A sponsored post is a component of advertising, and advertising is a component of marketing. If you want to build brands, improve digital strength, acquire more customers and audiences, and nurture better relationships with your customers, sponsoring content from other companies and influencers might be the right strategy for you.
Online marketing has changed the way we consume content. That’s why sponsorship has moved from print to the web and is flourishing on social media platforms like Instagram.
In this post, you will get all the answers regarding questions on a sponsored post, i.e
- What is a sponsored post?
- What are sponsored content examples?
- What are the advantages of sponsored advertisements?
- How to get a sponsored post on Instagram?
What is a sponsored post?
The sponsored post refers to paid editorials or content. This type of promotional content happens when you pay a company or an influencer to publish your content on some high-traffic and high-authority websites or platforms.
Sponsored marketing is a type of display advertising that falls into these three categories:
- Native advertising
- Outbound marketing, and
- Push marketing.
A sponsored post can be bought on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Quora, Reddit, etc.
The upside of sponsored advertisements is that they are often witty, entertaining, and educational, and they definitely don’t drip with “buy, buy, buy” language.
There are two ways to go about sponsored content:
- You can accept sponsored advertisements on your site,
- Or you can work with influencers who are ready to publish your paid posts on their sites.
Why do you need sponsored advertisements?
Sponsored content is a way to promote yourself without promoting yourself. In recent past decades, organic reach had got reduced and over-controlled by industry giants like Google and Facebook. That’s why getting that organic reach of the target audience is not as easy as you may assume.
So, people invest in other forms of content marketing, such as blogging, to get the message out somehow. Although content marketing works, you can’t just focus on it because standing out from the crowd when thousands of brands are creating blogs and competing with your content is not easy at all.
It would be a great idea to take wooing influencers and sponsored posts into consideration due to the fact that they have the power to get you in front of the target audience.
Here are some of the other benefits of considering sponsored posts:
- Sponsored content leads to sales.
- It takes your SEO strength to the next level by getting a sponsored link to your blog or website.
- A sponsored post receives higher engagement rates.
- Consumers trust sponsored advertisements more than traditional ads, and therefore, it improves your brand trust.
- It helps you target the audience you want to reach and expand your reach.
What Are the Different Types of Sponsored Posts?
As you already know, sponsored posts are a form of advertising where individuals, brands, or businesses pay to promote their products, services, or messages on various platforms. There are several types of sponsored posts commonly used in digital marketing. Here are a few examples:
1. Social Media Sponsored Posts
These are promotional posts on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn. They can include text, images, videos, or a combination of these, and they appear in users’ feeds alongside regular content.
2. Influencer Sponsored Posts
Influencers, individuals with a large social media following, collaborate with brands to create sponsored content. They typically share posts, stories, or videos featuring the brand’s products or services, often incorporating personal experiences or endorsements.
3. Sponsored Blog Posts
Bloggers may collaborate with brands to create sponsored content on their blogs. These posts usually feature the brand’s products or services and can include written articles, product reviews, or how-to guides.
4. Sponsored Videos
Content creators on platforms like YouTube or TikTok may partner with brands to create sponsored videos. These videos often showcase the brand’s products, demonstrate their use, or provide endorsements in an entertaining or informative manner.
5. Sponsored Podcast Episodes
Podcasters may include sponsored content within their episodes. This can involve promoting a brand’s products or services through pre-roll or mid-roll advertisements, host endorsements, or dedicated segments.
6. Native Advertising
These types of sponsored posts involve blending sponsored content seamlessly into the format of the platform where it appears. This could include sponsored articles on news websites, sponsored content within mobile apps, or sponsored search results.
7. Sponsored Email Newsletters
Some newsletters monetize their content by including sponsored sections or featuring specific products or services within their email communications. These sponsored sections are often clearly labeled to distinguish them from regular content.
It’s worth noting that the specific types of sponsored posts may vary depending on the platform, industry, and marketing objectives of the advertiser.
What is Instagram marketing?
Instagram marketing is a form of internet marketing that uses the photo-sharing app Instagram to promote and sell products or services. An Instagram sponsored post is a part of Instagram marketing that can be used to build brand awareness, create leads, and drive sales.
What is an Instagram sponsored post?
Instagram, with nearly 1.22 billion monthly users, is one the most used social media platforms worldwide, and can be the platform of choice for most brands to spread the word about their products and services.
Instagram influencer marketing skyrocketed in popularity over the past few years. Instagram influencers come into play in the marketing world to leverage their Instagram account for a profitable career.
An Instagram sponsored post is content that’s created and published on Instagram to reach a wider audience. There are two main types of Instagram sponsorships:
- A brand can create a post and pay Instagram to access a target audience,
- Or a brand can pay another Instagram user _often called an influencer_ to create and publish a post on their own account to feature the brand in some way.
How to get sponsored on Instagram?
As an influencer, even if you currently have zero followers, you can take advantage of the following tips to learn everything you need to do to get sponsored on Instagram and use paid posting to your benefit.
Before getting started with the tips on how to get sponsored on Instagram, let’s see what the fastest and easiest way to do sponsoring on Instagram is.
1- Use Instagram sponsorship apps _Ainfluencer_
Ainfluencer is an Instagram influencer marketplace. This DIY platform helps brands and influencers connect and make deals. With Ainfluencer, brands can create free marketplace campaigns which are posted where thousands of qualified influencers can see them and make offers.
Influencers can also install the Ainfluencer app, explore through so many different brands’ campaigns, and make offers.
Ainfluencer is free and smart and provides real-time analytics to see how your influencer marketing campaigns and sponsored post are going.
2- Define a strong brand identity
Knowing who you are as an influencer and defining your niche is a key part of your strategy. Besides the type of content you post, specifying the style of your posts, knowing what your message is, creating a cohesive feed theme, etc., are of great importance. A good influencer’s post is distinguishable and unique when a user scrolls through her feed.
3- Know your audience
Knowing your audience is critical for convincing brands to work with you. It’s also beneficial because it helps you understand which brands will see the most success using you to make the most of their sponsored Instagram post.
So, try to gather demographic information like gender, geographical location, age, favorite posts, and the most active time of the day of your core demographics to pitch stronger partnerships with brands and show them why you are the best person to work with.
4- Have an informative bio
Your introduction to brands, including your name, email address, website, niche and interest, and contact information, should be included in your bio to help businesses quickly and easily identify you.
5- Post frequently and consistently on Instagram
As you may know, Instagram algorithms favor new and fresh content, and a lack of consistent presence may translate into being forgotten or unfollowed by your audience. The more you post, the more likely your profile will be seen.
To guide your content strategy, you should post consistently. Take a look at your personal Instagram account insights to determine what days and times are the best times to post, which content has the most engagement, etc.
6- Create a video resume or video portfolio
Brands receive thousands of emails and direct messages every day. So, you need something to stand out from your competitors while ready for a sponsored post. Creating an eye-catching video resume or video portfolio that can showcase your personality, how you can increase their brand engagement, and what you have to offer will help you stay ahead of other influencers.
7- Use hashtags and geotags
Nothing can help your content be discovered more than using hashtags. Bear in mind that hashtags must be used correctly. You need to add the right number of them (up to 30 hashtags per post), use the hashtags that are as relevant to your content as possible, check to make sure the hashtags you use aren’t broken or banned, choose hashtags that aren’t too broad, etc.
Note: Geotags are equally important. They can help people find you if they’re interested in a certain location.
8- Tag brands in your posts
Now it’s time to have a pretty good idea of what types of businesses would benefit from a sponsored post partnership with you. Start small and try tagging small relevant start-ups you’ve seen across Instagram. If you want to prove brand you are a suitable sales partner, engage with your audience by responding to comments and answering their questions after tagging the brand in your description.
9- Pitch paid sponsorship
With the right pitch, there is no need to wait for brands to find you. You can reach out to them and offer your services. Try to work with brands that invest time and money into their Instagram presence. As we mentioned earlier, you can start with smaller brands.
Then from a list of brands that might want to partner with you, choose those that fit best and send them an email or a DM straight from Instagram.
In your pitch, try to clearly and briefly outline some details such as who you are, what you do, achievements and expertise, follower count, engagement rate, and why you’re a good fit for the brand. This will help you get sponsored posts with the brands you want.
10- Know your worth
Make sure you know how much you’re going to charge when brands reach out to you. The pricing structure you nail down depends on various factors such as the number of followers you have, the number of likes you get per post, whether placing the link of the website in your bio, the number of Instagram Story posts, etc.
Consider the above-mentioned tips to get more Instagram sponsored posts and collaboration offers.
Instagram Sponsorship for Small Accounts
The fact that you have a small account doesn’t mean you can’t build yourself a following, be a good partner for brands, or have no chance of sponsoring on Instagram. The good news is that Instagram sponsorship for small accounts is not something impossible.
In fact, businesses often prefer to work with nano and micro influencers to take their marketing strategies to the next level. Because mega and macro influencers are unreasonably expensive and have less trusted and targeted audiences.
Sponsored content example
Sponsored advertisements can take the form of articles, videos, and other forms of engaging media that moves prospects down the sales funnel. Here are some examples of sponsored content.
1. Sponsored influencer content
Influencer marketing is an effective strategy, especially on such popular platforms like Instagram. Here are two examples of how brands are sponsoring on Instagram through influencer content.
1. Kate keeps it movin- Naturebox
Naturebox partners with travel influencer, Kate, for a sponsored Instagram post. By working with Instagrammers and displaying their brand integrations on the influencer’s channel, NatureBox overcomes ad-blocking tech.
2. Cristiano Rinaldo- CR7 Footwear Sponsors
Cristiano Rinaldo, a soccer star and the most-followed person on Instagram, shares an Instagram sponsored post of himself relaxing in CR7 footwear. He mastered the art of sponsored marketing in a natural way.
2- Sponsored photo or video content
It’s no surprise that sponsors refer to photo and video content. That’s because most consumers want to see these two types of content more from their favorite brands. Here is an example of video Instagram sponsored post:
3. Michelob Ultra
Michelob recently sponsored a Tastemade cooking video in which the beer was used to make a shrimp ceviche tostada. The video explains how the beer is utilized as a flavoring ingredient and includes a caption with its name.
4. Olivia Constantinides
Here is another example of video sponsored posts on Instagram. Olivia is trying out some skincare products of Mario Badescu for the first time while filming the whole process.
3- sponsored podcasts
Podcasting is growing, and sponsoring podcasts allows marketers to gain awareness from listeners without having to put time and energy into creating their own content.
Here is an example:
5. My Brother, My Brother and Me
This is a kind of comedic show that tackles current events and modern culture. They come up with a topic that is related to the advertiser or employ product placement methods when they have a sponsor.
4- Infographics
Our brains are focused on visual processing. That’s why infographics are an effective storytelling medium for content marketers and influencers, to use while sharing sponsored posts.
5- Sponsored article
Sponsored articles have changed their way from print publications to blogs and online news sites. Here’s one example:
6. Sleep Number
The Huffington Post offers readers a quiz and a slideshow on the science of sleep in a story sponsored by the Sleep Number mattress brand.
7. Wireless
Here is another example of an article sponsored post by Wireless companies in The Washington Post. It shows the effects of using wireless technology on health.
What Are the Concepts Related to Sponsored Posts?
There are several concepts related to sponsored posts that are important to understand in the context of digital marketing and advertising. Here are some key concepts:
- Content Marketing: Creating valuable and relevant content to engage a target audience.
- Influencer Marketing: It involves collaborating with influential individuals on social media (influencers) to promote products or brands.
- Engagement Metrics: Evaluating sponsored posts’ success through likes, shares, comments, CTRs, conversions, and reach.
- Targeting and Segmentation: Delivering sponsored posts to specific audiences based on demographics, interests, or behaviors.
- Disclosure and Transparency: Clearly indicating that a post is sponsored or an advertisement to maintain ethical standards.
- Return on Investment (ROI): Measuring the effectiveness and profitability of sponsored posts compared to the investment.
Conclusion
Sponsored posts might help you reach out to new audiences and earn the trust of potential clients. Take all the mentioned tips into consideration to be more likely to get sponsored on one of the most popular social media platforms, Instagram, and keep an eye out for people or brands that feel like a natural fit as you begin your search for a sponsor. You can also facilitate the process of sponsoring on Instagram by using an Instagram sponsorship app like Ainfluencer.
You use organic posts on your page and pay to promote them with sponsored Instagram posts. It could be an Instagram post you’ve ever published. You don’t necessarily need to create a new post; instead, you can promote what currently exists.
When you partner with a brand/business to create and publish sponsored posts, you’ll be responsible for sharing and marketing a product or service to a public audience. You will be paid or given the opportunity to test free things and services in exchange for representing a company’s product or service and spreading the word.
