Recently a company that I work with received an email from a young new 'influencer' who reached out to the brand with his story by email, and told them how their product had contributed to his improved  health and work and success in the health & fitness industry.  He asked about the possibility of collaborating with the brand to promote the product that he already has been using for over a a year.  On checking his profile on instagram we could see that he was genuine and was building a quality organic audience through this regular posts.  His profile needed some work to make it look a little more professional for approaching brands, but we all agreed that he was the the genuine article and his story reflected everything positive about the brand and its product, and they decided to work with him by supplying him with regular products for his personal use and samples for colleagues in exchange for social media promotion.

Here are our top 7 tips on how you can also work with brands when starting out as an influencer in your field of expertise

1. Engage with and follow the brand and try their products where possible well before you approach them to collaborate.  This may include posting your own content using their brand by tagging them in a post or stories, and responding and commenting on social media posts regularly.  
2. Research the companies products and ethos.  Read through their website (all tabs of their website) to learn as much as you can about the brand and what they stand for.
3. Plan your pitch beforehand.  When creating your pitch - don't concentrate on what they can do for you, but more what can you do for them!  All brands want a return on their investment in you (ROI) so you need to think about -  what content you can create that compliments their branding and if you are a good fit for the company or not.
4. Do your followers suit the brand?  If you are not sure of your niche following - convert your instagram account to a business account to gain insights into your followers.  How old are they, what cities do they come from, are they male or female.  These stats should already be on your media kit that you will send to in your pitch.  Ask us about  affordable stylish media kits here)
5. Invest in a photographer for your post - to make sure it is high quality, good lighting and ensure that when you upload it it is in HD (more on this later).  Often you can collaborate yourself with a local content creator for a reasonable price and it is worth it to make sure your content is quality.  (Ask us about  Instagram content photography  here)
6. Do more than promised when you get the deal.  impress the brand by going above and beyond what they asked for. For example, if they asked you to do one post with a few photos showing a particular product,  you may like to also do a separate bonus instagram story and a follow up post with a different styled photo later on to show that you are serious about being a brand representative. This will always make a good impression.
7. Stay Connected.  After the promotion is over, ensure that you stay engaged with the brand and its community and consider yourself part of a brand ambassador community - this will confirm with the brand that you were a good choice for their campaign and they will be more likely to use you again.
   
8. What to know more about Instagram and creating a professional profile & content CONTACT US HERE
   
   Have a great week 
   x Judi
   ​
   Blue Bird Internet Marketing
   Australia
   

A:  The above question about Instagram Influencers, came from a small business owner in one of the Facebook Entrepreneurial groups I am a member of.  The business owner, who makes quality hand made products and accessories for babies, had been approached by a Influencer who requested a variety of the businesses products in exchange for promotion.  The business owner was new to using influencers for product promotion and was rather unsure if it was a good idea or not, so I offered some advice and a short check list to review first before making a decision.

​CONSIDERATIONS TO BE MADE WHEN DECIDING ON AN INFLUENCER FOR YOUR SMALL BUSINESS PRODUCTS
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1. Will the Influencer compliment your brand? ~ Deciding if an Instagram Influencer is suitable or not for your brand, will depend on what their niche is and the type of followers they have and their knowledge or willingness to learn about your product.
2. Review past paid campaigns ~ I’d have a careful look at their profile and the results on other paid ads they have done for other companies- are comments genuine?  You can check if a post was paid or sponsored by looking for hashtags with the wording #ad, #sponsoredpost or similar. 
3. How successful were their previous paid campaigns? Did they offer a deal so the companies can track purchases from the promotion etc.  Many influencers will offer a unique coupon code for their followers for the promotion, this allows the brand to check follow-through purchases from the campaign.
4. What form of payment/product have they requested?  Most influencers want $$ for their time as well as the product so if yours is genuine and you think it’s a quality profile and they are happy with just goods for the promotion, I’d consider it (offering goods for prom) after you ask a few questions and read over their terms.
5. Create your own terms ~ There is nothing stopping you making your own terms and I would recommend that you do this to ensure you get the results, hashtags etc that you want. You can then have a influencer contract ready to go for future campaigns.

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Navigating the world of influencers and negotiating a deal that you are both happy with can be tricky - you want to make sure that both parties feel they are benefiting from the collaboration.  Blue Bird Internet Marketing can help create an Influencer Agreement Contract for you, and also help review offers you have received by doing the research on the Influencer for you, or help you find suitable Australian Influencers in your niche.  Contact us here x