Instagram Sponsored Posts: Everything You Need To Know

24 November 2022 Instagram

What You Need to Know About Instagram Sponsored Posts in 2022

Instagram, which has about 1 billion monthly active users, is a great platform for connecting with your audience and sharing more information about your company. And it’s not just because of the platform’s enormous user base; on Instagram, brand engagement is 10 times higher than on Facebook.

Instagram sponsored posts are a great and efficient way for businesses and marketers to reach new, interested audiences.

In this article, we go over how to get paid sponsorship opportunities, what Instagram sponsored posts are, how much they cost, and more. Let’s start now.

What is a sponsored post on Instagram?

Sponsored posts on Instagram are considered advertisements too. A budget is allocated by the person (or company) who publishes a sponsored post in order to reach a larger audience.

There are two types of sponsored posts: Promoted Posts (Which are the ones where brands pay Instagram for), and Paid Sponsorships (Which are ones where brands pay influencers to create)

• Instagram advertising, promoted posts, and boosted posts: Instagram has a native ad management tool, just like the other major social media networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.). Based on factors like age, gender, interests, and location, brands can use it to create custom target audiences and then serve sponsored content to these audiences.

• Paid sponsorships: These occur when a brand pays a user to promote it on Instagram. This user (or influencer) typically has a personal brand and a dedicated fan base. An influencer can charge a certain sum of money to produce an organic post featuring a brand’s goods or services when they find a brand in their niche that wants to sponsor them. The influencer exposes the brand to a group of people that it might not have otherwise had access to.

In this article, we’ll concentrate on paid sponsorships, which are those in which a brand pays an influencer to advertise its goods and services.

Influencers were not being open about their relationships with brands as influencer marketing emerged as a reputable and valuable segment of digital marketing over the past few years. Instagram released its branded content features, which let influencers tag the brands they are working with on the platform, in an effort to lessen this.

What do sponsored posts on Instagram look like?

Have you ever seen posts on the Instagram app like this?

This post was sponsored by Instagram. This kind of sponsored post is typically identified by the tag “paid partnership with [brand name],” which appears right after the user’s name.

Brands can access the natural insights of posts that they are tagged in thanks to posts like this one. They can view the post’s launch date, audience size, and level of engagement. This information can assist brands in determining which alliances offer the best return on investment (ROI).

Influencers are required to disclose all sponsored posts. It not only stops Instagram from deleting your posts, but it also keeps you in good standing with the Federal Trade Comission (FTC).

Influencers are required by the FTC to disclose sponsored posts in order to shield all parties from potential fines or liability.

Between the brand and the influencer, the transparency that comes with disclosing paid sponsorships also promotes trust.

How to get an Instagram sponsored post

Following are some steps you should take if you want brands to sponsor your Instagram posts:

1. Establish your brand and niche.

Posting content relevant to brands’ niches is the best way to attract their attention. Choosing a niche helps in determining the types of content to produce and the target audience for your posts. You can concentrate on a variety of Instagram niches, including:

Food
Fitness
Health and wellness
Beauty and fashion
Sports
Technology, etc.

You must establish your brand regardless of the niche you choose.

Your overall aesthetic is referred to as personal branding. Which hues are you planning to use in your posts? What is the message of your brand? What do you want the layout of your feed to be?

You should keep in mind that good influencers have original posts as you attempt to respond to these questions. Even when shared by another account, an Instagram user can quickly identify the influencer’s posts because they are so easily recognizable. The user will come to regard the influencer as a subject-matter expert as long as they see similar content from them.

Pro-tip: You can make a website or online store that has the same aesthetic and messaging as your Instagram feed in addition to making your Instagram feed unified and appealing. If you decide to build a website, be sure to connect it to a CMS like HubSpot and purchase a unique domain name that is consistent with your brand. This will make it easier for you to easily customize your website to reflect your brand while keeping it secure.

2. Recognize your audience.

Knowing if you’re a good fit for a brand depends on how well you know your audience. Additionally, you’ll be able to determine which brands will gain a lot from working with you.

Start by gathering information on your target demographic’s age, gender, location, and interests to get to know your audience. Which posts do they interact with the most? When do they log on during the day?

You can persuade brands to partner with you by using the information you collect. If you work with potential sponsors, you’ll be able to describe the type of audience they can reach.

It is more effective to tell brands that they will reach a market of middle-aged men, mostly from California, who use Instagram after work hours and prefer fitness content. Additionally, you’ll be able to describe to them the audience they’ll reach if they collaborate with you.

It is more effective to describe how a brand will be able to reach middle-aged men, primarily from California, who frequently use Instagram after work hours and prefer fitness content.

3. Post frequently.

Just as important as the quality of the content you post on Instagram is the frequency with which you do so. One daily post is sufficient, according to our research, to help you grow your Instagram following. We also discovered that posting on Instagram is most effective at 11 a.m. on Wednesdays.

Because Instagram’s algorithms favour new content, posting frequently is essential if you want to stay at the top of your audience’s minds and avoid having them unfollow or forget about you.

However, you must determine the frequency and hours that are most effective for both you and your audience. If your Wednesday audience isn’t very responsive to your posts, try posting at a different time when they’re online. You’ll eventually figure it out after some trials and errors.

4. Use hashtags.

Using hashtags is a great way to increase the discoverability of your content. Although Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post, using that many doesn’t always result in the best engagement.

Use hashtags that are pertinent to your content to use hashtags effectively. Additionally, those hashtags must be specific.

For instance, while #interiordecorideas only has 50,000 posts, #interiordecor has 16,700,000 posts. Your posts will be found more readily if the hashtag is more specialized.

Pro tip: If a brand is trying to target customers in a particular area, geotags will help them find you. For instance, a jewellery store is more likely to work with you than with someone else who isn’t in New York if they see that you frequently post fashion tops from the New York area and they want to reach people in that area.

5. Tag businesses in your Instagram posts.

You’re ready to begin working with brands now that you’ve established your niche and brand and posted some excellent content.

Start off small. Don’t go straight to Armani or Vogue if fashion is your area of expertise. Instead, make an effort to tag every clothing company you’ve already seen on Instagram. When you post pictures of yourself wearing their products, tag the company.

Consider the brand influencer @its priscy as an illustration. She uploaded this photo of herself sporting a Cassie Hair wig. The picture is in line with her brand and has excellent resolution. In her description, she also uses the hashtag @cassie hair.

Even if the brand isn’t paying you, tagging them will get your attention.

6. Include your contact information in your bio.

The best way to demonstrate to brands that you want to be an influencer is through your Instagram bio. Your website, email address, or even a press kit can be added to make it simple for potential sponsors to get in touch with you about working together.

For instance, @alvinchong123 includes his email address and website in his Instagram bio. Because of this, brands can easily get in touch with her about paid sponsorship opportunities.

Here’s a tip: If you run a website or blog, consider including a Press Page so that brands can learn more about what you have to offer.

When you begin collaborating with brands, you can add them to your Press Page to demonstrate your expertise.

7. Pitch compensated sponsorships

You cannot just wait around for sponsorship offers to come your way. You must proactively search for them. Make contact with brands and offer them your services. You might be able to land gigs without having to wait for brands to find you if you have the right pitch.

Look for companies that invest time and money in their Instagram accounts before pitching them. If they run numerous Instagram advertisements, that is a good red flag. Then, look up comparable influencers in your sector who support these brands.

Send a pitch to the brands on your list of potential partners. Tell them in your email exactly who you are, what you do, and your influencer accomplishments (if you have any). Then, include your follower count and average engagement rate while describing why you are the ideal influencer for that brand.

If the brand receives a lot of DMs every day, your message may get lost if you send it directly from Instagram to the brand.

It’s preferable to approach smaller brands first before larger ones. This increases your opportunities for work and enables you to develop your portfolio.

8. Charge what you are worth.

Know what you’ll charge brands when they approach you for a partnership. There is an industry standard based on the number of followers you have (we’ll discuss that shortly), but your prices may change based on the level of interaction with your posts.

Additionally, you should be familiar with how to make good use of Instagram’s various features. For RM 2000, you could, for instance, create six Instagram Stories posts and add a link to the company’s website to your bio for, let’s say, one day.

You’ll know exactly how to sponsor posts for brands you’re working with once your pricing structure is decided.

How to sponsor an Instagram post

Here’s what to do if you’re a brand looking to collaborate with an Instagram influencer.

You must first get in touch with the influencer directly. If you want to inquire about paid sponsorship opportunities, you can email or DM them. Others (usually smaller influencers) accept free product samples in exchange for sponsored posts, while some influencers demand upfront payment.

You can begin setting up the branded sponsorship on Instagram as soon as you and the influencer have agreed on the sponsorship’s parameters and the terms of payment.

Here’s how to do this:

Go to Settings and find Business.
Then, click on Brand content.

To add the influencer’s account as a partner, click on Approved Business Partners.

To accept the sponsored tag before it goes live, you can manually approve tags as well. By doing so, you can keep an eye on the content and ensure that the influencer is posting what you require.

You’ll receive a notification with the option to accept the tag once your partner includes you in their post. The post will appear in your Insights once you approve the tag, and you can keep an eye on it there.

Simply remove the tag from the sponsored post on Instagram if you want to delete it. Or decide not to approve it right away.

How to make an Instagram sponsored post

Let’s now consider the influencer’s perspective.

You must arrange a branded sponsorship with the company in order to create a sponsored post on Instagram. Only after the brand has accepted them as a partner can you publish (see steps above).

It’s crucial to adhere to the brand’s rules when creating the post (if they gave you any). To make sure they are okay with the post (both the visuals and the copy), you can also run it by the brand first.

Start by posting the post, story, or reel as usual when you want to upload a sponsored post to Instagram. Go to Advanced Settings and choose Tag Business Partner under Feed content. You can use this to tag a brand so that they can give their approval before the post is published.

How much do sponsored posts on Instagram cost?

As was already mentioned, the price you should charge for your services depends on your industry, the size of your influencer network, and the number of followers you have. A blogger with a million followers, a loyal audience, and a solid reputation can (and should) charge much more than one with only 5,000 followers.

According to Influencer Agency, you can bill these amounts based on the number of followers:

RM200-400 for 25 – 50K followers
RM400-800 for 50 – 100K followers
RM800-1000 for 100 – 150K followers
RM1000-1500 for 250K – 1M followers
RM1500+ for 1M+ followers

However, these are merely approximations. If you represent a brand, sending an email to the influencers you want to collaborate with will help you determine how much to charge for a sponsored post.

How to make sponsored posts for Instagram in Facebook Ads Manager

Business partners can advertise branded content with Facebook Ads Manager even if they did not create it. To accomplish this as a brand, you must choose your objective when creating a new ad in Ads Manager. Then, in the top right corner of your screen, click Use Post.

You’ll be able to see all the content already there that you can use after choosing that, including posts that your business partners have given you permission to use. Submit your ad after creating it. By doing this, you can increase the audience that your content attracts over organic means.

It’s time to begin contacting brands (if you’re an influencer) and influencers (if you’re a brand), now that you know what Instagram sponsored posts are, how to get brands to sponsor you, and how to create sponsored posts.