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Instagram collabs are a great way for brands to share their content with new audiences and increase their visibility. But, there are many different types of collaborations that exist and it’s important to know the difference in order to reap the full benefits from them – for the brand and the content creator.
There is a lot of misinformation about what each type of collaboration entails, so I will be coving these types along withs: how they work, do’s and don’ts, scams you need to be aware of, and how you can get started!
Collaborations are a great way for brands to grow their business and connect with potential customers. They can also be extremely beneficial for the other party in the collaboration, as well.
The best way for brands to get more followers on Instagram is by collaborating with influencers who have a following! Read this blog post for tips on how you can reach out to brands!
What’s included in the post:
- What types of Instagram collabs are there?
- How many followers do you need to get Instagram Collabs?
- ‘DM to collab’ Scam
- How to get Instagram collabs
- How to set your rate for Instagram Collabs
- Do’s and Dont’s
- Disclosing Collabs
- FAQs
What types of Instagram collabs are there?
Instagram collabs are an excellent way to earn an income as a small side hustle. Or you can even go the whole way and make a living from it! There are many different types of Instagram collaborations out there, but the most common is when someone shares a post of a product from a brand and tags them in it with a link back to their own page. These posts have to mention that they were sponsored or gifted.
There are many different types of Instagram collabs:
– Some Instagram brands are willing to work with smaller Instagrammers. For example, you can ask for a sponsored post in exchange for promoting the company’s product on Instagram.
– Smaller companies may offer an ambassador program where they’ll provide free products and promote your brand by posting content that has been approved by both sides (i.e., blog posts, pictures).
– You might also want to apply for giveaways including the brand’s products. These contests give followers something extra like chances at winning cash prizes and free merchandise from advertisers’ stores or websites – so it will benefit them as well.
Giveaways
Sometimes brands like to collab with an influencer through a giveaway. This is where the influencers will promote a giveaway on their feed and people have to follow a set of rules to enter which normally include following the brand and the influencer. Then the winner gets a product from the brand.
*2021 UPDATE: I believe Giveaways are now against Instagram guidelines. I have seen multiple people lose their accounts through doing giveaways because people make fake accounts pretending to be the influencer.
Sponsored Posts/ Videos
Achieving paid Instagram collabs are the most common form. Their collabs can include feed posts, reels, igtv, stories. If you are an influencer you may want to have a media kit including your rates for each of these content forms.
For example:
Feed post for £100
Reel for £200
Story for £50
POSTS TO READ: Build a killer Influencer Media Kit: FREE TEMPLATE
Of course, this would all depend on your follower count and engagement rate.
Gifted items
So gifted items in exchange for a post is a tricky topic. Officially, you need to declare gifted items on your tax form as they are a type of payment.
This is where the debate comes in that influencers should not accept gifted items because it means these brands will not pay influencers as they know people will post their products for free and are happy with just a gifted item. Influencers who earn a living from Instagram argue that gifted items do not pay the bills and it allows brands to get away with not paying for content.
If you do accept gifted items there should be no obligation to post them on your feed. As they are not paying you they cannot control your content and what you do with that item.
PR lists
Some brands may contact you to join their PR list. Alternatively, on some brand’s websites, you can apply. This is where you get sent items every few months.
Affiliate
A brand may ask you to join its affiliate program. You get a personalised code and link from a brand to share on your Instagram. You then get paid if anybody uses your link or code to buy the products.
Brand Ambassador
You can apply to some ambassador schemes. All schemes offer different things. Sometimes you can be paid to be an ambassador. I was recently a student ambassador for a brand where I was paid to post on Instagram and do other small jobs alongside this.
Content creation
If you do not need to post the content you have created on your social media and the brand is using the photos for their website, emails, etc then you need to be paid usage rights. The industry standard is £100 per month to use the photo.
Story Takeovers
I have never personally done this and I do not see it often but I know some influencers get asked to do story takeovers. This is where you get paid to film a few clips to send over to the brand, so they can pop them onto their stories.
POSTS YOU SHOULD READ: How to get 5k in 5 months on Instagram
‘DM to collab’ Scam
This is one of the biggest scams where growing brands try to trick people who want t be ‘influencers’ into buying their products so they can promote them on Instagram showing they are now an influencer. They usually will DM you and offer you a discount code. Or they will ask you to pay for shipping.
Fake brands
Some of these brands are actually fake and will not even send the item after you have paid for the shipping. They literally take your money and tell you they are sending you a product and it never arrives.
So watch out! Never pay to do a collab!
How many followers do you need to get Instagram Collabs?
There is no set amount of followers that you need to get a collab on Instagram. Instagrammers of all sizes have Instagram collabs, and Instagram collaborations usually just require one person to share another account’s content.
How to get Instagram collabs:
There are multiple ways you can get brand collabs here are a few:
Pitch to a brand
Find the PR email for a brand and send them an email. You need to include what you like about their brand, show that you already own products, share your stats and engagement rate. You can then either offer your rates if they reply or ask for their budget.
Tag the brand in photos
Sometimes, the brands will find you on Instagram if you are regularly tagging them in your posts. Make sure you have your email in your bio so that they can contact you.
Engage with their feed
You can try and engage with the brands feed and they may notice you.
Target the brands you already use
A good thing to do is target the brands you already use. If you show that you love the brand already then they will be more likely to work with you.
Sign up to be Brand Ambassadors
On some brand websites you can sign up to become an ambassador so some partnerships can form through this.
Examples:
Student Instagram Collabs
A lot of brands look for students to collab with because they know how a student can reach a lot of other students. So if you attend university, do not forget to mention this if you are contacting brands. It is also an idea to put it in your bio.
Use apps
There are multiple apps that can match brands with influencers. I have worked with Moonpig, Co-Op and NAKD fashion through apps.
Tribe
Tribe is one of the best apps to use if you have under 10k. If you have over 10k the pricing of collabs can become a bit of an issue as people are not getting paid what they are worth. I started using Tribe when I had 3000 followers and I was being paid £50/60 for a single feed post.
POST TO READ: How to use Tribe to get paid sponsored social media posts
Influenz
This is a website where I have worked with three different brands. The only thing is that collabs come about very rarely.
Influee
I worked on some paid collabs through this app when I had 8000 followers.
Brandheros
I worked with NAKD Fashion through this app.
Brandbassador
I worked with Fabletics and a few jewellery companies through this influencer app.
POSTS TO READ: Best Influencer programs for lifestyle bloggers
How to set your rate for Instagram Collabs
DO NOT WORK FOR FREE!
Brands should be paying you for your content creation! A gifted item does not pay the bills.
If you have 10k or less you should be charging at least £100 per post (more for videos).
Make sure to charge for usgae rights if the brand ask to use your image on their website or on thieir emails. If the only want to repost it onto their solcails then this is fine. For usage rights you should be charinging £100 per month.
When is it okay to accept gifted products
If a small brand reaches out to you then you may want to support them by sharing the item they gifted you. Or if you love the brand you may want to accept. As long as there is no obligation to post it is okay to accept a gift. Because they are not paying you they have no control over your content and whether or not you upload any images of their gift at all.
Instagram Collabs Do’s and Don’ts
There are good signs and bad signs when it comes to Instagram collabs. Watch out for the scams.
Collab Do’s
- Pitch to brands
- Build relationships
- Build your following and engagement rate to get more brand collabs
- Tag brands in your photos and use their hashtags, so they notice you
- Check which hashtags brands are following so you can use these on your posts.
Collab Don’ts
- Fall for the ‘DM to collab’ Scam
- Accept gifted collabs if they are asking you to do lots with the item as it is not worth your time. It is fine in my opinion to accept gifted collabs if you love the brand or if it is a smaller brand that doesn’t have a budget and you want to support them.
Disclosing a collab
If you are doing a paid or gifted collab you NEED to declare this is the caption and it NEEDS to be at the beginning of the post. Not in the middle, or at the end, or hidden in the hashtags. You need to put AD or #ad before you write your caption.
If you put #gifted, #sponsored, or #pr product, this is fine as long as you put AD at the beginning as well.
(This is for both gifted and paid posts)
Instagram Collabs FAQ’s
An Instagram collab is where a brand and an Instagram influencer/ content creator sort a partnership. The brand will offer a set amount of deliverables and a fee. The influencer can either agree to this or negotiate. Instagram Collabs can come in lots of different forms including: giveaways, sponsored posts, stroy takeovers, content creation ad more! Be sure to look out for the scams!
There are multiple ways to get a collab on Instagram. The bets way is to look for the PR email of the brand you want to work with. Let them know why you want to work with them, your stats and ER and you can also show them examples of past collabs so they can see the work you have done.
Yes! Instagram collabs are legit. Instagram is one of the top social media platforms and Instagram influencers are growing. Instagrammers with millions or followers can help to get a company’s product in front of their audience, increasing sales for that specific brand. However, Instagram collabs come at a cost. Sometimes they require bloggers to post sponsored content on behalf of brands in exchange for a fee.
Final Thoughts
Collaboration is a great way to grow your audience but can be tricky. It’s important to know the ins and outs of different types so you don’t get scammed or miss out on opportunities that weren’t really what they seemed. Some people think that all collaborations are created equal, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. There is a lot of misinformation about what each type of collaboration entails so here is an overview of some common types: Instagram collabs, how they work, do’s and don’ts, scams you need to be aware of, and how you can get started!
Have you done a collab before? Let me know in the comments!
Find me on Instagram
About the Author
Thank you for reading my post! If you want to find out more check out my about me page. My name is Amber Page and I run The Unpredicted Page. You can find me over on:
Wow an interesting and very educational read – I had no idea there was so much to it #eyeopener X
Very useful information. Thank you for sharing Amber xx
Wow this is such a great list! Ironically a brand reached out to me to do a giveaway and I almost agreed. I didn’t know that it may be against the IG guidelines.