Straight from the source

The Brief: It’s Not About Your Follower Count

Hi !

This week on Behind The Brand Partnership, I’m sharing insight straight from the source. It’s no secret that I’ve been working with brands as a content creator for over 8+ years. Of course, I had to ask brands and agencies the golden question:

👉 What are you really looking for when deciding which influencer to work with?

All of which I’ll share with you today, along with what you can do to make sure you pass a brand’s “vibe check” with flying colors. 😉

According to Brands & Agencies...

Your following count/size is not on the top of their radar when considering you for a partnership. It doesn’t even make their top 8 list of priorities.

According to the 50+ brands I’ve worked with, along with the agencies and campaign managers I’ve built relationships with, here’s exactly what they look for in content creators:

1️⃣ Visual identity: Does your content align with the brand’s aesthetics?

2️⃣ Reputation: This is huge. Do you carry yourself professionally? Are you easy to work with? Do you meet deadlines?

3️⃣ Conversion rates: Can you get your audience to take action?

4️⃣ Quality of content: On a technical level, are your photos/videos crisp and high-quality? Can brands re-use these assets without damaging their reputation?

5️⃣ Consistency in posting: Are you posting consistently? Or are you posting sporadically?

6️⃣ Talking on camera: Do you talk on stories? Better yet--do you talk on camera in your regular content?

7️⃣ Controversies: Do you get involved with controversial topics online?

8️⃣ Engagement: Is your audience truly engaged, or are they passive?

Alright, . Now that you have that information, let’s discuss a gameplan that’ll position you as a hireable, desireable candidate for paid partnerships. 👇

How to Become a Hireable, Desireable Brand Partner

These are 8 things that brands and agencies have shared and emphasized to me in conversation. Not so surprisingly to me, follower count rarely gets brought up. If it does, it’s usually in passing.

If you want to become the go-to creator to work with for your dream brands, here is a 6-step partnership blueprint:

🎨 Craft a compelling brand identity that represents the mood, atmosphere, and feeling you’d like to communicate. Seeing is our first line of communication with audiences every where, so how you present your content matters.

Here’s a helpful blog post to help you create a compelling Instagram Aesthetic.

📸 Create high-quality content. You don’t need a professional camera to do this. Instead, you want to make sure that you’re composing your shots carefully, getting your lighting right, and making sure the settings are right on your phone’s camera.

My mobile photography guide will make sure all of this (and more) are in order.

📱 Practice speaking on Stories. Speaking on camera fosters deeper connections with your audiences. It even inspires followers to engage more intentionally (which is what brands want to see!).

While brands would prefer to see you speaking on camera on your in-feed posts, you can get comfortable by practicing on your Stories.

💛 Encourage meaningful engagement. Brands want to see comments that aren’t just “love this.” To do this, you need to know how to create content that nurtures your audiences and fosters relationships.

That’s the “N” in my G.A.I.N. Framework. Which you can get your hands on by attending my free workshop here.

🙌 Leading with value stretches beyond your content. It applies to your reputation as a creator as well.

I’m a huge advocate for overdelivering and meeting deadlines. All of which builds your internal reputation with brands. As for your external reputation, focusing on the value you can add and steering away from controversial topics will make you brand-friendly.

📅 Last but not least, stay consistent. Brands want to know that you’re showing up regularly. This doesn't mean posting every day.

It just means showing up for your audience on a consistent basis. Whether that’s 4 times a week or once a week.

Phew. That was a lot, !

I didn’t want to leave anything unsaid regarding the topic, which is why this email is longer than usual.

Do you have any questions about how you can meet any of these 8 brand requisites?

Hit reply and let me know!

Always here to help you succeed,
Catarina