So you landed your first collaboration and you’re thinking, what do I do next?! If this is your first brand partnership and you have no idea where to go from here, then you’ve found the right blog post — I’m so happy to have you here!
First Collaboration – YAY!
Earlier this week a follower reached out to me letting me know that she landed her first collaboration with a boutique and was SO excited; then she asked me, now what?!
At first I was thinking, “what does she mean now what, isn’t that sort of obvious?” Then I realized that if you’re just getting into blogging and working with brands directly, it is uncharted territory. Of course you want to give it your all and make the brand happy, so it’s only natural that you’d want a roadmap for how to go about your first brand partnership!
It’s been a while since I contributed to the Social Media Tips section of the blog, which is truly my favorite section, so I thought this would be a great topic to start with. What has become obvious to me after 7 years of doing this, may not be so plain and simple to anyone starting out – so let’s chat, shall we?
Steps to Take After you Secure Your First Brand Partnership
I’m going to walk you through the steps I take after securing a brand partnership, so keep in mind this has nothing to do with the pitching process beforehand. Simply the steps I take after the brand has reached out saying “we want to work with you!”
Let me start off by saying if it’s your first brand partnership, CONGRATS – it’s truly the best feeling ever to finally land a deal with a brand or boutique. The feeling never gets old, I’ll tell you that! Before you read the steps below, just make sure not to be too hard on yourself! Definitely strive for your best, but don’t overanalyze every step of the way. Enjoy it, let your personality show, and bring what makes you YOU into this first collaboration. Your best kept secret is that there’s no one else on the planet exactly like you, so hone in on that and let it shine in your work.
If it’s not your first collaboration, I still think you may find valuable takeaways in this blog post. Use it as a checklist to make sure you’re keeping yourself accountable with each project you take on and doing everything you possibly can to make it a success!
STEP 1: NEGOTIATE DELIVERABLES
What is the brand looking for? 1 photo on Instagram? A few stories tagging them? A swipe up link? A link in bio for 24 hours? A Tiktok, IG Reel or Youtube video?
The options are endless, so make sure their expectations are clearly laid out so you know exactly what you have to deliver. Aka: deliverables.
The most common ask from a brand is 1 IG post tagging their IG account, and a set of stories (usually 3-5 slides talking about the brand/products they sent you), with a link sticker. Sometimes the brand may ask for a link in bio for 24-48hrs as well.
All of these deliverables have a specific price range, so if you are charging for your content, price out accordingly!
Usage rights, whitelisting and exclusivity are other important factors to note when negotiating deliverables.
These factors all contribute to a significantly higher rate, aside from the originally requested deliverables. You can charge anywhere from 15-30% of your original rate per month for whitelisting, and if brands ask for exclusivity, consider the opportunity cost of passing on other sponsorships throughout the duration of the contract.
Usage rights pertain to where the content will be used: will they be repurposing organically on their socials? Will they be using your content on their website for marketing purposes? Or even considering to print & use it for physical ads? These are all things to ask and consider when determining your rate for deliverables.
Last but certainly not least, if you do not have anyone reading through your contracts, make sure to look for the words “in perpetuity.” This essentially means you’re singing away the rights to your content *FOREVER,* so make sure to redline and push back so that brands take that out of the terms before signing anything.
STEP 2: CONFIRM REQUIRED TAGS & HASHTAGS
After you know what deliverables you are in charge of, it’s important to ask the brand if they have any specific hashtags they would like you to use. Typically brands just require you tag their IG handle, but if you’re a part of a bigger campaign there’s almost always a specific campaign hashtag that you need to include in your caption. Most brands are also very insistent on having #ad to comply with FTC guidelines, as they should be.
STEP 3: PRODUCT SELECTION
One of the mistakes I used to make when I was just starting out was accepting pretty much any product a brand wanted to send to me so that I had something to create content with.
Now, I will not accept anything I didn’t get to select myself, and if a brand sends me something without checking with me first, I don’t guarantee any social media coverage. If I like it, then of course I’ll share, but there’s nothing worse than receiving something you’d never actually purchase yourself.
If you don’t like it, what makes you think your followers will?
I’ve also noticed that however I feel about the clothing translates in the photos – if I LOVE my outfit, I nail the shot in just a few minutes. If I hate the outfit, then it usually takes a long time to get it right.
Spare yourself the pain and just select the product from the start!
If you realize that you’re struggling to find anything you’d like on the brand’s website, then maybe it isn’t the right collaboration for you after all.
Don’t be scared to be up front about this and politely decline brand partnerships that don’t fit your own style. You’ll save yourself a lot of trouble in the long run if you’re just up front with this in the beginning.
STEP 4: UNBOXING STORIES
This isn’t typically required if you already guaranteed a brand an in-feed post, but even if the brand doesn’t ask me to do stories I like to showcase the products beforehand so my audience can get acquainted with the brand before I post an in-feed image.
This also gives you a great opportunity to link to items that may sell out before you get the in-feed post up, and gives you ample time to educate your followers on the brand.
When a brand or boutique has a story I connect with, I love explaining that aspect on stories to give more context to my followers so they have more of an appreciation for the items. It creates a deeper connection with the brand, and gives your followers context as to why the collaboration means something to you.
Sometimes I work with companies that have an incredible company mission and I can’t get that across on a caption. Which is why stories are so great to utilize in conjunction with in-feed posts! It’s also a fun way to tease what your upcoming content will consist of.
It’s also great to get onto stories before a brand partnership officially kicks off to poll your audience / explain a problem you’re having that will be solved by the upcoming sponsorship.
For example, let’s say you’re breaking out that week and you have an upcoming skincare collaboration. I’d go onto stories and organically explain that I’m having some acne problems and ask my audience for any skincare recommendations they may have.
The best case scenario is that it boosts your engagement and gets your audience talking — extra points if someone happens to recommend the brand you know you’ll be working with. Then it will all come full circle once you go to post the following week, and you can say the brand was actually recommended by followers!
STEP 5: SHOOTING THE ITEMS
It’s common that brands will send you a few different items to shoot just in case something doesn’t work out like you’d originally hoped (sizing, coloring, fit etc). I used to think that I had to figure out a way to shoot it all together in one photo, but that’s definitely not the case.
There are a few options: you can absolutely make an outfit with the items they send you and post it all together, or you can spread them out and make multiple outfits with the pieces you received. This is a nice way to showcase the brand in a few more images (it’s just like going the extra mile at your job – they may not be expecting it, but if you can tag them in more than one photo it will definitely keep you top of mind for future campaigns).
You can also utilize the carousel post option on IG and do a few images showcasing the items in a more lifestyle way like I did in this post from Miami Swim Week.
Another piece of advice I love to give that I wish I incorporated into my routine earlier is to study the brand you’re collaborating with before creating your content. This will help you go above and beyond in the brand partnership, and stand out from the rest.
Of course you need to make sure you’re creating what comes naturally to you and emulates your own brand and style, but it’s such an added bonus for brands to be able to use your content on their own IG.
“User Generated Content,” or UGC, is SO valuable from a brand perspective. It’s also great for cross promotion and will drive traffic back to your page if they repost your content because it’s is in-line with their aesthetic.
STEP 6: TIME TO POST
When it’s time to post your image, it’s always best to post at whatever your optimal traffic time is on your IG page. You can find this information by checking on your IG analytics (you need to have a business IG for this).
I typically see the most traffic from 11-12pm everyday, and then again at 3pm and 6pm. I try to stick to these time slots as best as I can to make sure the most eyes will be on the content as possible.
When you post, try not to make any edits to the post for the first hour (tag the brand, your location, and create your caption and stick to it). This is the most important time for a new post. The activity that happens in the first hour of your post being live is what instagram uses when it’s deciding how to push your post through all of the noise on the platform. If your post is performing well in the first hour, chances are it will be seen by more people.
If you can, set aside time in the first hour to respond to comments and engage with other accounts. This is also a great way to boost engagement in those first few moments of the post being live.
It’s helpful to share the new post onto your story to ensure your audience sees it. This is done simply by adding the IG post to your story using the small paper airplane button right under the image and clicking “add to my story.” That way your followers can click the image from your story and be taken directly to it. Effortless!
STEP 7: LINKING THE ITEMS
If you’re working with a brand that allows you to link the items on rewardStyle, definitely be sure to have the items linked beforehand. I love linking to items while I’m in the selection process with the brand that way they’re already there when I’m ready to post.
After the IG post is live, I then go back onto my stories and like to link the items directly on stories for easy shopping.
STEP 8: SENDING ANALYTICS
After 24 hours of your post being live, it’s extremely helpful to the brand to send your analytics over from the brand partnership. Again, you need a business IG profile to have access to insights, so be sure to set that up if you haven’t already.
It’s great to show the marketing + sales team how many people “saved” or “sent” your IG post, and helpful to see how many “link clicks” or “sticker taps” your stories got. This will just be more incentive for them to hire you again for future campaigns!
BONUS STEP: POST ON PINTEREST
Every few weeks I’ll go through my instagram page and pin posts onto my “Blonde Collective” board using the “Pin It” button. That way whoever comes across your photo on Pinterest will be redirected to your IG profile and hopefully click the follow button!
This is a great way to boost traffic to your IG page as well — pin IG posts directly from your profile onto Pinterest to gain a new audience. The shelf-life of a Pin is so much longer than on IG, so don’t forget to tap into this!
You made it!
I hope these steps make navigating a brand partnership seem a little less intimidating. You’ll find your own way of doing things and figure out how you operate most effectively, but this is an outline you can use to find out what works best for you in the mean time!
If you have any questions, NEVER hesitate to reach out to me 🙂 Talking about social media is my favorite topic, and I can talk about it for HOURS. So the more questions the better 🙂
Love you all!! xx
OUTFIT DETAILS | TOP: Revolve, size 4 | Denim: Boyish Jeans
