One message starts a journey of thousands of collaborations. Working with companies on Instagram is always a smart idea, regardless of whether you are a company representative or an aspiring influencer. Collaborations between brands on Instagram are among the best answers to how to pitch brands on Instagram to expand your brand’s visibility, attract new audiences, and improve engagement—all of which may immediately result in more leads and sales.
Companies are always searching for fresh approaches to engage Instagram followers. This is understandable given that more than 72% of Instagram users claim the platform impacts their purchasing choices and that 130 million users click on retail posts each month.
Additionally, 60% of marketers believe that influencer material is more effective than brand-produced content. However, a lot of firms will want to work with well-known influencers when it comes to influencer marketing. Why? The majority of marketers are time-constrained; therefore, if they have previously collaborated with an influencer on a successful campaign, they are likely to do so again!
Similarly, it might be beneficial for a company to connect with another brand on Instagram. Businesses may reach new audiences with similar interests by collaborating with brands. Working with a brand that has a comparable amount of audience to your own can also save you money since both parties will gain from the campaign.
Therefore, if done correctly, contacting businesses on Instagram for collaborations might be a wise decision! Given the abundance of phony accounts and unsolicited message requests on the platform, you need to carefully analyze your strategy and structure your outreach messages and answers to make sure your efforts don’t end up in the spam box.
Tips To Pitch Brands On Instagram
1. Choose Brands That Are Relevant
First things first: selecting the appropriate brands for you is essential to knowing how to pitch brands on Instagram. Understanding your audience and the kind of material they want is essential, regardless of whether you’re an influencer or a business. Go to your Instagram profile and follow these instructions if you haven’t already.
You may also go to Meta Business Suite and choose your Audience Insights page for more in-depth information. Enter your target market and brand name (or a similar one), then scroll down to see what other brands those people are considering. For instance, we included Australia and the Australian swimsuit company Seafolly. We can see from Meta Business Suite that consumers who like Seafolly also enjoyed fashion, activewear, and travel products.
Make a list of the companies you would want to collaborate with. Selecting brands that are directly relevant to your line of work is not necessary. For example, Seafolly may decide to partner with a company that offers floating pool toys, ice cream, vacations, or physical clothing. Think creatively and take into account brands that appeal to your target audience.
However, choose wisely; a company may not have the resources necessary to work with you successfully simply because they have the ideal Instagram style to match yours. Sometimes their audience isn’t in the proper target region, or their advertising schedules just don’t align with yours. The mere fact that a company was founded in a certain nation does not imply that all of its Instagram followers live there.
2. Compose Your Pitch
Write your pitch after that. Your pitch for brand cooperation should never sound the same. It needs to be customized for each business you approach and include particulars on why you would be a fantastic match for their partnership.
Present yourself and discuss why you believe you have a connection to the brand if you are an influencer interested in working with them. Include any brief statistics that highlight your success as an influencer, such as your following size, engagement rate, or statistics regarding previous articles that were well-received. You may also discuss why you think your audience will connect with the brand at this point if you have some basic audience statistics.
Maybe you use the brand personally or have a personal connection to it. If so, this is an excellent opportunity to bring it up. You might also include links to pertinent material and information about any other successful brand partnerships you’ve worked on. Always specify how the businesses may get in touch with you and that you can provide pricing or a media kit upon request.
Your strategy should be similar and include the same details as above if you are representing a brand. For a future campaign, you may be thinking of collaborating with a brand. If yes, please describe the dates of the campaign as well as the overall concept or topic of the partnership. The brand may be open to working with you during their next major sales season, even if they aren’t interested in doing so now.
Your pitch should be professional and succinct and include all the important information without being too drawn out. More information may always be sent at a later time. In conclusion, your pitch needs to contain:
- Don’t disclose your fees to influencers too soon; you want to give them wiggle room.
- Brands should avoid revealing their whole campaign concept too soon. You do not want your ideas to be “borrowed” by other businesses! All you want to do in these early phases is determine how interested each brand is.
- Above all, attempt a customized strategy. Examine the brand’s website, social media accounts, and other marketing channels, and explain to them how you can help them attract new customers or improve their audience connection.
3. Post About The Company On Instagram In An Organic Way
This is a highly effective answer to how to DM brands on Instagram! Posting about a brand organically before reaching out to them can significantly increase your chances of success. By sharing your thoughts or experiences with their products or services, you demonstrate your genuine interest and loyalty as a consumer, even if you don’t yet own any of their products.
This shows that you support the brand and are willing to promote it without any direct incentives, which can make you more appealing as a potential partner. If you do own a product from the company, consider tagging the brand in your Instagram stories or posts. Share photos or videos featuring the product, and make sure to mention the brand in your captions.
If you don’t own anything from them yet, you can still engage by sharing posts from the brand’s feed, tagging them, and expressing why you admire their values or products. Adding personal touches, like explaining why you love the brand or how it resonates with you, will set you apart and show your authenticity.
By creating this type of natural content, you’re not only showcasing your genuine commitment but also building a relationship with the brand. This effort can help you become a more attractive candidate for potential partnerships or collaborations in the future.
4. Think About If Your Vibe Aligns With The Brand’s
Naturally, when you approach a company, they will assess you to see if collaborating with you makes sense. Do you feel the same way about the brand as they do? Consider your principles, style, and appearance in comparison to the brand you are contacting. Are they in agreement?
Being aligned is particularly crucial for smaller influencers since it will provide you with a competitive advantage and increase your appeal to the company. However, avoid attempting to change who you are or what you write to appeal to every brand you are contacting. Presenting yourself truthfully and as you are is crucial. The companies you approach should seem like a natural extension of your own social media image.
However, don’t worry; we’ve got you covered if you need a little guidance or assistance with your feed—we’re referring to an Instagram makeover. If you feel like you have too many hobbies, you can always learn how to create a unified Instagram feed and how to identify your specialty.
5. Locate the Best Contact Information for the Brand
You may get in touch with companies in several ways. The brand’s Instagram account is the most apparent option. Since so many phony accounts are now using the site to send spam messages, the drawback of this answer to how to pitch brands on Instagram is that it may seem spammy.
Additionally, your message can be overlooked in a brand’s Instagram inbox’s “requests” area. Influencers may regularly examine this area, but not all social media managers will. Sending the brand a direct email might be a more straightforward and expert strategy.
First, use LinkedIn or the brand’s website to locate the ideal email address. After that, send an email to one or two people at each business. Selecting the brand’s marketing manager or social media manager is ideal. You may always phone the brand directly or send a Facebook message if you are unable to locate the right contact. In this manner, you may be certain that you’re not bothering someone in the incorrect division!
You might also give the appropriate person a call directly if you’re working on a request that has to be completed quickly. Ask to speak with the marketing department or the person in charge of influencer marketing and partnerships when you call the brand’s number.
When you first start, aim to get in touch with ten or more companies, or more if you have a short lead time. To organize a successful campaign, you should ideally offer businesses at least two months’ notice. You’ll need more time to plan campaign specifics and produce content since most businesses plan their social media calendar at least one month in advance.
6. Follow Up
It’s time to follow up if you’ve written to the brand and haven’t received a response. You may not hear back at all if it’s a busy time. It’s best to wait at least two weeks before checking in. Since marketing departments are often constantly busy, they could put off your request till they have more time if it isn’t urgent.
Reaching out to 10 or 20 firms might take effort, but even if you just end up with one cooperation, it’s usually worth it. In a courteous follow-up email, inquire as to if the contact needs any further information or if there is anything else you can do to assist them. You may always try contacting them if you don’t hear back, but it might be wiser to move on and get in touch with another business.
It’s usually advisable to write an email or give the company a call if you sent them a message on Instagram and they haven’t “seen” it after a week. Keep in mind that you risk being disregarded if your pitch is too lengthy, unclear, or delivered at a busy time of year. Before pitching, try to keep all of these factors in mind.
7. Complete Your Contracts
Regardless of the answers to how to DM brands on Instagram, no influencer or business must begin a brand relationship without a contract. A contract serves as a safeguard for both parties, outlining expectations, deliverables, and compensation, ensuring a smooth and professional collaboration. It helps prevent misunderstandings and provides a legal foundation in case any issues arise.
The contract doesn’t need to be overly complicated; it just requires a few key elements. These may include the agreed-upon scope of work, payment terms, deadlines, and the specifics of any intellectual property rights. It’s also crucial to include clauses that cover potential conflicts or disputes and how they will be resolved.
If you don’t have a contract template, there are several printable options available online that can serve as a starting point. Alternatively, reaching out to a lawyer to draft a customized contract tailored to your needs is another great option.
While this might come with some initial cost, investing in a well-drafted contract ensures that you’ll have a reusable document for future campaigns, saving time and effort down the road. Having this legal protection in place is a smart move for any professional partnership.
Things Not to Include in Your Instagram Collaboration Pitch
Let’s discuss what not to do when pitching to brands now that you know how to pitch brands on Instagram. Don’t mention your rates in your pitch. It’s possible that you already have a media kit or that you just know exactly what your costs should be, but you don’t want to disclose anything upfront. Why?
To begin with, you can disclose your prices to companies that aren’t even interested in collaborating with you. They could even take advantage of your price to negotiate better terms with other influencers.
Second, the businesses you are partnering with may have a huge budget. Assume that each position has a $1,000 budget. They may agree to your prices if you provide them with your rates, which are just $500 per post, or they may attempt to get two posts from you when they had previously only asked for one. Wait until you are asked about your price before sending it.
Additionally, you should never accept a brand’s request to keep your sponsored post a secret. You risk being banned from Instagram and even facing legal issues if you do this. Furthermore, you want to continue being genuine with your Instagram followers. You can be harming your reputation by putting your genuineness in danger. Your chances of obtaining future brand relationships may be impacted by this.
When it comes to giving, there are some gray areas. You are not required to post anything about receiving free items from a company or public relations firm if you are an influencer. However, you could want to express your gratitude to the company or just give them a shoutout on Stories about a product that you like.
In this case, you may want to utilize hashtags like #gifts to have an open line of communication with your Instagram followers if the brand is one you don’t already use. Make sure to thoroughly review any contracts you sign if you are an influencer who has agreed to work with a company on an influencer partnership. Get a lawyer to look it over if needed, or at least have an informed friend or relative do so.
Unless the price is very good, you should usually avoid signing a non-compete agreement. This is especially true if you’re a fashion influencer who only collaborates with high-end fashion labels. Moreover, you should carefully review the conditions of payment and determine if you will be responsible for any consequences that arise from the campaign.
FAQ
Q: How can I approach a brand about working together?
A: The most popular methods for contacting businesses for partnerships are email and direct messages. Try your best to locate a marketing manager or media contact on the company’s website or LinkedIn profile and get in touch with them directly. You can DM or contact the brand directly if that isn’t feasible.
Q: What does an influencer pitch look like?
A: I’m writing to [Brand] to let them know that I’d want to work with them to market their goods and services to my blog and social media followers. As a fitness influencer with [number] of engaged and active followers, I consider how I might assist in raising awareness of your company.
Q: How do brand partnerships operate?
A: Consider a brand partnership as a team endeavor. Each company collaborates to co-create goods, campaigns, or activations by pooling its resources, audience reach, and inventiveness.
