How to Pitch brands, land sponsorships and monetize your Instagram

Instagram has quickly become one of the largest social media platforms in the world. It’s no surprise that brands are utilizing this platform to reach their audience through influencers.

Now, I know a ton of you are probably wondering, how many followers do you need in order to land a sponsored post? I have personally seen accounts with less than 1,000 followers land sponsored posts. If memory serves me correctly, I believe I had around 5,000 when I pitching brands for paid sponsorship, but I know I could have probably landed them soon, there just wasn’t room on my plate at the time. You can check out my Instagram here. I now have a little over 36,000 followers.

When it comes to landing the deal, It all comes down to setting yourself up to receive a “YES” from the brand. This starts well before you send an email with the proposal. It starts with your content.

Content

I want you to think about the number you one day HOPE to charge for sponsored posts… $500 per post? $1,000 per post? $5,000 per post? What ever you goal is, you need to act like every post you do from this day forward is worth that. From the photo to the caption to the way you respond to engagement, it’s all top-dollar stuff. Why though?

Because when it comes time to pitch brands, they are going to look at what you have done in order to get an idea of what you will do. You need to show your future partners that your work is top of the line. Show them your work is high quality, unique and engaging.

If you are just starting out, I would advise you to do 3-4 posts (whether this is a full blog post or a Facebook post or Insta) promoting a product you love, even if you haven’t contacted the company and set up a deal. Produce a high quality photo and an even better copy and captions. More on how to do this below.

Some of my favorite tools for taking great photos is my Canon Rebel T6, my cell phone tripod and SnapSeed for editing!

As a new blogger, I know it can be difficult to invest in equipment but let me share my experience. I purchased my Canon T6 in September 2017. I watched all the YouTube videos I could on how to use it and even found some free courses to help me shoot better. I tinkered with my editing skills and really jumped head first into this new found passion for photography. Within 6 months, I had landed sponsored posts with Fisher Price, Stride Rite, BabbleBoxx and Gerber Baby to name a few. Those posts paid for my camera multiple times over.

Now, I’m not saying to drop your entire paycheck on a new camera, but keep it in mind as you are working to grow your blog. It is a wise investment and I am happy I made the decision to purchase. If you aren’t ready to make that investment, you can get a great tripod for your phone. They are a small fraction of the cost of a DSLR camera. I have this one. It is much smaller than my camera tripod and usually has to be used on a table top, but it still works great. There are a ton of free camera timer apps you can download too.

When it comes to copy and captions for your content (and future sponsored content) it’s all about encouraging (and reciprocating) engagement! Your caption needs to tell a story. It needs to show readers why you are sharing your love for a product. Invoke emotion and ask questions (this is especially important on social media platforms)

In the time that I have been monetizing my Instagram account, I have seen first-hand what kind of effects quality promotional content can have. One high quality promotional post almost always leads to another!

The Pitch

Ok so now that you have your Instagram filled with high quality content and photos, it’s time to start pitching brands.

Next: Here’s the email I send to brands I want to work with!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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