Are you ready to monetize your social media content with brand deals and partnerships?
Turns out–small creators and micro influencers are now more essential to brands marketing strategies than ever. So, no matter the size of your audience, with the right strategy, getting brands to notice you should be a breeze.
Let’s dive into six of the most important steps in getting brands' attention.
But first, you might be wondering, can you get brand deals as a small influencer?
No doubt!
In 2024 nearly 70% of brands reported primarily choosing to work with nano and micro-influencers over macro-influencers with over 100k followers.
That’s because small influencers have something that larger creators don’t–an average of nearly twice the engagement rate.
For brands, those more engaged communities can look like a goldmine, making your smaller audience that much more attractive.
But, there’s a good chance your smaller audience does make you more under the radar, so here’s what you need to do in 2024 to get brand deals as a small creator!
1. Show up consistently
If you want to build trust and maintain engagement with your audience it starts with a strong foundation.
To be attractive to brands in the first place, you need to be present regularly. That might not necessarily mean posting every single day. But make sure every week you stick to a clear upload schedule to create expectations with your audience and any brands looking at your account.
Remember, It’s not just about posting content; it’s about being reliable. Your followers should expect to hear from you on a consistent basis (even if it means posting quick stories or responding to comments and messages). Employing these strategies will keep you top of mind and create a stronger connection with your followers.
2. Niche down
Trying to appeal to everyone is a recipe for getting lost in the crowd and makes getting brand deals much more difficult. But, by focusing on a specific niche, you can cater directly to a targeted audience that’s more likely to be interested in what you’re offering or what a brand is offering.
Additionally, niching down provides the opportunity to be a more relatable creator, which will in turn create a stronger connection with your audience.
3. Find the best fitting brands
Aligning with brands that share your values and resonate with your audience is crucial. It’s not just about getting any brand partnership; it’s about finding ones that fit within your current content formats and appeal to your followers–nobody wants to watch content filled with sponsorships that stick out like a sore thumb.
Also, ensuring that collaborations feel authentic is extremely important to maintaining your community, which will in turn lead to more collaborations in the future.
To make finding brands that fit your messaging easy, we recommend going through the Pitchify database!
4. Get ahead–reach out early
When you’re ready to pitch to brands, tools like Pitchify can streamline the process and make building rapport early on easy.
Start by using a simple template and personalize pitches that highlight your strengths and how you can provide value to the brand and make their marketing managers live’s easier.
The key is to make your outreach as tailored and compelling as possible to the individuals who make decisions, so you stand out from the generic pitches that brands often receive.
5. Look for less competition
Going where the competition is less intense can give you a better chance to break through and be seen by brands to score those easier and early confidence building deals.
Instead of diving head first into saturated markets, find those smaller or overlooked spaces where you can make a bigger impact. Additionally, smaller less crowded spaces are often full of much more engaged communities, Fitting into these spaces can be the perfect storm of opportunity to get those brand deals a small influencer.
6. Start small:
As a small influencer, it’s important to start by going after deals with smaller brands as they will be more likely to work with smaller creators.
Also, when reaching out or pitching those brands, channel the energy of starting small by first asking for free products in exchange or exposure. If you show impact with those deals, it’s much more likely that a brand will be willing to work with you on a bigger scale the second time around–this is also a very good way to build rapport.
If you’re ready to start pitching today, sign up for Pitchify and discover all the brands out there who are ready to work with creators like you!