With the growth in the number of influencers and creators nowadays, landing your dream brand collaborations might seem unachievable. So maybe you sit there just daydreaming of the moment your favorite brands are reaching out to you because you think you’re too small of an influencer or creator. Or you are stumped on where to start attracting paid sponsorships from your dream brands.

If you’ve read my other blog posts, you already know I love to give you the tools to help you succeed and build your influence THE RIGHT WAY whenever I can, which is why today I’m breaking down the most important things you need to know about attracting brand collaborations with your favorite brands. And I’ve got a little surprise at the end for you to help you go even further!

But first, let’s dive into what you should (and shouldn’t) be doing to land those brand collaborations and paid sponsorships that you deserve.

What you need to know about attracting your dream brand collaborations

What are brands looking for when choosing influencers for paid sponsorships?

Proof of community

Proof of community is important because it shows that you’ve built trust in your area of focus…that you are their go-to person for a specific topic. Two of the most obvious ways that show you’re able to connect with and influence an engaged audience are likes and comments on your posts.

But even if you don’t have tons of followers, likes, or comments yet, you can show proof of community with things that brands can’t immediately see. Check your DMs, emails, and messages. What types of questions are people asking? What are they messaging you about behind the scenes? Gather those messages and save screenshots.

Your skillset and the type of content you make

Brands are finally starting to realize that influencers are more than just people who have influence over others by posting a photo to Instagram and that they are great storytellers, videographers, and content creators that can replace an entire production for a staged commercial. Brands go through hundreds of influencers when sourcing for campaigns and look for value-based content because they know ads don’t perform well naturally with the algorithm and content that provides value performs better.

That you are a fan of the brand

When brands are sourcing influencers for upcoming campaigns or sifting through cold pitches and checking out influencers, they actually look at your content. They are checking to see if you align with their brand, but also if you are already talking or creating content about them organically which shows that you already love the brand.

Common mistakes influencers make when trying to attract dream brand collaborations

Focusing only on the number of followers

Having thousands of followers shouldn’t be your ultimate goal as an influencer or creator. Simply having thousands of followers doesn’t equal making thousands of dollars. Read that again. If you have a high number of followers, but a community that doesn’t actually engage with your content, your number of followers doesn’t matter.

You need to provide value to your audience through education and authenticity so that you can build trust with them. Knowing your exact strengths and communicating them to a brand who finds your strengths valuable will be the game changer… and guess what? You can do this exact thing and land 4-5 figure deals with less than 10k followers.

Not building relationships with brands first

Take a step back from focusing only on the results or the money. When you are trying to manifest your dream brand into your inbox, your goal should be to build a relationship with them first. Building a relationship with a brand can lead to repeat paid collaborations, growth, and eventually more money. One way you can do this is to start with a simple introduction pitch instead of one asking for for a paid partnership right away.

Doing what everyone else is doing

You already know that the social media world is saturated with influencers and creators, so ask yourself “What am I doing to stand out?” Brands and your audience appreciate authenticity much more than repetitive content. Play to your strengths (whether it’s photos, blog posts, long-form videos or short-form videos), think outside the box, and get creative with your ideas.

Posting irrelevant content that isn’t adding value to their audience

The days of posting photos to Instagram with just emojis as a caption are long gone. When you post, your content should be intentionally nurturing your audience. Your photos or videos should be inspirational, educational, relatable, or entertaining to really create that connection with people. Because when you’re not connecting, why would a brand wanna hire you to market to their potential consumer?

Not making content that is marketable or ad-friendly

The content you make should cater to what your audience and followers want to hear or see in a way that educates or offers some kind of value to them without being too sales-y. Also, content that is explicit, controversial, or inappropriate can hurt your chances of working with brands. Ensuring your content is suitable for all (or most) ages will increase the likelihood of attracting your dream collaboration with brands.

Best practices to land paid sponsorships with your dream brands

Optimize your bio

Your bio is like an elevator pitch. It should quickly and clearly tell a brand all the important information about you as an influencer or creator:

• Who you are
• What audience you serve
• How to contact you
  • TIP: Include your email in your bio because brands are looking at your media kit from a desktop browser and the “email” button only shows up on the mobile app so make it easy for them to find your contact information.
• A CTA (call-to-action)

Have a creator account to track analytics for brand collaborations

Review your insights to see where the strength in your content lies. Use your metrics to communicate your specific and unique strengths to a brand to show them that your followers take action. Here are some metrics you can look at:

Your engagement rate

Brands are starting to work more with micro-influencers because they tend to have better engagement rates (up to “60% increased engagement rate compared to macro-influencers”) and conversion rates. If your audience is sharing, commenting, saving, and liking your content your engagement rate will be higher and show it, but if you have a lower engagement rate, maybe it’s time to re-think your content strategy or how you can partner with a brand differently.

Your demographics

If you’re trying to work with a brand and your audience is 80% female in the 35-44 age range but their target audience are males and females in the 18-24 age range, it’s probably not the best fit. Know the target audience of your dream brands and create content on your platforms that will appeal to them.

Your reach

Reach is the number of unique people that have seen your post. It’s a great way to measure how much awareness your content is gaining especially when comparing organic reach vs. paid reach vs. viral reach.

Use your presence on other platforms strategically

A question I get a lot is, “Do I need Instagram if I have TikTok?” If you’re mainly on TikTok, you don’t necessarily need to have Instagram or be on other platforms. However, if you do, they should be an extension of your brand. Content across your platforms should be consistent and relevant to your area of focus. Consistency is beneficial for you as an influencer or creator because when you get paid sponsorships, you can charge more for repurposing content on multiple platforms.

Create content that is marketable toward consumers

Think about this: if a brand would use your content for an ad, would it appeal to a consumer? Does it address a pain point and solve a problem for them? Or are you just talking about yourself and coming off like a salesperson? These days brands are looking for influencers to create more content that is engaging, educating, and authentic to influence consumers to purchase their products or services.

Think of how you can use trends to work with brands

You’ve probably already heard by now that you should hop on trends, challenges, and use trending audio, but go one step further and think of how you can use these trends to make marketable content for brands. How can you incorporate their products? How can you use the trend to align with the brand’s values? Bring your ideas to them when pitching for brand collaborations as a way to stand out.

Engage with brands you want to work with

Are you following your dream brand? If not, start there because they will check! Engage with their content by liking, commenting, or sharing their posts. Talk about them with your audience and tag them. All of this circles back to what brands are looking for. If you’re not doing any of this, they won’t know you’re even a fan of their brand and it could leave them questioning if you’re a fit for a paid sponsorship.

I’m hosting a masterclass to help you learn how to attract your dream brand collaborations!

I know that you want to start landing 4-figure paid sponsorships and brand collaborations as an influencer, like TODAY.

You probably have questions like:

• How many followers do I need to work with my dream brands?
• Why don’t brands want to collab, what am I missing?
• How do I level up from gifted-only collabs?

Before we get into the nitty gritty, I wanna help you master the fundamentals. That’s why I put together a LIVE masterclass JUST FOR YOU on these dates:

“The Content You Need to Create to Secure Your First 4-Figure Brand Deal”

🗓️Monday, Apr 4 at 3PM PST
🗓️Tuesday, Apr 5 at 9AM PST
🗓️Thursday, Apr 7 at 4PM PST
🗓️Friday, Apr 8 at 2PM PST

During the training, you will learn:
⭐Why influencer marketing is a booming multi-billion dollar industry & that you have a part to play, no matter how small your following is
⭐3 types of content you need to be creating today to grab the brand’s attention, why they’re important & how to create them effectively
⭐How you can leverage your most important content to become the right influencer to collaborate with brands
⭐Why you don’t need a large following to become a paid influencer creator
⭐How you can maximize your content to create other streams of income outside of working with brands
+ MORE!

And did you think I’d leave you there with the freebies? For showing up live & staying to the end, I’ll even send you my FREE eBook:
🎁my “Inbound to On Demand” email response guide which has 30+ pages of plug-n-play scripts on how to respond to the most common brand emails

What are you waiting for? Save your seat & join me LIVE!

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