How to receive free products from brands with your Instagram?

Introduction

Instagram is a powerful tool. Compared to other social media platforms, it is the most lucrative option for brands to promote their products and services by reaching out to common people (i.e. influencers). It is also a great platform for influencers to connect with big brands and help with their influencer marketing campaigns.

Bloglovin talked to 2,500 micro-influencers and found that Instagram is their most preferred platform. 59% of them say that it’s the most effective platform to engage their target audience.

So, if you’re looking to connect with brands and earn free products, this guide is for you! But, make sure to be original and carefully select and deal with the brands you want to work with.

So, let’s dive in! 

According to a research,

72% of teenagers use Instagram and nearly as many (69%) use Snapchat. Both have increased by more than 20% since 2015.

1.  Find a niche 

The first step to becoming a successful Instagram influencer and receive free products from brands is to know your niche.

There are many niches that can increase your reach and produce a lot of revenue every year such as animal, lifestyle, books, parenting, technology, etc. Before choosing a niche, it is important to ask yourself these 2 important questions –

  •         Are you genuinely passionate about it?
  •         Do you have enough knowledge and expertise in it?

Choosing a niche depends upon your interest and expertise in a particular field. For example, you see your favorite lifestyle influencer making a lot of money on Instagram and you think of doing the same. But, if you don’t have the required knowledge and interest in it, you can never become a successful influencer in that niche.

2.  Optimize your Instagram bio

Writing your Instagram bio can be a very daunting task. With millions of Instagram users online, brands take a fraction of seconds to glance through profiles and form an impression.

Here are a few elements you must include in your bio to make a good first impression.

  • Put out exactly who you are and what it is that you do
  • Use keywords that cater to your audience pool in order to capture their mindshare
  • Mention your website/blog link and use bio to direct your followers to your shoppable Instagram feed
  • Let nuances of your personality and brand image reflect through emojis and fonts in your bio
  • Give your followers a way to get in touch with you.
Bio

Image source: Instagram

3.  Post regularly

To grow your Instagram following and get more sponsored projects, it is critical to post at least once or twice daily. The more frequently you’ll post, the more likes and engagement you’ll receive. So, it is very important to make the right strategy to increase following and reach bigger brands. Also, make sure that you stick to it.

But sometimes, it’s difficult to follow that particular schedule. And hence there are various tools like buffer, ripl, tailwind, etc. that can help you create and schedule your content in advance and set the date and time for posting. As a result, your content gets posted automatically without doing it yourself.

4.  Create beautiful images

Your page is sure to steal the show if there are beautiful images, tagged properly and added with the right caption to pull your followers to your account. You can save yourself from the hassle of writing imaginary and alluring lines to attract your users.

Do not add irksome and familiar images that are omnipresent online, these blend you in the crowd. After all, your motto is to be noticed in the crowd, so be different from the rest. Learn and invest time in understanding what makes a notable image excellent. Avoid using irrelevant pictures that do not reflect your personality or niche.

travel

Image source: Instagram

5.  Use relevant hashtags

A hashtag is a powerful tool that makes it easier for people to find your content on Instagram. If you use the right hashtag on your Instagram posts, you’ll definitely observe an increase in your following base and engagement. Thus, they are also very important for your online presence.

When you hashtag a post, you actually create a link which when clicked, takes the users to the particular photos, videos or posts uploaded with that hashtags. You may get creative and use your own hashtags. However, in case you fail to make your own hashtags, you can easily find dependable hashtags for your post online in huge numbers to captivate the attention of the users.

6.  Engage! Engage! Engage!

Instagram is all about meeting new people and interacting with them. There are many people who invest their smallest amounts of time and energy into viewing and following your Instagram profile. And thus, it is important that you value them and their time and interact with them.

But, interacting with your followers should not be considered as a task. Rather, you should take out some time from your busy schedule to specifically engage with your followers. This not only improves your image but also helps in retaining the interest of your followers into your profile.

Here are some ways through which you can effectively communicate and engage with them on Instagram –

  •         Use Instagram Live video chat feature.
  •         Host giveaways and contests.
  •         Use polls and Q&A sessions.
  •         Follow, like and comment on other’s photos.
  •         Post at the right time, when you’re likely to get maximum engagement.
  •         Use call-to-action in your captions.
7. Approach brands directly

Getting free products and sponsorships on Instagram can be a bit of a challenge. Once you’re ready with your content, it’s time to connect with your followers and brands through your posts. After all, social media is to get social. Here are a few tips you can follow to connect with brands directly:

  • Make a list of all relevant brands that you want to work for. Look for brands that invest much time and money building their online presence.
  • Tag them on your posts and also engage with their posts regularly.
  • Message them directly or send them an email offering your services in exchange for free products.

Before reaching out to a brand, it is important to know your worth. You must know how much you’re going to charge. For example, the industry standard is $10 for 1000 followers. But, it could vary depending upon your experience and likes and comments your posts get.

Wrap up!

Ultimately, getting sponsored posts isn’t an easy task – it requires a lot of time and effort. But, these simple steps can help you boost your engagement and reach bigger brands in no time. Moreover, keep updating your profile and try new posts to analyze what your audience likes most to see on your page.

Want to make more followers and expand your reach? Get in touch with WeJustSocial to learn new ways to create unique posts and stories and increase your visibility among different brands.
WeJustSocial Social Media Management

How to market yourself on Instagram?

Introduction

An intensely simplified application that is visually so stimulating and connecting the world around us on our phones is the app – Instagram. This application is now used as a marketing tool owing to its popularity and connectivity across the globe. It provides endless opportunities to show off and convey your mind to known as well as unknown people active on Instagram.

No matter what you do or what you desire to be, you can easily promote yourself on this social networking application. In the case of individuals, you surely get to evolve as an influencer and build relationships if you market yourself the right way with an increasing number of followers on every post that you add on Instagram.

Even though the competition is tough, you can establish a fabulous Instagram page to promote yourself by putting together the right deliverables at the right time. Though it may seem a difficult task at first, once you plan and target your visitors positively, marketing yourself will be worth the time and effort spent.

Here are a few tips to market yourself on Instagram positively.

According to a research,

There are 1 billion monthly active users on Instagram.

   1.        Begin with an intriguing username

A flashy and trendy username is sure to grab the attention of your page visitors who are potentially going to turn into followers. To set the right foot forward, choose an Instagram handle that is original and defines your personality so that people feel connected with you. Make it sassy with some unique combinations of name, nickname blended with your favorite personality trait or what you do to give an idea to the users what to expect further.

Avoid using generic usernames that are in abundance already and repetitive or the boring names that the users find on every other Instagram page and confuse you with someone else. If the username you selected is already taken, give it a complete makeover to present a unique Instagram handle to reflect your personality. You may use a nickname or a location tag or your trait that is popular or a domain name to keep the interest of the visitors going.

A username on an Instagram handle is the first sight of the account that can make or break the involvement of the users. Therefore, it is critical to use the username that appeals to your audience.

An awesome example of a great username is below. 

WhatsApp Image 2019-03-29 at 10.36.26 PM

Image source: Instagram

2.        Juggle with hashtags and geotags

If you do not want your users to turn elsewhere, make sure to use hashtags to narrow the search of the users and make it easier for them to find your page. When you are sure of your content and audience, you can always focus on specific hashtags to appeal to the right audience. Hashtags can be related to your work, persona, or the reason for creating the Instagram account.

Hashtags help you to lay focus on your niche and draw the attention of the users to your account and compelling them to advance as followers. Hashtagging also brings visibility as it makes your post reachable to the world on Instagram.

 

hashtags

Image source: Instagram

A Geotag is yet another feature that is burning the Instagram. Refine your search in terms of location so that people can access your account quickly even if the Instagram handle is similar to other accounts.

geotags

Image source: Instagram

When you hashtag a post, you actually create a link which when clicked, takes the users to the particular photos, videos or posts uploaded with that hashtags. You may get creative and use your own hashtags. However, in case you fail to make your own hashtags, you can easily find dependable hashtags for your post online in huge numbers to captivate the attention of the users.

3.        Stay connected and updated

Treat your users with warmth and care. Stay updated with your follower’s feed, comment on a few exciting posts, and reply to the user comments and inquiries. This shows your concern for the followers and builds a long lasting relationship with your followers.

Keep your profile up-to-date. Add latest pictures, posts and current happenings on your Instagram page to keep the users glued to your account. Do not include unwanted tags or routine pictures to overwhelm the people viewing your account. Knock together a rapport that let your users stay connected with you.

4.        Say it with pictures

Unlike other social media platforms, Instagram is all about pictures rather than words. Let it all hang out with pictures for your admirers. Pictures from daily life, travel, nature, pets, music, or anything under the sun can be portrayed extravagantly to capture the interest of the users.

Your page is sure to steal the show if there are beautiful images, tagged properly and added with the right caption to pull your followers to your account. You can save yourself from the hassle of writing imaginary and alluring lines to attract your users.

Do not add irksome and familiar images that are omnipresent online, these blend you in the crowd. After all, your motto is to be noticed in the crowd, so be different from the rest. Learn and invest time in understanding what makes a notable image excellent. Avoid using irrelevant pictures that do not reflect your personality or niche.

5.        Design your content

Being a pie-in-the-sky platform for innovation, creativity, and imagination you can take advantage of this powerful medium to market yourself. Since images occupy the larger extent on the Instagram page, content required on the platform is minimal. Thus, pay attention to focused keywords and hashtags so that you knuckle down good content around the images.

Show your followers how focused is your approach and specific you are with content to create a professional picture in their minds. Add a personal touch to your image to reflect your mind. Post the way everyone understands. Too flashy or uncommon quotes, tags or one-liner can distract the users or confuse them and they might turn to other pages instantly.

6.        Cross promotion

It is a good idea to connect with like-minded people on Instagram. If your target audience is the same, cross promotion helps to associate with each other and swell up visibility.

Affiliate with influential persons with common interests to get more people hopping on to your page. It is an effective means to promote each other and give due credit to each other in your posts.

Running contests to aim at a good reach can get new followers and visitors. Plan an exciting task with alluring prizes asking people to tag their friends and family further. You can even post some discounts and coupons to a nearby event or coffee shop to engage your page visitors and to get an idea of what is trending among the audience.

Want to grow your Instagram account and market yourself successfully? Contact us immediately to get some tips and tricks on how to grow your reach and make your account visible to various brands.
WeJustSocial Social Media Management

How to get sponsorship with a brand using Instagram?

Introduction

Instagram is one of the most popular social media applications used worldwide by young and dynamic individuals. This photo-sharing app has over 800 million daily active users. People use Instagram for various purposes such as sharing photos and videos with their friends and family, exchanging information, and promoting their products and services.

Instagram offers a great opportunity for individuals to collaborate with various brands and promote their products and services to the distinguished crowd. Moreover, brands are also realizing the power of using the services of normal people to promote their business.

If you too want to be an influencer and earn sponsorships from big brands, follow these simple steps that can help you take your Instagram game to the next level.    

According to a research,

73% of brands post at least one photo or video per week on Instagram.

1.     Find your target audience

The first step to get a sponsorship with a brand is to understand who your audience is and what it needs. Your posts should revolve around a particular age group, common interests of people, or specific income groups.

There are some products primarily for a business professional, some for teenagers, while some for mothers. Social media strategies deeply vary depending on the type of audience that you are targeting.

Moreover, not every segment will be available on Instagram. Even if they are, make sure to create your posts on the interests of your target audience to drive more sales.

Finding your target audience also enable you to explain a brand more about the audience they will be reaching if they collaborate with you and what kind of engagement they can expect.

2.     Find a niche

Now that you’ve identified your audience, it’s time to find your niche and build content around it. You can choose from a variety of niches, such as travel, beauty, fashion, food, DIY, and education. But, before selecting a niche, make sure you’re genuinely interested in that particular niche and have enough knowledge and experience in it.

Many budding influencers make the mistake of going after the niche of their favorite influencers. For example, if one of the influencers is making a lot of money in the fashion niche, you’ll think of doing the same. But, following this approach can never make you a successful influencer on Instagram.

3.     Write an interesting Instagram bio

It is rightly said that the first impression is the last impression. The same goes for your Instagram bio. Your bio is the first thing that brands will notice on your Instagram profile. Therefore, including a valuable and interesting Instagram bio is essential to give the first impression of your personality to the visitors.

Your bio should match with your personality traits and give the viewers a reason to find more and follow you on Instagram. Showcase what you are and what you do. You can also add URL links to your websites to make your bio more informative. Moreover, do not add too much information about yourself and focus only on unique points. In a nutshell, make sure your Instagram bio is quirky and short.

WhatsApp Image 2019-10-03 at 1.23.40 AM

Image source: Instagram

4.     Use hashtags 

A hashtag is a combination of numbers, letters, symbols, and emojis and is preceded by a # symbol. For example – #ootd, #tbt, etc. These hashtags help to categorize the content such as photos and videos and make them discoverable to people. So, if someone clicks or search these hashtags, they’ll see all the posts tagged with it.

Hashtags help you to lay focus on your niche and draw the attention of the users to your account and compelling them to advance as followers. Hashtagging also brings visibility as it makes your post reachable to the world on Instagram.

Some of the tips you can follow while choosing the right hashtags are –

  •         Don’t use 30 hashtags in all your posts.
  •         Use trending hashtags that are relevant to your photo.
  •         Find the best hashtags by going through the posts of your competitors.
  •         You can even use a combination of hashtags with search volumes varying from 10,000 to 1 million.
ootd
tbt
5.     Improve your feed appearance

Once you’ve written an interesting bio, it’s time to work on your Instagram feed. A visually appealing feed is very important especially if you’re trying to become an Instagram influencer.

You can choose a particular theme for your feed and edit your photos according to it. For editing, you can use various tools such as Lightroom, VISCO or in-built filters on Instagram. Also to give your feed an incredible visual appeal, take your photos in plenty of light and high-resolution.

Remember, when your feed looks goods and attractive, brands and users are more likely to follow you and like your photos.

6.     Create a media kit

To become a successful influencer and get more sponsored posts from brands, it is essential to have a professional media kit. But, what it is and what does it contain?

A media kit is like a business card of an Instagram influencer. It gives you a professional appearance to your potential brand partners. A creative media kit can easily grab the attention of prospective brands and clients. Moreover, it can also act as a deciding factor in whether or not you get the project.

Another advantage of having a media kit is that you don’t need to write long emails to prospective clients to introduce yourself. Instead, you can customize your media kit according to the requirements of the project and send it right away to them.

A great media kit must include the following –

  • The number of followers you have on Instagram and other social media handles.
  • Details regarding your audience and their demographics.
  • Your media kit should have a great design that matches with your overall personality.
  • If you have a website or a blog, share your website statistics such as the number of visitors and subscribers, page views, etc.
  • Testimonials from previous brands, if any.
  • A brief introduction about yourself.
  • Your contact details
  • Pricing and options for collaboration
7.     Post consistently

To increase your following and attract more brands, it is critical to post at least once on Instagram. When you’re posting content regularly, your followers are more likely to see and engage with your posts. According to various studies, the influencers who post 2-3 times daily are more likely to boost their engagement than those who post once or twice a week.

But, sometimes, it’s difficult to post consistently. In such cases, you can use various scheduling tools such as ripl, tailwind, buffer, etc. that can help you create and schedule all your content in advance. After setting the date and time for posting, your content gets posted automatically.

8.     Choose and tag relevant brands

Now that you’ve followed the above steps, it’s time to think about who you would like to work with. One of the best ways is to focus on the brands you already use. For example, if you are a fashion influencer, is there a brand you always wear? Or, if beauty is your thing, what product you love to use? A shout out on these brands can catch their attention. Also, it could be a great way to start a conversation about collaboration with them.

After selecting the brand, you need to connect with them. But how can you do it? Well, here are mainly 3 ways to outreach to any brand –

  • Tag relevant brands on your post to make yourself visible to them.
  • Create and send a direct message to brands that align with your niche.
  • Send a pitch to the company’s marketing department telling about your purpose of reaching out and what services you can offer them.

Apart from these 3 ways, you can even sign up on various Influencer platforms or communities such as Grin, TapInfluence, InfluencerBay, HYPR, TRIBE, etc. These platforms help you find relevant brands that are willing to connect with influential Instagrammers. Some of these networks require you to have a certain amount of followers before you can sign up on them.

Want to increase your Instagram reach and engagement and turn your followers into life long customers? Get in touch with us immediately to get some tips and tricks on how to grow your reach and make your account visible to various brands.
WeJustSocial Social Media Management

Ways to make money online with Instagram

Introduction

Influencer marketing has completely changed the way brands advertise. It is growing rapidly for the last couple of years and is an effective way to connect a brand with the audience. Therefore, many companies nowadays are leveraging Instagram Influencer marketing to generate awareness and increase their sales.

But, why Instagram?

According to research, 92% of marketers believe that Instagram is the most important social media platform. Instagram is a great place to make money as an influencer as it offers the highest user engagement rates with brands.

But, you may be thinking that Instagram is just a photo sharing app. So, how can I make a living out of it?

Well, in this article, here are some tips and tactics that you can implement immediately to earn money from Instagram.

Let’s get started!

How much does an influencer actually earn?

A health and nutrition blogger, with 30K followers and a 7.3% engagement rate, shared her rates with us. She charges USD 325$ for a single Instagram post, or USD 825$ for a serie of 3 posts.

1.    Do sponsored posts for various Brands

The most common way of making money online on Instagram is to make sponsored posts on behalf of a brand. A sponsored post involves creating a post; it can be a photo, video or a story in which you’ve featured a product or a service of a particular brand. There are many forms of sponsored posts ranging from brand owned content, promoting a new product, or launching a new brand.

But before connecting with various brands, it’s more important that you work on increasing your following and engagement. You need to have followers above a thousand and have a decent engagement for brands to consider you suitable for making sponsored posts.

Instagrammers with huge following are more likely to organically find brands without joining any influencer platforms or through a middleman. And, it is seen that in many cases, brands reach out first to the influencers having large engagement. So, it’s very important that you write an interesting bio, use the right hashtags, post content regularly.  Moreover, interact with your followers as these factors can play a major role in increasing your engagement.

Once you’ve reached a decent following, it’s time to connect with various brands. 

Here’s how you can do it – 

You can either tag relevant brands on your post to make yourself visible to them. Or, send a pitch to the  marketing department telling about your purpose and what services you can offer them. You can even create and send a direct message to brands that align with your niche.

Apart from these 3 ways, you can even sign up on various Influencer platforms or communities such as Grin, TapInfluence, InfluencerBay, HYPR, TRIBE, etc. These platforms help you find relevant brands that are willing to connect with influential Instagrammers. Some of these networks require you to have a certain amount of followers before you can sign up on them.

As an influencer, you can choose the brands you want to work with and what kind of partnership you would like to enter into with these brands. It can be a short-term or long-term partnership. Moreover, it can also be a single channel or a multi-channel partnership.

It is also very important for the influencers to decide what to charge per post. You should know your audience and should have a clear idea of your reach and engagement rate (total engagement divided by the number of followers).

Pro tip: If you don’t want to lose your followers’ trust in the process of making money by doing sponsored posts, always add a #sponsored or #sponsoredpost hashtag on your sponsored posts.

Sp
2.    Become an affiliate

Not everyone has thousands of followers to make money through sponsored posts. For such Instagrammers, affiliate marketing is the best way to make money on Instagram.

An affiliate is one who sells other people’s products and receives a commission for every sale. Unlike an influencer who is aimed to generate awareness about the brand, an affiliate is more concerned about making sales for the partnering brand in exchange for some commission.

So, how does an affiliate make money on Instagram?

You get a unique URL and a trackable link. Through this link, the affiliate program tracks how many clicks are converted to sales and you get a commission for those sales.

Since Instagram doesn’t allow you to create clickable links on your posts, you can post only one affiliate link on your bio section. This means you can focus on only one product affiliate link at a time.

There are many brands that sell their products through affiliate marketing. You can either reach them directly through direct messages or can explore various affiliate marketplaces like Amazon’s Affiliate Program, ShareASale, etc.

As an influencer, it is important that you choose the products that are relevant to your niche and connect with your followers. Choosing a product or service outside your niche may lead to Unfollows.

One of the limitations with affiliate links is that they are upper long which makes them ugly. So, it is recommended that you use URL or link shortening service like bitly.com to make them look appealing on your Instagram bio.

3.    Open up and promote your own online business

Instead of working for other brands, you can directly set up your online store on Instagram. You can also use Instagram to promote your products in the same way as any other brand. These products can range from clothes, jewelry, mobile covers, e-books, downloadable travel guides, etc. you can also offer your services on Instagram such as Digital marketing services, content writing services, consultancy services, etc. Whatever you’re planning to sell, make sure that your audience likes it and is ready to spend their money on.

Since Instagram is all about visual content, it is very important to post high-quality and attractive pictures of your products. To make your pictures visually appealing to the followers, use photo editing tools like Adobe Photoshop, Canva, Pixlr, or Instagram’s in-built filters. Add an interesting and clear description with relevant hashtags to make your products visible to people who aren’t even your followers.

You can even showcase your photography skills on Instagram by selling high quality and unique photos. You can also sell your photos as prints on other physical products such as pillows, phone covers, clothes, etc. Before selling them on Instagram, make sure to add a watermark to the image, provide full selling details in the caption and use relevant hashtags to attract more customers such as brands and agencies.

4.        Post content regularly

As an Instagram influencer, it is very important to know when and how often you should post on Instagram. There are many successful influencers who posts daily, while some posts 2-3 times a day or even a week.

According to various studies, the influencers who post daily or even 2-3 times a day are more likely to boost their engagement than those who post once or twice a week.

So, it is very important to make the right schedule to increase your reach and audience. Also, make sure that you stick to it.

But sometimes, it’s difficult to follow that particular schedule. And hence there are various tools like buffer, ripl, tailwind, etc. that can help you create and schedule your content in advance and set the date and time for posting. As a result, your content gets posted automatically without doing it yourself.

Final words –

Instagram is a highly effective platform that offers various opportunities for influencers to make money. So, if you’re looking to monetize your Instagram account, here are the top 3 ways that can help you make a living from your work. Just be original and carefully select and deal with the brands you want to work with.

Want to make money on instagram but don’t have the sufficient following base? Then, check out  WeJustSocial, where we help many influencers and social media enthusiasts to increase their following and engagement.

Want to grow your Instagram account the right way? Please reach out! We help many individuals and brands to build their following in just a few months. If you are looking to increase your Instagram following & engagement, or become an influencer, get in touch with us now!
WeJustSocial Social Media Management