Anastasia Cahill

Sustainable Lifestyle and Wellness Blogger | Nashville, TN

How To Work With Brands with Less Than 10K Followers

Ana Cahill • November 4, 2020
Over the past two years, I've worked with 100+ brands for sponsored posts, giveaways, product reviews, and more - all with less than 7K followers. I've been able to make extra cash, and receive thousands of dollars worth of free product not because I have the most followers, but because I have set myself up for success in the way I represent myself online, communicate with brands, execute campaigns, and continue to build and maintain relationships. 

Whether you have thousands of followers, or just a few hundred, I want to share my best tips and tricks with you so you start collaborating with brands and putting your insight and/or content creation skills to use in exchange for product or compensation.

These tips will help you position yourself as an account brands can’t wait to work with - even with a small following! 

1. Define your brand! If you want to work with a home decor brand, but only posts pictures of you out with your friends, you’re going to have a hard time convincing them that you are a good fit to represent them. Define what your core values are, and what your page is about, and stick to that content. That doesn’t mean you can’t ever post something that doesn’t “fit”, but by sticking to your brand, you make it easier for companies to determine what you’re about, and if you will be a good fit to represent them. By the same principle, if you’re trying to promote sustainable living, and a fast-fashion brand reaches out to collaborate with you, don’t accept it just for the payment or free items. This compromises your brand, and can prevent the brands you better align with from reaching out in the future.

2. Get to know your audience and interact with them! One of the biggest reasons that brands are opting to work with more micro influencers is because their followers are more engaged, and more likely to feel more connected to you than they might with an influencer who has a 100,000 followers. That being said, you need to be actively showing that you do engage with your audience, and you know the kinds of things that they like, so when you’re agreeing to promote a product, you already know it’s something your audience will be interested in! A brand wants to feel confident that if you post their product, you are going to be actively engaging when your followers ask questions or leave a comment. 

3. Post quality, consistent content! Brands like to know exactly what they’re going to be getting when they work with you, whether you’re known for your clean white photos, your funny captions, etc. Your personality and aesthetic should shine through in your posts so a brand feels confident in the type of content you will be creating for them. If your photos and captions are all over the place, or low quality, a brand is probably not going to be willing to take the risk in not knowing what you’ll produce for them.

4. Showcase all of your skills ! If you’re great at editing videos, or creating graphics, make sure to show this off on your page where it’s easy for brands to access! Brands love to work with influencers who can provide multiple types of content for their brand, so you want to make it easy for them to see everything you have to offer.

5. Fake it until you make it! This doesn’t mean to pretend like a post is sponsored if it isn’t, as that is a big red flag for brands, but it does mean that you should be sharing your honest reviews of products on your page even if it’s not sponsored. This helps brands get an idea of your style, especially when you’re just starting out and don’t have any previous sponsored posts in your portfolio. I love doing this on my stories with new makeup, snacks or drinks, local businesses, etc. and saving them to my highlights for brands to check out later!

Stay tuned for more in this blogging series - including how to reach out to brands and my favorite influencer marketing platforms for finding brands to work with! Is there something specific you'd like to know about working with brands? Shoot me an email or message on Instagram!

xx, Ana


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