How To Work With Brands: No Minimum Followers Required.
In our last Q&A, a lot of you asked how you can work with brands and how many followers you need to start. We want you to know, there are more ways to work with brands than just getting PR and paid partnerships.
Keep reading for our favourite strategies to create a relationship with brands, receive gifted products and get paid.
Become A Customer First
Purchase their product and be a genuine fan.
No need to drop a stack in Sephora. We recommend budgeting a bit of money each month towards purchasing products from the latest launches. Promptly share the products through demonstrations, and describe how you personally use them. This also a great strategy to increase engagement by capitalizing on that new launch buzz.
If funds are super tight for you right now, start with samples. Remember, don't be embarrassed to start small. You can still share the benefits you received without showing the full product. Instead, include an image of the product from the site into the content you’re creating and speak to the consistency of the product, the quality, ingredients etc. and how it's been working for you.
Share Discount Codes
There are tons of sites that offer you discount codes to share with friends when you place your first order or sign up to receive offers. This is a great way to start offering value to your community. Be the go-to for saving some coins with no minimum audience required. Not to mention, many of them offer you a reward or money off your next order. Pro Tip: Put up a highlight on your IG Stories dedicated to discount codes and make it easier for your audience to shop with you.
Affiliate Links
Two reasons why we love affiliate links for content creators of all levels:
1. They allow you to earn passive income.
2. You can leverage your commission reports in your next pitch email to show brands your capability to convert sales.
One way to get started with affiliate links is to scroll to the very bottom of the site and look for an affiliate/or ambassador program. Some will ask for your social media and review your account before confirming if you're approved, but not all of them. Do some research and sign up for the ones you personally shop at and feature their items on your platforms.
We’ve linked a few to get you started:
MagicLinks is our all-time favourite affiliate program. They have a ton of brands, generous commission rates and awesome sales reports including total clicks, total purchase amounts and your commission received.
Scentbird (one of our favourite brands earns you $10 for every purchase made through your link - US only)
Rakuten is an affiliate program that works with tons of brands
Request Products/PR
Once you've shared the brand for a few months and are getting good feedback from your followers, reach out and show the brand the content you've created. Be sure to share the data from your affiliate codes. Then ask if they'd be open to sending you a few specific products to try out and share.
Pro Tip: let the brand know exactly how you plan to feature them.
For example: "I'd love to receive X product to feature in an upcoming review in an IG Video where I typically generate X amount of views and in my IG Stories for a GRWM. I've attached my insights from recent content for your review and my audience demographics".
Follow up and share the content after it has been posted for one week minimum and the insights. Look out for a new collection drop and ask if they'd be open to sending you a few products to review. If they don’t have availability you can also ask for a restock on the product they initially sent out that you’re still loving and featuring. Once you’ve created a relationship with the brand ask if they have space for you to join their PR list. We’ve gotten products for creators with 3K and under using these strategies, so we KNOW you can too.
Pitch For A Paid Partnership
Now that you've been sharing a brand for 3+ months and getting clicks on your affiliate links or uses of your discount code, you'll probably see the brand start liking or commenting on the content you’ve been featuring their products in. This means you’re on their radar. Yay! It’s also the best time to reach out and inquire if they have any upcoming paid partnerships that they think you'd be a fit for.
Remember, when you send your pitch email to link the content where you featured their product, 5 recent links is sufficient. Leverage your commission reports or the number of rewards you’ve received from purchases made from your links to share how you’ve been converting for them.
Not every brand is going to say yes. Some have limited stock of their products and want to ensure they can create the most impact with them. Don’t get discouraged, stay loyal as you grow and keep applying these strategies and pushing forward.
Did you find this helpful? If so, like this post so we know you want to hear more of our proven strategies. When these pro tips work for you, we ask that you come back and leave a comment with your success story. Not only would we love to hear from you, but you’ll also be inspiring future readers to take new steps toward levelling up in their social media journey.
