With marketers’ spending on influencer marketing growing year after year, there has never been a better time to establish yourself in the industry and get spotted by potential brand partners. In the jam-packed world of social media, influencers need to push the envelope to gain an engaged audience and capture brand attention.
Many influencers aspire to work with brands they love, and an increasing number of creators are converting their social content into careers. You’ll know how to meet the demands of brands if you know what they’re hunting for. Let’s talk about what you can do to spark a brand’s interest in you and some ways to make the first move.
How Do Brands Look For Influencers?
Brands primarily look for influencers in two major ways:
- Manually
Commonly brands start with Google when searching for influencers. They’ll enter widely used keywords relevant to their industry and manually pick creators of top-ranking pieces. Another quick way is to type the “toppers list” in specific categories they are looking for. If they need influencers from a particular platform such as YouTube or Instagram, they’ll often go about it in the same way. They might also check out who their audience is following at the moment.
- On a platform
Brands may also use AI-powered influencer marketing platforms to find their ideal influencers. These platforms have access to vast databases of influencers developed to connect brands with influencers who have authority in their niche. Similar influencer discovery tools have filters that evaluate and shortlist influencers based on the number of followers, engagement rate, niche, and much more.
What Do Brands Look For While Vetting Influencers?
Brands check their influencers before they even talk to them. They not only look at the follower count but also dig deeper into other parameters such as:
- Engagement rates: No matter how big a follower count, this metric is more important in comparison. It helps your brand understand whether your followers like the content you produce. Likes, shares, and comments (relevant to the discussion) contribute to a strong engagement rate.
- Inorganic or fake following: If a big chunk of your followers is bots or fake accounts, brands know that it will hurt their ROI because of your followers’ lack of actual activity. Make sure that you regularly purge your account and not fall for the so-called “easy” ways of growing your influence.
- Previous collaborations: Brands are also interested in knowing your past work with other brands. They may want to see the kind of content you have created in the past representing a product. They won’t want to work with you if you are currently working on other similar campaigns.
- Niche expertise: It only makes sense for a brand to collaborate with an influencer from the same industry, topic, or niche. They will want to get a feel for your content’s vibe and authority position on the subject.
How To Attract Brands To Your Content?
A sure-fire way to gain brand attention on any platform is a mix of great content and influencer best practices. Check if you are on track with the following before you start thinking of brand collaborations:
- An attractive bio
Think of this as your online resume. Your bio is where you first introduce yourself to any visitor, in this case, a prospective brand. Start with a username that represents your brand or niche. Your name could be a good starting point. Don’t forget to add the keywords you want to be known for naturally within your description (or similar ones a “wishlist” brand might search). Also, add a link to your website or other profiles and your preferred way for the brand to contact you.
- Personal brand
Think through how you want to appear to a brand. Serious, funny, classic, or trendy? Then plan your feed, brand colors, tone, and more, keeping in mind the way you want to be known. Your brand is the only thing that separates you from the hordes of other accounts on a social media platform. A personal brand reveals who you are. It demonstrates your knowledge and competence on a given topic. If you want to set yourself apart as a top creator in a niche, make sure everything on your profile aligns with your brand’s vision.
- Consistency
Brands will always prefer an influencer with a robust and regular presence on their profile. Hence, posting consistently on social media will make you fall under a brand’s radar. You can also only build a relationship with your audience when you connect with them online and engage via comments or with commenters. This will increase your overall engagement rate and bring you closer to your audience, which ultimately helps your profile grow. Stick to a realistic schedule and show up with high-quality content for your followers.
- Hashtags & captions
Think the hashtag is past its time? No! Hashtags tell a brand what you stand for, the kind of content you create, the category you fall in, and what you’re all about. Also, if you appear on a hashtag page that a brand visits, the chances of noticing you go up a lot. However, refrain from going hashtag crazy and adding tons of irrelevant ones. Keep a good balance and use what makes sense for the content piece. Include them in your captions as well. A caption is a summary that appears beneath your social media post and expands on the context of the content. Text, @ mentions, hashtags, and emoticons are essential elements in a caption. You can also add a CTA in your caption and use the space optimally to reflect your views.
Connect With Brands As An Influencer
Once you set yourself up as a content creator and have hit some milestones in terms of followers and engagement, it’s time to start connecting with brands. You don’t always have to wait for brand attention to come to you. Be proactive, initiate the conversation with your dream brand in the following ways:
Reach out directly
You may be at a place where you feel ready to take on brand collaborations but don’t want to wait for a brand to notice your work. In this scenario, you can take the initiative to let the brand get to know you. If you use any product or service from the brand, you can tag them in the post. Brands usually track tags and mentions so that they may find new insights. A caution here, don’t force brand tags if it doesn’t feature organically in your content.
Secondly, most companies have a contact email address on their website or social profiles. Send an email that introduces you and expresses interest in partnership opportunities. Keep a media kit ready in advance if they show interest in taking it further.
Ask other creators for introductions
We emphasize the importance of community and peers as social media influencers. The creator community often has each other’s back for helping new entrants grow. Other creators who are veterans in partnerships with a brand you like can help you reach out and ask for an introduction. These kinds of warm introductions are more effective than cold emails or DMs. Call on these favors only if you have built a healthy relationship with a fellow influencer.
Use Influencer Marketing Platforms
You can also sign up on platforms built to connect you with brands looking for influencers. Creators can set up their profiles, set their preferences, and wait for collaborations at the click of a button.
On that note, let us talk about our platform, Atisfyre, which is built for all this and more! You can manage multiple assignments and get paid without hassle through a single dashboard. Our AI algorithm takes your set preferences and social media metrics into account when suggesting jobs to you. Sign up with Atisfyre and get the brand attention you are looking for!
Remember, your uniqueness as a creator is the fastest way to gain brand attention and make space for yourself in this thriving influencer community.
