In this post, we give you the best tips and tricks to follow when creating branded content that will help you stand out from the crowd, keep brand partners happy, and your followers interested.
1. Be a fan!
Focus on brands that you use and love, but make sure that the brand also fits your niche. For example, if you are not a food blogger, your audience probably will not respond all that much if you start showing them your favorite Tupperware sets.
Don’t look to approach brands you do not like or value. Find something that you sincerely believe in and want to share with others. Genuinely trusting a product should always be where you start. Branded content should speak to the needs of your audience and connect with them to solve problems and make their lives easier. Your influence should make more fans! Focus on brands that you use that your audience will respond to because it is something that fits your niche.
2. A little research goes a long way.
In her recent webinar, 10 Simple Tips to Rebooking Branded Content Campaigns, KariAnne recommends influencers start their branded content journeys by making a list of 5 brands they want to work with. Then, she says, “Go all-in with those brands!” Meaning, gather all the information you need before approaching one from the list to work together on branded content.
Make a To-Do List while you research:
Make your brand list.
Follow all social media accounts and interact with them! Comment, like, share the posts!
Make sure they work with influencers. Don’t spend time crafting your perfect pitch for brands that do not use influencers for branded content.
Find the right email contact for your first outreach email. You can DM the brand’s social media channels to find the right contact for branded content. Or, check out Hunter.io to reverse lookup a company to locate their professional contact information.
Craft your perfect pitch!
3. Photography & Video Matter.
Not everyone is a professional photographer, but everyone can make their photos look professional.
When taking photos and videos for branded content partnerships, remember that the product is the star. Brainstorm creative ideas for how to post your branded content. Use concepts that will both resonate with your audience and also best showcase the product. Try to use different angles and include a photo of you using the product. Do not forget to include a photo of the product by itself.
Just like your posts on Hometalk, Inc., clear and focused photos are critical. Brands want to see their product looking the absolute best it can, so grainy images or poorly lit videos do not make the cut.
If you need some new tips on shooting videos for all platforms, you will not want to miss KariAnne’s next webinar on Oct 6, 2021.
Register here!
4. Keep shareability in mind!
Your post may be interesting, but is it shareable? Everyone wants to go viral, but not everyone asks themselves the right questions. These questions are essential and help keep the values of your audience and the brand in focus.
What is important to your audience? What does the brand you are partnering with do or have that resonates with your followers?
Ask yourself those questions when brainstorming. Not only should you focus on creating posts that the brand can share on their accounts, but you should aim to have your followers feel compelled to share it, too. Most importantly, don’t forget to include your links and tags to the brand you are working with. Make the tags easy to spot and click - no one wants to fight with an Instagram story to get to the brand page.
Check out our blog post on How to Make Your Tutorials Go Viral for some extra help and inspiration!
5. Keep it clean, concise, and read your text at least twice.
Imagine spending hours filming or taking the perfect product photos to post, finally upload your sponsored content, and then notice that you have made spelling and grammar mistakes. Brands will notice that, and so will your followers.
We are not saying you have to be the Grammar Police every day, but it matters when booking branded content and rebooking that content. So, spend a few extra minutes doing a final scan of the spelling and grammar on your posts.
Many platforms do indeed allow you to edit the content after posting, but sometimes those changes come too late, and your branded content partner has already noticed that their name is missing a letter or two.
We hope these tips help you on your journey to branded content greatness. Follow the blog and check out all our webinars to see what other great content strategies we have to help our influencer community thrive.