Why Do Brands Collaborate With Influencers?

Influencer Marketing is no longer about just audience size and reach. Today, It’s all about building up trust among consumers.

According to Helplama’s research, people are 3x more likely to read posts from a friend than from a brand itself. And brands are starting to realize that micro-influencer collaborations can help with this.

To attract the best brands that work with micro-influencers, you should know the reasons behind brands collaborating with influencers.

Here are some of the top reasons why brands are interested in working with micro-influencers:

• Better Audience Engagement
• Target Specific Niche Audience
• Genuine content
• Budget-friendly and many more

To know in detail, check out our post on: How Collaboration With Micro-Influencers Help Your Small Business?

How to get brands to work with you?

Approaching brands to collaborate with you is good, but if you want brands to approach you, follow these practices:

1. Define your Niche

With so many influencers in the market, it can be difficult to stand out indeed. But targeting a specific niche can help you grab attention.

To define your niche, you can ask yourself:

• What distinguishes you from others in your line of work?
• Do you consider yourself an expert in any field?
• What are you passionate about?

2. Post consistently 

Do you want to see growth on social media? Do you want to stay top of mind with your followers and attract new brands? You need to be consistent.

You must be active in order to attract new followers and increase engagement rates.

So, how frequently should you post on social media? Once a day? Once a week? According to research, increasing the frequency with which you post content can boost engagement rates.

By posting 1-2 posts per day, you can keep your content fresh and relevant.

3. Approach directly

Once you’ve defined your personal brand, it’s time to reach out to brands.

The first step is to find a way to approach the right social media manager or marketing team. Find out how to contact them by looking them up on the brand’s website and/or social media. Also, keep an eye out for any requirements posted by them. 

Secondly, you need to craft your pitch email or message. During the pitch, try to think of creative ways to connect with them. Include your media kit, a brief bio, and, most importantly, explain how working with you can benefit their brand.

Pro tip: Do a little research regarding the brand and its content strategies. This shows that you went the extra mile and put in the effort to learn about their brand and products.

4. Tag or mention brands in your posts

This is one of the most effective methods you can get noticed by brands looking for influencers. Brands love to see people sharing their content & tagging them in social posts. 

To tag a brand on social media, you can include the company’s profile name in your post’s caption or in comments, using @ tags.

As these @tags are clickable, this will draw the brand’s attention, and they will realize you are promoting them.

On Instagram, you can also tag brands through photos. Photo tags are also clickable, and brands receive notifications when you tag them in photos.

5. Use relevant hashtags

Using hashtags can boost your efforts while looking for brands to collaborate with you. Using the appropriate hashtags while posting engaging content can help you capture brands’ attention. Most brands often go through their hashtags looking for content or influencers to feature.

Have a look at some top reasons to use relevant branded hashtags with your content:

• More traffic
• More Followers
• Increased Engagement
• Get noticed by brands (as they regularly monitor hashtags

Some of the relevant hashtags in the micro-influencer space are #microinfluencers, #smallinfluencers, etc.

Most brands have a unique hashtag that is easily identifiable and instantly associated with the brand, such as Calvin Klein’s #MyCalvins.

To identify relevant and branded hashtags in your niche:

• Look at hashtags used by other fellow influencers (post captions)
• Keep an eye on hashtags used by brands

6. Create a media kit

A media kit is also a great way to introduce yourself to brands and marketers while summarising your work and area of expertise. Brands typically request a media kit from influencers they want to work with. So not having one can result in missed opportunities for collaborations and makes you look unprofessional.

So, how do you put together an influencer media kit? Keep these key points in mind while creating a media kit for yourself:

• Include your Social Media Statistics
• Highlight your Demographics
• Showcase previous work and collaborations
• Include contact information( email, phone number, social media handles, website, etc) 
• Make it visually appealing

Here’s an example:

7. Join Influencer Marketplace

Are you a creator with highly shareable content that appeals to a niche audience? An influencer marketplace could be exactly what you’re looking for to promote your work.

Using an influencer marketplace is one of the simplest and most efficient ways to find endorsements and work with different brands. 

Simply put, Influencer marketplaces connect brands with industry influencers.

Most influencer marketplaces/platforms have a similar process:

• You sign up and post a brief describing your content and area of expertise
• Wait for brands to respond
• Interested brands reach out with relevant campaign details
• Partner with them to create content and promote their products.

Conclusion 

Getting brands to sponsor you on social media isn’t easy; it takes time and a lot of effort.

However, if you consistently create high-quality content that brands want and connect with your followers on a personal level, you will begin to gain their attention.

You’ll start seeing more of the brands that work with micro-influencers working with you as long as you’re providing value that the brand can track, and start attracting an audience they want. Also having honest, open conversations with brands that you work with will help you build a strong relationship and could result in future collaboration opportunities.

With these tips, we hope you’ll be well on your way to becoming a key micro-influencer in your niche and securing larger brand deals.