How to Get Sponsors as an Influencer 1st August, 2017

Most bloggers, vloggers, podcasters and Instagrammers started out treating it purely as a hobby, so working out how to get sponsors as an influencer can seem daunting. But it doesn’t need to be. If you’re good at what you do and have an audience that loves your content, brands will want to work with you just as much as you want to work with them. Follow our advice on how to get sponsors as an influencer and you’ll be inundated with offers in no time!

Be yourself

It’s easy to look at the biggest and most popular influencers in your field and think “I want to be like them,” particularly if they are working with lots of cool sponsors you’d love to partner with. But copying someone else will only ever lead to you being a second-rate copy of them. And if brands want what they have, they’ll go to that influencer, not someone trying to imitate them.

Let your own unique personality and passion shine through. This will help you build an audience who love you for what you do, and make you a unique offering to potential sponsors. No one else can do you as well as you can. And there will be certain sponsors who want exactly what you’ve got.

Think audience first, sponsors later

In a world where influencers are today’s celebrities and more school kids dream of being a YouTuber than an actor or footballer, there are some people who get into blogging or vlogging hoping to make a quick buck.

Audiences are savvy to this, and will be drawn to someone who is genuinely passionate about the topics they’re covering and the content they’re producing far more than someone who sees it as an easy moneymaker.

Do it because you love it and create content you’re proud of. That will help you build a loyal audience that sponsors will appreciate and want to harness in partnership with you.

Get yourself out there

That doesn’t mean you should be afraid to make brands aware of who you are and what you’re doing. As your audience grows, brands will likely become aware of you anyway, but interacting with them on social media can help speed along the process. Just be careful to do it in a subtle manner, not replying “PLEASE NOTICE ME!!!” every time they post something on Twitter.

Getting out and about in the industry and meeting people face-to-face can often be the best way to build relationships with sponsors. If you’re a fitness influencer, you could attend FitCon, the biggest fitness event in the UK.

Any event that brings together your whole industry is a great place to connect with other influencers you may want to collaborate with, and sponsors you may want to partner with.

Don’t be afraid to say no

When you first start working with sponsors, the temptation can be to agree deals with as many as you can. But you need to remember what’s most important: your platform and your audience. Allowing yourself to become saturated with sponsored content can cause you to lose your authenticity and make your audience turn off. Commit to much of your time to sponsors and you can also find that you simply no longer have time to produce the content you love making that attracted your audience in the first place.

Work with the right sponsors

If you work with sponsors in the right way, you and your audience will benefit. You’ll be able to offer them fantastic content that you wouldn’t have had the means or access to produce without the sponsor’s help. And the sponsor may offer opportunities and prizes that your fans will love.

The key is working with sponsors that are a perfect fit for you and your audience. This will make the partnership seem natural, not forced.

A good general rule is “would you have any interest in this brand if you weren’t being paid?” If the answer is “no”, think very carefully before agreeing to work with them as a sponsor. If the sponsor fits in naturally with content you would produce anyway, that’s the dream scenario for you, your audience and the sponsor.

Remember the important people

You may have grown a huge audience and be working with sponsors on huge projects, but the people that matter most are still your fans. Make time to reply to their comments, tweets and messages. This will keep the relationship strong and show sponsors that you have a strong connection with your audience.