How to Land Your First Brand Deal
For budding - or even established - creators, getting a brand deal is a huge milestone in your career. But how to actually land that first brand deal remains mystifying for many. The truth is, many brands are in the market for nano-influencers and micro-influencers to promote their products. Nano-influencers and micro-influencers offer a sense of relatability to the audience that larger influencers do not. They have a small but loyal audience, which is appealing to brands looking for influencers with a loyal audience. The best way to get a brand deal is to put yourself out there and market yourself as an authentic and in-touch influencer. Read on to learn how to land your very first brand deal.
Getting Started
When it comes to landing your first brand deal, you certainly want to look like an established content creator. Ensure you have a brand account or creator account, and add your email to your bio. Mention your niches in your bio and ensure your branding is consistent across all social media platforms so that when brands are looking for nano-influencers, they know: 1. Exactly who you are, to which niche you belong, and what you represent overall. 2. They can immediately contact you using your email. Curate a memorable brand image. Between the colors and aesthetic you use, to the general “vibe” you want to give off, a memorable brand image will set you apart and legitimize you as an authentic creator whose audience will trust your product endorsement. Consistently posting about your niche, as well as the brands you’d like to work with, gets you exposure and gives brands a sense of what you’re capable of as a creator, as well as what audience you serve. Brands are going to have a vision for how they want their marketing campaign to look. They have specific audiences they will be trying to reach, and they will be using influencers to bridge the gap between the brand’s messaging and the audience. Your posts - both before and during the brand deal - are key to this.
How to Outreach to Brands
When you’re first starting out as a nano or micro-influencer looking to land your first brand deal, you’re going to need to find some exposure. This means you’re going to be doing outreach, pitching yourself to brands, and putting yourself out there as a legitimate influencer ready for a brand deal. The first thing you’ll want to do is identify which brands fit your niche. Ideally, you should be posting about not just your dream brands, but any brands that fit your niche. Don’t forget to tag the brand! If your niche is makeup, beauty, or lifestyle, make a get-ready-with-me and promote the products you use every day! If your niche is athletics or sports, post your favorite athletic gear, what brands you wear throughout your week at the gym, or your favorite pre-workout and post-workout. When deciding if you’re the right fit for a brand deal, the brand will be looking at content you’ve already made. They want to make sure that you align with their values, goals, and overall mission. By establishing yourself as someone who would fit well with their brand, the brand will be more likely to offer you a deal and keep you in mind in the future as a creator who takes brand deals. More established creators will likely be getting approached by brands… but as an up-and-coming creator, you’ll have to market yourself. Amongst many things, this means writing… the dreaded cold email.
The Art of the Cold Email
Creator CI2Times swears by emailing in the morning. She says that some companies will respond to cold DMs, but to present as your most professional self, be sure to email! In the email, you want to include
A warm, polite greeting
Introduce yourself and include why you love their brand
Your pitch and portfolio
Links to your social media platforms
A warm closing
Don’t be afraid to cold email! Brands are looking for authentic, up-and-coming influencers with small but loyal platforms to promote their products.
What Does a Brand Email Look Like?
Once you have the brand deal, you will negotiate with the brand on your deliverables. Deliverables are the pieces of content you’re making featuring your brand deal or ad. Deliverables include:
TikTok videos
Instagram posts
Instagram carousels
Instagram stories
YouTube videos
YouTube Shorts
As an influencer, you agree on the deliverables, and you negotiate the pay rate. It is then your job to do what you do best - create the content! During the creation process, ensure the content you create meets not only your standards as a creator but also the standards of the brand. Do your best work here - the best ads feel expertly incorporated into a piece of content.
Rate Negotiation
Negotiating base rates for deliverables is tricky. For new creators, the most important thing is to strike a balance between not undercharging yourself, while still maintaining a good relationship with the brand. This may mean calculating how much you'd like to get paid per hour, politely advocating for yourself and sharing how much time you would be spending on content creation. When negotiating, ensure that you have a digital media card or rate card ready, with analytics, your past partnerships, and rates. Be sure to endorse brands you actually like. Your audience can tell whether or not you’re being authentic in your endorsement of a product or service. The most important thing as a content creator is maintaining and building trust and community. This should be easy if you understand your niche, as well as your audience. Don’t endorse products that don’t fit with you or your personal brand. Do your research before agreeing to a brand deal. Unfortunately, the reality of starting out as an influencer is that you may be the victim of a scam. Smaller influencers with less management, or no management at all, are easy targets. Ensure the legitimacy of emails and contacts before signing any contracts. We at Influencers wish you the best of luck in landing your first brand deal!