Are you a micro influencer struggling to find brands that will work with you on Instagram? Do you want to start getting paid for your Instagram posts? Then you came to the right place! Today, we are talking all about how to find brands to work with on Instagram as a micro influencer!
I know how hard it can be as a small blogger to find brands that actually want to work with you (and pay you). Trust me, I know! I’ve been turned down more times than I can count. But, as discouraging as it can be to consistently hear “no” from brands, you can’t give up.
There are so many brands that WILL work with micro influencers and are actually searching for bloggers like you to partner with. You just have to find them!
I started working with brands at 1,000 followers. That’s actually when I started getting paid for my Instagram posts too! I’ll write an entire blog post specifically on how I started landing paid partnerships and pitching to brands, but for now I’ll leave it at that.
Ready to learn how to find brands to work with on Instagram!?
A Reminder to All Micro Influencers
You do not need tons of followers to partner with brands on Instagram! Maybe that was the case years ago, but it isn’t anymore. The value and quality of your content is much more important. Currently I have around 3,800 followers on Instagram and I’ve had the opportunity to work with over 75 brands.
I have also had multiple 4-figure months just through brand collaborations. So let that be some inspiration for you! Because if I can do it, you can do it too!
For those of you wanting to learn how to make money blogging, I’m going to have a future blog posts sharing all the ways you can make money as a blogger. This is just the first post, of many, in my blogging series. So, stay tuned!
In this upcoming blogging series, I’m spilling all my best blogging tips and tricks that I’ve learned over the past two and a half years. We’re covering all things media kits, pitching to brands as a small blogger, how to collaborate with brands, negotiating pay, how to make money blogging, creating a consistent schedule, social media marketing strategies, blogging resources and more!
Benefits of being a Micro Influencer
You may not realize it, but there are so many benefits to being a micro influencer. Many brands seek out smaller bloggers because of their high engagement and conversion rates, loyal following, relatability with their audience, trustworthiness and affordability.
As a micro influencer, you can be extremely valuable to brands! There are a lot of smaller brands and businesses who don’t have the budget to pay for huge marketing campaigns. This is where micro Instagram influencers come into play!
Micro influencers are viewed as peers by many of their followers. Your audience trusts the product/service recommendations you make and are more likely to buy from you because of it. Brands are looking to reach a targeted audience, increase brand awareness and drive sales, and that’s exactly what you can provide!
What Brands Look for Influencers
There are four major things that brands look for when deciding to work with an influencer: Engagement, authenticity, analytics and professionalism.
Engagement – Brands like to see that your followers are commenting, liking and sharing your posts on social media. That also means you should be consistently commenting and interacting with your audience as well!
Authenticity – this is huge! Brands like to see that you’re genuine and real with you audience. They want to know that your audience trusts your opinions and the products you share.
Analytics – Brands are always looking at the numbers – Instagram impressions, story views, pageviews, audience demographic. Most brands will have you send over certain statistics to determine if they want to partner with you.
Professionalism – When communicating with brands, make sure you always act in a professional manner. Respond within 24 hours of receiving an email, make sure all your grammar is correct, submit content on time, meet your deadlines, etc. Brands love it when you’re easy to work with!
How to Find Brands to Work with on Instagram
I know how hard it can be to figure out how to find brands to work with on Instagram. That’s why I’m sharing five of the best ways to find brands that collaborate with bloggers.
Look at other bloggers’ Instagram feeds
This is one of the best ways to find brands to work with! Check out the Instagram pages of influencers in your niche that have roughly the same amount of followers as you. This will give you an idea of brands you can reach out too as well (if they’re a good fit for your brand obviously)!
You can also look at the Instagram pages of influencers with 5,000 more followers and 5,000 less followers than you. This will give you an idea of the brands working with other bloggers similar to you on sponsored posts.
Brands that already follow you
You’d be surprised at how many brands, boutiques and small businesses that are following you! I know when I first scrolled through my follower list, I was shocked! There were so many brands I hadn’t heard of and would have never thought to reach out to.
AND if a brand is already following you, they obviously like the content you share and the value you provide!
I recommend keeping a running list of brands you want to reach out to. Either save a brand’s post on Instagram to remind yourself to reach out to them or keep an excel document with the list of brand names.
Influencer Marketing Platforms
Influencer marketing platforms are the perfect way to connect with brands looking for influencers to participate in their campaigns. This is a win-win situation for both you and the brand! You are looking for brands to collaborate with and brands are looking for influencers to partner with.
You can land both paid and gifted partnerships through these platforms. I’ve done both! A few influencer networks I recommend for bloggers just starting out are Cohley, Heartbeat, AmbassadHer, Octoly, and Influenster. These platforms are great because you don’t need a lot of followers to land gifted or paid partnerships.
I’ve done multiple gifted partnerships and paid partnerships with most of these platforms!
As you continue to grow and gain followers, I recommend checking out Social Fabric, Aspire IQ, Hashtag Paid, Mavrck, Linqia. These platforms are great for landing partnerships with larger brands!
Search #ad or #sponsored on Instagram
By searching for #ad or #sponsored on Instagram, you can easily find tons of brands that are sponsoring influencers on Instagram. This is a great way to find brands that you know have a budget for influencer marketing.
When looking through the posts, make sure to check the follower count on the influencer promoting the brand. I personally try to find influencers that have roughly the same following (and niche) as me. That way I know I have a good chance of working with the brand!
I’m not saying you can’t land deals with brands who are partnering with large influencers! But, I find I get the best response rate when reaching out to brands partnering with other influencers of my same following.
Brands that engage on other blogger’s accounts
Last tip on how to find brands to work with on Instagram! Take a look at other bloggers’ Instagram posts. Scroll through the comments on a few posts and find the brands that are interacting with bloggers.
You can also scroll through other bloggers’ followers list to see what brands are following them. This should give you a long list of brands you can start reaching out to! In a future blog post, I’ll go over how to pitch to brands and negotiate paid deals.
Influencer Scams to Watch Out For
Now that you know how to find brands to work with on Instagram, I also want to share some red flags you should watch out for when deciding to work with a brand.
1. A brand comments on your Instagram post asking you to DM their account: Don’t fall for this. If a brand was serious about partnering with you, they would either email you directly or send you a DM themself.
2. A brand offers you a lifetime discount of 40% off to be a Brand Ambassador: This isn’t considered a partnership if you have to pay for any products or services. You’re just a customer.
3. A Brand offers you free product, but you have to pay for shipping: In a true partnership, you will never have to pay for shipping. I hate when brands do this. Never accept this offer!
4. When the grammar is incorrect or spelling is wrong in an email: You can easily spot a scam when there’s a lot of misspelled words in an email. A true brand is professional and uses appropriate grammar in their emails.
5. When a brand doesn’t address you by name: Maybe they say “Hey Girl” or “Hi Sweetie” – just delete the email. This is probably a mass email sent out to hundreds of other influencers. Most times, when you respond, the brand will offer you a discount on their products in exchange for an Instagram post. Don’t do this!
Want More Blogging Tips and Tricks!? Check out these posts!
How to Start a Blog for Beginners: Simple Step By Step Guide
How I Started Blogging and Why You Should Too!
7 Life-Changing Productivity Hacks
This post was all about how to find brands to work with on Instagram as a micro influencer.
