may be difficult to receive an offer from the top brands. That’s when influencer marketing platforms come to save you.
These platforms, which some may refer to as Instagram sponsorship websites, make it easier for each brand to find an influencer for sponsorship. Therefore, If you make yourself available to businesses, you’ll naturally become more discoverable to them.
Businesses have a lot to achieve from influencer marketing. They need you as much as you need them.
There are countless influencer marketing apps out there that help brands and influencers collaborate. Out of them, Ainfluencer can be the best option for your small account. You may wonder why?
Let’s see how Ainfluencer can help you get Instagram sponsorship.
Ainfluencer: The Best Influencer Marketing Platform for Influencers
Ainfluencer is a 100% free Do-it-Yourself influencer marketplace that helps brands and influencers get in touch and collaborate.
This influencer marketplace has two sides; one for brands to search for influencers for their campaigns, the other for influencers to make their accounts visible to brands and receive sponsorship offers.
Ainfluencer for Influencers
No matter how many followers you have, Ainfluencer makes it possible for you to get sponsored on Instagram. As an influencer, you should download Ainfluencer app, and create an account for free.
Here are some of the benefits that Ainfluencer has for creators and influencers:
- It’s a free-to-use marketplace.
- Influencers are capable of reaching out to an extensive database of campaigns to collaborate and earn money. Therefore, you don’t need to wait for brands to send you invitations. You can be the one who find an interesting campaign for collaboration.
- No social media password policy keeps your accounts safeguarded.
- The Ainfluencer app keeps you updated on your negotiations and deals being reachable at your hands.
- AI-driven analytics assists you with categorizing campaigns based on your custom set preferences.
Ainfluencer for Brands
Using Ainfluencer, it’s easy for brands to find influencers in their niche. They should only sign up on Ainfluencer for free and create their campaigns. After that, they can find influencers based on category, number of followers, gender, location, language, hashtags, and their own budget. In the next step, they can send their invitation and negotiate with influencers using the built-in chat.
4. Know Your Audience
One of the major ways to increase your chances of getting an Instagram sponsorship for small accounts is by working on a consistent posting schedule. To increase followers, it is absolutely essential to post at least once a day. Instagram’s algorithm prefers fresh and new content, and so it rewards people who post often. You also want to stay fresh in your audiences’ minds which posting frequently helps to do.
It would help if you know the best time to post on Instagram to get more views and engagement.
5. Post Regularly
One of the major ways to increase your chances of getting an Instagram sponsorship for small accounts is by working on a consistent posting schedule. To increase followers, it is absolutely essential to post at least once a day. Instagram’s algorithm prefers fresh and new content, and so it rewards people who post often. You also want to stay fresh in your audiences’ minds which posting frequently helps to do.
6. Use Highlights
Share all the details about your account, previous sponsored posts, Q & As, etc., and create different Highlights for each one. You can permanently save them to your profile, and brands can check them all when they visit your account.
7. Use Hashtag
Hashtags make it possible for you to find and discover specific content and, as a result, get more sponsorship for Instagram. So, they are essential for increasing the number of your followers.
You can use up to 30 hashtags per post, but ideally, it’s better not to use more than nine hashtags to improve engagement and increase your discoverability. Because if your content is more discoverable, more brands will want to work with you.
Apart from having a hashtag strategy, you should make sure that the hashtags you use are as relevant to the content as possible. For example, if you are an artist, it would be more effective if you find the best art hashtags for your posts. It would also help if you made sure that the hashtags you use are not corrupted or banned.
You may find it difficult to find the best hashtags for your posts. Don’t worry! Hashtag generators can help you find out what hashtags are trending in your niche.
Pro Tip: To maximize the benefits of Instagram hashtags, consider using one or two of them in your stories too. This can increase the chance of attracting sponsorship opportunities from other brands.
8. Tag Brands In Your Posts
Start with smaller brands that you think you could work with and tag them in your sponsored posts on Instagram.
Try to engage with your audience by promoting and responding to comments like ‘Where can I get one of these?’ Or “How much is this?” When brands see that you are using their product to engage with your audience, they can be confident that they’ve found the right business partner.
When you feel ready, get in touch with your favorite brands to pitch your idea. Or even monitor how other influencers tag and interact with brands in their own sponsored posts on Instagram.
9. Make An Attractive And Accessible Bio
Your Instagram bio is your chance to help attract brands for future paid sponsorships. Add an email or website so that they can contact you directly or use it as an opportunity to showcase more about you.
Consider adding a portfolio to your bio so that brands can look at your previous work and see your skillset. With every Instagram sponsorship, you can add more to this page, so that your experience shines through.
10. Be Real And Authentic
If you want to receive Instagram sponsorship from top brands, you should be as authentic and real as you can. Always make sure to stay true to your followers and post content that represents your brand identity if you want to take your influencer sponsorship Instagram to the next level.
11. Attract Paid Sponsorships
Accessing brands and working with them is simple. By following our steps, you may not have to wait very long for brands to find you.
Look for brands that show a clear interest in developing their Instagram presence through their own account or other influencers. Remember, it is okay to start with small brand sponsorships. Working with smaller brands helps you to create your portfolio.
You can contact brands to get sponsored posts in different ways:
- Create a list of brands that may be willing to work with you, and email them. In your message, clearly, state who you are, what you do, and all your related skills. Explain why you are suitable for sponsoring their brand and add data such as your number of followers and your average engagement rate.
- You could consider sending a DM directly to a brand via Instagram. This is a straightforward method for obtaining sponsored posts on this platform. And certainly has more to do with what you are competing for. But remember that if a brand receives hundreds of DMs every day, your DM may get lost.
12. Know Your Worth
Make sure you know how much to charge an interested brand. The industry standard is $10 per 1,000 followers, but this can vary depending on the number of likes you get per post and your engagement rate.
Importance of Using #ad and #spon Hashtags on Instagram Sponsored Posts
The #ad and #sponsored hashtags on Instagram are important because they are a way for influencers to disclose to their audience that a post is sponsored by a brand.
In addition, by using these hashtags on sponsored posts, influencers can comply with legal regulations, build trust with their audience, and help brands ensure brand safety.
But, despite their importance in ensuring transparency and compliance with advertising guidelines, the use of these tags may make some brands uneasy as they may worry that it could give the impression that the post is not authentic.
However, Instagram came up with an idea to combat the issue. Instagram released a paid partnership feature that if an influencer tags a brand in their post and the brand confirms the partnership, the post will be labeled with a “paid partnership” tag at the top.
This feature not only ensures transparency in advertising but also provides valuable data to the brand about the performance of their campaign. Therefore, It’s a win-win situation for all parties.
The Total Number and Average Price of an Instagram Sponsored Post
According to recent stats, the number of sponsored posts on Instagram that were tagged with #ad was 3.8 million in 2021. This number is rising day by day, and as a consequence, the average price for each post is rising as well.
The average price you can earn from Instagram sponsorship depends on many factors, such as your engagement rate, number of followers, the quality of your content, etc.
Most experts suggest that fees typically start at around $300 and can increase depending on the services provided. Some people earn hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars for each of their sponsored posts.
Conclusion
There are lots of people that have learned how to make money on Instagram, even if they don’t have millions of followers. Therefore, you can do the same if you learn the tricks to receive Instagram sponsorship for small accounts.
Above all, joining an influencer marketing platform, like Ainfluencer, can increase your chance of getting Instagram sponsorship. Therefore, don’t hesitate, join Ainfluencer now.
FAQs
Depending on your follower count, engagement rate, niche, the brand you’re working with, and a few other factors, the standard for small Instagram accounts is $10 per 1,000 followers.
Here are some steps you should take if you want brands to sponsor your Instagram posts.
1- Define your niche and brand.
2- Understand your audience.
3- Post consistently.
4- Use hashtags.
5- Tag brands in your Instagram posts.
6- Include your contact info in your bio.
7- Pitch paid sponsorship.
On Instagram, a creator post is a post published by an individual user, such as an influencer or content creator, who is not directly affiliated with a brand.
In contrast, a brand sponsored post is a post created by an Influencer in partnership with a brand. The brand pays the creator to create and share the post, which typically includes product promotion or brand messaging.
The key difference between the two types of posts is the financial relationship between the creator and the brand.
In a creator post, Instagram user is creating and sharing content on their own without any direct compensation from a brand.
But, In a sponsored Instagram post, the blogger receives payment from the brand in exchange for creating and sharing the post.
Any Instagram business account can sponsor its own content to increase views, likes, followers, and engagement. Simply follow Instagram’s sponsoring instructions, create your target audience, and then pay for a sponsored post.
Getting sponsored on Instagram can be challenging, but it’s certainly not impossible. The competition is high, and there are many factors that brands consider when choosing which influencers to work with, such as audience demographics, engagement rates, and overall aesthetics.
That being said, if you’re dedicated to growing your following and creating high-quality content that resonates with your audience, you can increase your chances of getting sponsored.
It’s also helpful to establish yourself as an expert or thought leader in your niche, as this can make you a more attractive partner for brands.
