Biggest Influencer Mistakes: Brand Partnerships

As most of you know, my “day job” is in influencer marketing. I know that a lot of y’all are influencers or aspiring influencers/bloggers yourselves, as I’ve gotten so many questions asking for advice on how to become a successful influencer! I’ve worked with a ton of influencers on the brand side in my job, and I’ve also had opportunities to work with some amazing brands on the influencer side, like Dove, Hunter Boots, Converse, Neutrogena,  Pottery Barn, and so many more companies I adore. Since I’ve had the experience on both sides, I wanted to write this post to hopefully provide some good insight on what to do and what not to do when it comes to brand partnerships. I’ve also consulted a few of my friends and colleagues to help me write this post, so that y’all can have a resource that’s as comprehensive as possible. I will continually update this, as questions come through. Happy reading!

This is your job. Treat it like one.

Honestly I could end the post here! I think the most important thing to note about brand partnerships- or just being an influencer in general- is that if you want this to be a job, treat it like one. This means being responsive, professional, and flexible. A good rule of thumb is to always respond to emails within 48 hours. We all know things happen but responding to an email with “I’ve been busy- get back to you ASAP!” takes approximately 30 seconds.

It’s important to know that your brand contacts have others counting on them to get their jobs done. If you don’t do your job, it’s a huge burden on them.

Something else I want to mention with this one is to make sure you give 110% into your work. We all blog because we love it, right? This means creating good content that you’re proud of. When you submit work that is half-assed, it’s pretty obvious. Be creative and hustle hard!

Deadlines are important.

This one is so important! If you agree to a deadline, make sure you stick to the agreement! Even if you’re unable to meet the deadline (sometimes life happens- it’s inevitable!), make sure you keep your brand contact in the loop. The absolute worst thing to deal with is unresponsive influencers.

To the same point as I mentioned above, these brand contacts have people to answer to. If you keep them in the dark, they’re unable to provide updates to their managers and clients. Not a good look for anyone!

It’s easy to want to say yes to everything. Saying yes to deals left and right is most definitely tempting, but make sure you only commit to what you can follow through with. I’ve worked with so many influencers who agree to way too much, but then realize they have too much on their plate and have to delay the entire process to catch up. Deadlines are important, stick to them!

If you buy fake followers, you’re not fooling anyone.

Brands are getting smarter and smarter. I know it can be tempting, but don’t do it! This also applies to doing loop “international” giveaways. At the end of the day, the reason that brands are working with you are most likely to reach your audience. If you’re a US-based influencer but have 60% of your following in Mexico, that can easily be fished out. Another note to add here is that if you’re a micro-influencer, be proud! It’s not always about having a bigger reach. If you have a small but highly engaged audience, that can be worth a lot.

Good content is so important.

News flash: followers aren’t everything. Sure, it’s super important to have an engaged audience, and the bigger the better. However, something that’s really grabbed the attention of so many brands is amazing content. Part of the reason why brands are hiring you is to create content that they can use in their own marketing efforts. If you create amazing photos and videos, you bring a ton of value to the table. With added value, comes added $$$. Something to keep in mind!

Furthermore, if you only have 1,000 or so followers, but make BOMB content, you have value! I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to create good, high quality content. If y’all would like some tips on how to create higher quality content, let me know! I can most definitely elaborate on this more.

Know your worth.

This goes both ways! There’s no exact number to evaluate your worth, but it’s important to have a ballpark number. There are tons of resources on the internet that you can find, but a good rule of thumb is to set your sponsored post rate at 1% of your following, and leave room to go up or down based on engagement rate. For example, if you have 10k followers, you can typically charge anywhere from $75-$150.

I get a lot of questions about doing work for free. My personal answer is that unless it is a brand that I absolutely LOVE, I do not work for free. I’ve had brands respond to my requests for compensation by arguing that I have a low follower count. My response to that is that brands are coming to you for a reason. That reason is that you provide them with some type of value. If you provide value, they need to provide compensation, end of story. A lot of fellow bloggers have told me that they didn’t start charging for collaborations until they hit 15k, 20k+ followers. I completely understand if you start out doing collaborations for free, if you really love the product or you want to get your foot in the door with brand partnerships. However, just know that if you’re putting your all into your work, deals will come.

Don’t undervalue yourself! At the end of the day, businesses are working with budgets. The lower the costs, the better. If you have 50k followers and a good engagement rate but are only requesting $100, we won’t offer more than that. On the other hand, if you have 20k followers and are asking for $500/post without any specific reasoning, that can also leave a bad taste in influencer manager’s mouth. Do your research and know your worth!

Be a nice human!

I shouldn’t even have to talk about this one, but I’m going to anyway. Every brand contact you speak with is a real person sitting behind the screen! Manners still apply. Be responsive, polite, and professional with every person you meet! Many influencer marketing experts work on several brands at once. If you leave a bad taste in his or her mouth, there’s a very high chance you’re forfeiting some major future partnerships with their other clients. Always be kind!

Are there any other tips about influencer marketing you’d like me to write about? Do you have any tips I left out? I would love to include them! Hopefully this post helps us all remember that at the end of the day, influencer marketing is all about humans. Let’s all appreciate that it’s so incredible how we can all run our own businesses based on things we love, and that we’re able to meet so many other amazing humans through this creative outlet. Go you, boss babe!