So, you want to collaborate with an Instagram influencer. Smart move. You search, find one who’s an excellent fit for your brand and decide to bring them on board. You search for examples of collaboration messages to influencers or a sample of how to ask for collaboration on Instagram and contact them. They’re eager to work with you … but now what? What is the full process of collaborating with Instagram influencers? The first step is to engage with the person and begin building an authentic relationship. After they agree to the collaboration, the real work begins. We’re sharing our guide on how to collaborate with Instagram influencers:
How to collaborate with Instagram influencers
First things first: Know what they want
The best way to collaborate with Instagram influencers is to form quality, long-term connections. It’s important to get to know them beyond the photos and videos they post. Learn their interests, values, and skills so that collaboration can be most beneficial for both parties. After all, influencers prefer and work best with brands that align with their values.
This means that influencers are more selective about the campaigns they decide to take on and will likely be interested in learning about the mission of a brand and how the products and services contribute to that. That said, it’s helpful to research the influencer, taking note of the type of content they post and how their audience interacts with them.
An important aspect of being an influencer is building and maintaining trust with their audience. Many of them heavily consider whether their audience would be proud of the collaboration and would be interested. When an influencer believes the brand, product or service to be beneficial, it is much easier to convey that authentically. It may even be a good idea to send them a sample before requesting to collab.
Creating the campaign strategy
Once you understand what the influencer is looking for in a partnership, it’s time to start building the campaign with them.
Deciding the best way to approach and demonstrate an understanding of the customers’ values is key to a successful campaign. Generally speaking, there are two options for putting together a campaign. You can give the influencer the freedom to create photos and videos using your products and decide on the direction of the content, or you can put together the campaign yourself and ask the influencer to execute it.
An example of the former might be to give your influencer a few dresses to style, then give her free rein to show them off as #OOTDs or as part of a 10 by 10 collection.
An example of the latter might be you putting together an outfit for the influencer and having someone from your team take pictures of her, which she then shares on her Instagram account. In general, giving creators more control ensures the campaign comes across as authentic.
Negotiating influencer prices
Previously, there needed to be more clarity between what brands expect to pay and what influencers expect to be paid. More recently, however, brands and influencers have become more aligned in what influencers charge and what brands expect to pay. Check out The State of Influencer Earnings to learn about influencer pay trends in the IZEA influencer marketing platform.
When allocating your influencer marketing budget, it might prove useful to use an influencer marketplace, such as The Creator Marketplace®, to find an influencer that’s a good fit for your brand values and budget. Influencers generally have specific offerings listed, along with their minimum price to deliver. You can also message the influencers to propose potential negotiations as well.
Paying Instagram influencers
Let’s face it: Money is a huge driving factor for most influencers. On average, Instagram influencers charge $1,311 for an Instagram photo and $2,784 for an Instagram Story, according to IZEA platform data from 2015-2022. Luckily, the payment process has become much more simple.
No more worries about cutting an influencer a check that gets lost in the mail. When posts publish, you can send electronic payments in both IZEA Flex and The Creator Marketplace.
Tracking status and accountability
Having an influencer ghost you in the middle of a campaign can be a true nightmare. However, using a marketplace can ease your worries since you can keep tabs on how the campaign is progressing. You can measure the impact the influencer’s posts are having in real-time in IZEA Flex, thanks to associations among transactions, campaigns, content, creators and more.
Additionally, IZEA’s support team can step in an help if needed. The marketplace also allows you to set the number of revisions in your contract and approve any posts and projects before they go live. That means you can confirm that your influencer included any required disclosures in the post. And you can confirm the Instagram influencer didn’t make any mistakes before the post goes public for the world to see.
You can also outsource the entire process. There are options such as hiring IZEA’s Managed Services team to execute the campaign for you or using IZEA Flex influencer marketing software to manage all aspects of a campaign, including payments, contacts, and content.
Now that you know how to hire Instagram influencers and the various options for creating and executing, you’re most likely ready to launch your first Instagram influencer marketing campaign.
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