Collaborating with brands as influencers is very exciting and delightful but not always easy and comfortable. However, if you know the right way to communicate with brands and the important things to keep in mind when working with brands, collaborations will become a lot easier.
In this blog post, we’ll be covering 5 tips you need to know to successfully work with brands!
1. Know The Product
"I've never used your product" is not a great way to convince a brand to collaborate with you. Before reaching out to a brand, it is important to research their product and suggest why you would be interested to use it. Doing so shows that you are actively interested in the company and the products they offer. It can also show how the product is relevant to your audience, how it fits into your lifestyle, and how it will resonate with the community.
2. Understand the Brand’s Goals
Some brands are upfront with what the goal of their campaign is. However, if a campaign’s goal is unclear, don’t hesitate to reach out to the brand to clarify what the goal is. It may be raising brand awareness, making more sales, or considering anything between the two.
Knowing the brand’s goal is crucial to you as an influencer as it will help you create relevant content according to the brand’s needs.
@blondeyouadieu and @jerome_carlier are good examples of collaborating with brands after understanding the brand’s goal clearly.
@blondeyouadieu understood that the brand wanted to promote its product but not in a forceful way. She does this effectively by introducing her experience with the product and mentioning details of the product as well. By doing this, it sounds less like an advertisement and more like a friend suggesting good products to her followers because she loves it.
@jerome_carlier introduced a new contest and explained the steps to join the contest. Jerome directly mentioned the goal of the brand, which was to promote the Instagram contest to increase brand awareness.
If you're talking to a brand about potential collaboration opportunities, you can ask them about the collaboration goals that they are thinking of right now.
The most important thing before you start working with the brand is to know what the brand wants to achieve by collaborating with you and whether you are the right candidate. This way, you can create content that not only helps to achieve the brand’s goal but also expand your own influence, creating a win-win relationship!
3. Reach out to the brand first
Instead of waiting for brands to reach out to you, you can take the first step by reaching out to brands to gain more exposure. Sending a simple e-mail or direct message is one of the most effective ways to contact brands.
First impressions are important, so even if you send a DM to a brand’s Instagram, it's good to introduce yourself in a professional and sophisticated way!
You can ask the brand about upcoming collaboration opportunities by showing a summary of your experience and follower’s demographics. You may also include content ideas to show them what they can expect from a collaboration with you. Providing your information and ideas helps you appeal to the brand that you need to be considered as the next collaboration influencer because it shows you can reach their desired audience and create content they like. This is a good way to visualize your capability and will show that you understand how to position the product to the followers.
Brands that already work with influencers are likely to be budgeted for campaign management and streamlined processes, so it's a good idea to contact them in general.
4. Ask Questions
Sometimes influencers are afraid to ask questions because they don’t want to ruin collaboration opportunities. But it is crucial to ask questions in order to work properly with the brand.
Before signing a contract to start working with a brand, you should clarify what you are unsure about, for instance:
- What is the compensation like?
- When is the deadline for the content?
- How many posts/stories are required?
- How is the brand going to share my content? (Reposting on their social media/website, etc.)
These are some common questions to ask if they are not identified by your brand representative or content outline.
5. Be Personal
If a brand wanted standard studio-style photos, they would not use influencer marketing. They want to work with you because of what you can offer. Focus on what you can offer that nobody else can!
@imjennim and @danavaughan show great examples of uploading personalized content rather than standardized content.
Both of them collaborate with H&M but show a different style of the photo and captions. One thing in common for both contents is that they showed H&M clothes where followers can gain different types of outfit inspirations from these posts.
Are you looking for brand campaigns that you can collaborate with and use the tips that we have discussed above? Download the Avenue app to connect with brands and find the campaigns that suit you!
