Instagram: What You Need to Know to Start Landing Paid Collaborations

Everything I have learned about reaching out and responding to brands, and how to turn gifted collaborations into paid ones. In this post I will go into detail on what to include in your media kit, what to charge brands, and how to reach out to them!

First things first...

The most important thing I have learned is that anyone can make money on social media, regardless of how many followers you have! Honestly, at first I didn't believe this when I heard an influencer say it. But, it's so true! The social media market is a $153 Billion dollar industry! I know people who have gotten a hotel collaboration at 4,000 followers, and someone else would got a $100+ collaboration at less than 1,000 followers. Anyone can do it, you just have to know how! (and that's the hardest part)

How Much Should You Charge?

Let's just jump into it! You're probably wondering how much you should be charging for Instagram posts, reels, etc. Well, guess what? You can be charging for a lot more than just that. You should also be charging brands for usage, exclusivity, and whitelisting; and I'm going to break down what each of these are and how I charge for them.

Exclusivity: When a brand says you cannot work for their competitors during the time period you are working with them.

Pricing for Exclusivity: 3x the rate you charge for an Instagram Post/month

For example: If you charge $100 for an Instagram In-feed Post, you should charge the brand $300/month for exclusivity.

Usage: There are two things you need to know from the brand when it comes to usage:

1. Placement (what do they want to use your content for?) and 2. Length of Time (how long do they want to use your content for?).

Placement: There are four ways a brand could use your content, and you will want to charge differently for each.

1. Organic Social: Reposting your image on the brand's social media accounts

• Charge 15%/month of your In-feed Instagram Post rate (for example, if you charge $100 for an in-feed post, charge a brand $15/month for organic social usage

2. Paid Social: Paid amplification of your image across social media, in other words- ads

• Charge 30%/month of your In-feed Instagram Post rate (for example, if you charge $100 for an in-feed post, charge a brand $30/month for organic social usage

3. Digital: Digital marketing including websites, email marketing, and banner ads

• Charge 30%/month of your In-feed Instagram Post rate (for example, if you charge $100 for an in-feed post, charge a brand $30/month for organic social usage

4. Offline: In-store, print, billboards, etc.

• Charge 60%/month of your In-feed Instagram Post rate (for example, if you charge $100 for an in-feed post, charge a brand $60/month for organic social usage

How to Reach Out?

Usually, I always email the PR/Marketing team of a company. You can most likely find this on the company's website, if you can't find the specific person to contact you can reach out to the email they provide on the website and email them something like this:

Hello *insert company name* team, My name is *insert your name* and I am a *insert niche* blogger and content creator interested in working with *insert company name*. To give you a bit of a background, I run the *insert niche* blog *insert blog name* and Instagram account *insert account* where I share *insert what you specialize in* to a highly engaged *insert engagement rate* and growing audience of *insert follower count*, mainly based in *insert country demographics*. I love your brand and how you make *insert something unique about the company that you like*. I would like to propose to you a collaboration to help *insert what you can provide to the company*! Can I please have the email of the manager or person responsible for marketing/public relations? I have also attached my media kit for your convenience. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon! Best, *insert your name*

What's a Media Kit? And, How Do I Make One?

This is something that as a beginner I had no idea where to start and could not find ANYTHING online that helped me. Through trial and error, and talking with other content creators/ influencers I have perfected my media kit which has helped me land partnerships with brands such as Samsonite, 4Ocean, and Columbia Sportswear with only between 10-15K followers! So, I want to share my wisdom with you and save you from the struggle of trying to figure it out on your own!

You can purchase my exact Media Kit below that I use to land paid collaborations. I have turned it into a template that you guys can edit and incorporate to fit you and your brand!

A Media Kit is something you MUST attach to every email you send out to brands, and most of the time if a brand reaches out to you first they will ask to see your media kit, so having one is a must for every influencer!

Media Kit Template

Buy Now

In Conclusion,

Start making money! YOU CAN DO IT! Start perfecting your media kit and email brands, I know for a fact they have money to spend on social media marketing, make sure you express your worth and you can start getting those paid collaborations! Let me know in the comments if this kind of blog post is something you guys are interested in and would like to see more of. Until next time, keep exploring!!