Spoiler Alert: It’s not the number of your followers
First of all I’ve been seeing many online coaches claiming that numbers don’t matter. From my personal experience that’s a lie. Numbers do matter. It’s just subjective. There are a lot of factors and numbers brands take into account when deciding who to work with. Here’s the three things I’ve found brands value most.
- Engagement
The reason why brands don’t really care about your followers count is because they care more about engagement. In the case of Instagram if you have 1 million followers and 100 likes per post brands will not work with you. But if you have 1.000 followers and 400 likes you have a lot more chances of securing a brand deal. In my personal experience the minimum followers you should have are at least 1.000 coupled with at least 300 likes and at least 30 comments.
Disclaimer: I am not a professional. This is just my personal experience.
2. Quality of Content
Aside from engagement brands care about the content you will be providing them. At the end of the day it’s cheaper to hire an influencer instead of a professional photographer, videographer, copywriter etc. Unfortunately good content does not only mean well lit good quality photos. They also need to align with the specific brand’s identity. So it is a good idea to research and find common elements within the brands you want to work with and try implement them in your feed.
3. Wrong Contact
There are many people that work for a specific brand. Many influencers shoot a text to the customer service email that is usually easily available. Unfortunately this email is flooded with more urgent emails in regards to orders, returns etc. Thus, your email may get ignored. You should always check the brand’s website for a dedicated press email. If you can’t locate a good place to search for the right person is LinkedIn. Search for the company you want and under the tab of people filter those who work in marketing and Pr. Their email is usually theirname@brandname.com. If this doesn’t work you can always reach out to the customer service email to ask for the correct contact for your inquiry.
There are many factors that brands take into consideration when looking to work with influencers. If you don’t get to work with the brand you wanted don’t get discouraged. You can always try the next season.
I want to mention once more that I am not a professional and this is what I’ve discovered through years of blogging. In case you’d like me to take a look at your social profiles and maybe provide some advice on how you can improve don’t hesitate to follow and send me a DM on Instagram.
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