You did it! You landed your first brand deal. Congratulations! I know how much time and effort went into creating and growing a social media account that gets noticed. No matter what happens next, take a moment to recognize how far you have come and be proud of yourself. You have officially made it to the next milestone: working with brands.
If you would like to know how to approach and work with brands, feel free to check out some of my other blog posts below.
How to Successfully Pitch Yourself to Work With Your Favorite Brands
How to Work With Brands as a Microinfluencer
How to Find PR and Marketing Contacts
After you have successfully pitched yourself to a brand and negotiated a brand deal, it is time to get to work. Below I have put together some of my top tips to make yourself stand out to brands.
1. Create High Quality Content
Now that you are getting paid for your work, you want to make sure to create the best content possible. This could mean taking the extra step to edit your photos on a platform like Lightroom or hiring a photographer to help you take high quality raw images. The more attractive your photos are, the more likely the brand will want to work with you again in the future.
2. Follow the Brand’s Guidelines
Most brands you work with will have a vision for the collaboration. They could show you a few photo examples they would like you to emulate or require a specific hashtag that is unique to their brand. If you want to make the client happy, make sure you follow their guidelines laid out in your contract to the best of your ability.
For more tips on what to include in an influencer contract, check out this post.
3. Make Sure the Brand is Visible
If you are promoting a brand, make sure the product is visible. You want your audience to be able to see the product you are recommending before they even read the caption. It should be the focus of the photo.
If you feel as though the product is not clearly visible, consider making a carousel post and make your second image a closeup of the product.
4. Do NOT Promote Other Brands in Your Photo
While it may be obvious that you do not want to promote competitors in your sponsored post, you also want to avoid promoting any other product or brand. This includes tagging the clothes you wear and in some cases the location you are in. You want the focus to be solely on the brand you are promoting for the greatest impact.
5. Pay Attention to the Deadlines
When you work with a brand, you will most likely have a date for when the post should go live. Make sure to follow it! Often brands will hire influencers before they have a big launch to promote their new products or services. If you post late, not only will it reflect poorly on you, but it will look silly to advertise for a sale that has already ended.
If you are unable to post on by the deadline, message the brand to discuss a new plan to proceed.
5. Overdeliver
One of the best ways to stand out to a brand is to overdeliver. If the collaboration is for 2 Instagram posts, post a third one for free or add in a few extra Instagram stories. Promote the brand on your other social media pages such as Facebook and Twitter. Send them a couple of extra photos that you didn’t use but that they can use on their social media feeds. That extra little bit of effort will make you stand out.
If you would like to learn more about how to make yourself stand out to brands, feel free to sign up for my free guide by filing out the form below! In it, I include one of my favorite tips to say thank you and ensure the brand remembers me.
If you found this helpful and want to learn more about how to create a career as a successful influencer and entrepreneur, check out the latest courses and free resources here.