Why You're Missing Out On Paid Deals
Image via @jourdansloane
If you are serious about this whole “influencer” thing, chances are you are hoping to earn paid partnerships for your social media and website content. Have you started to reach out to brands and not received the response you were hoping for?
These might be the reasons why you aren’t closing brand deals:
1. You Aren’t Consistent
Brands want a sure thing, especially when there is money involved. If you aren’t posting consistently, your engagement is likely inconsistent as well, which will deter brands.
Brands aren’t going to gamble on an influencer partnership when there are plenty of other influencers with consistent postings and engagement, so set yourself above the competition with a consistent schedule.
2. Your Following Is Suspect
These days, it isn’t enough to have a lot of followers. Those followers have to be real, engaged people who are actually reacting to posts. Brands have become savvy to paid followers and engagement, so influencers with a million followers but 100 likes per post aren’t fooling anyone anymore.
Buying followers may seem like an easy way to quickly increase your following, but it will backfire in the long run, as most brands have programs that can easily calculate when an account’s following is fake, so DON’T DO IT!
3. Your Voice Isn’t Coming Through
A pretty photo can only do so much to turn influence into sales. With an incredibly oversaturated influencer market, brands are looking for partners who will go above and beyond with truly unique content and a one-of-a-kind voice.
Don’t be afraid to get creative with captions or speak to your audience on Instagram Stories. The more you can let your personality shine through, the more appealing you’ll be to brands.
4. Your Content Is Questionable
We don’t want to sound like your mother, but if you are looking to turn your social media presence into a career, we suggest following your mom’s advice and asking yourself, “Would I want employers seeing this?” whenever posting content.
The truth is, brand partners are potential employers, and most brands have influencer guidelines and standards that they have to follow. Yes, there are plenty of bikini models with millions of followers, but they aren’t closing brand deals left and right.
Bottom line: if you’re having second thoughts about posting something, it’s probably best to refrain.
5. You Aren’t Following Through
The influencer marketing world is small and word gets around fast about which influencers convert and which ones are difficult to work with. Make sure you’re establishing a good reputation for yourself by fully completing campaigns, being responsive to brands, and going above and beyond with your content.