Sip & Scrunch: Top Tips from Top Brands To Help You Get More Work As An Influencer
If you’re an influencer, our Sip & Scrunch events are packed with industry insights and wisdom bombs to help you grow
The theme of our October Sip & Scrunch event was to share tips for influencers from a brand’s perspective to help you get more work as an influencer. When you know exactly what brands like and dislike, you can stand out from the crowd, work on more campaigns and ultimately get more work.
We had Ashton Tuckerman from Youfoodz, Jacqui Toumbas from Miss Bliss Whole Foods Kitchen and Laz Smith from Apéro join us for a panel discussion with our CEO and Co-Founder Danielle Lewis and they all shared their experiences, insights and tips that influencers can take on board and implement into their own businesses.
Both Laz and Jacqui mentioned that influencer marketing and social media marketing is the core of their business, and for Youfoodz, influencer marketing drives a return of 12 times the initial investment. So, these guys know their stuff!
If you couldn’t make this event but want to know all of the juicy details, tips and insights, we’ve included some of the key takeaways below from our incredible panel.
Of course, we couldn’t do it without the partners and sponsors that helped bring the October Sip & Scrunch event to life. The event was hosted at the incredible Miss Bliss Whole Foods Kitchen with an epic grazing table for guests to enjoy (thanks Jacqui and Team MB!). Our friends at Bevi Prosecco Spritz provided the drinks, The Print Bar helped us create our branded tote bags that were used as goodie bags, and our photographer Kate Penberthy Photography captured all of the fun.
You can see all of the images of the beautiful venue and fun here.
If you’re an influencer, grab your pen and paper so you can write down these wisdom bombs and implement them into your business as an influencer. Trust us, this will help you take your Instagram account, blog or YouTube channel to the next level!
Ashton Tuckerman - Youfoodz Brand Marketing Manager
On pitching to a brand:
The ultimate pitch includes the name of the person you are emailing and ideally, it’s addressed to the right person within the organisation (e.g. social media and marketing teams usually handle influencer marketing). Explain what you stand for and who your audience is, and make sure you really know the product and the brand. Include your name, social handles and links and your email address.
DMs on social media are a good way to get on a brand’s radar as the first point of call so you can ask for the best email address to send more information.
Don’t undersell yourself. Be sure of your own rate and benchmark your rates against other influencers if you need to. Consider bundles and packages for multiple posts or deliverables as this is often attractive to brands.
A digital portfolio or media kit is a great way to show your previous work, share what data you have and show your value, especially for private metrics and data like blog post views and social media impressions. It doesn’t have to be long - a one-pager is great.
On working with a brand:
Understand what the brand stands for and show that in your content.
Don’t modify the product or change your content style dramatically. Remember, the brand wanted to work with you because of your usual content style and aesthetic.
Go the extra mile. One example I have seen is when an influencer puts their referral link for Youfoodz in their bio without being asked to. It wasn’t a requirement of the collaboration but they dedicated this important piece of real estate in the Instagram bio to our brand during the campaign. It showed us how much they believe in the product.
When working with brands, think about it as a collaboration. You are working together.
On creating content:
Show the product in a tangible way. Show how it integrates with your lifestyle, why you love it and how you use it. Be authentic and relatable.
Create for your audience and your channels - not for the brand’s social channels. Don’t feel obliged to change your style to fit the brand’s aesthetic.
Don’t try to reuse and recycle content that you have created in the past, especially for brand collaborations. If a brand is paying you, you should always create new content.
Add a personal touch.
Be creative with captions. Talk about the why and share your story. It’s all about storytelling. Don’t just say “Youfoodz is great, there is a new menu and here is a discount code.” Share why you love the brand, how it fits into your life, and why you think your followers might love it too.
Don't be generic
And some other things to keep in mind:
Engagement is a big one - we look at what the audience says, how they engage with content and whether or not it is authentic.
If a brand is not willing to pay you for your work, then they might not understand the value of influencer marketing, and perhaps that means they do not value your work. Maybe they are not the right brand to be collaborating with.
For longevity, remember that content is king and that won't change because we consume so much content on a daily basis. For longevity explore ways to diversify your content, keep upskilling, know the market and understand industry trends.
Jacqui Toumbas - Miss Bliss Owner and Nutritionist
On participating in campaigns:
Don’t delete posts that are part of a sponsored collaboration. Deleting posts within 24 hours is a big no-no.
We encourage influencers to be creative and create content in their usual style.
Take time to create a great relationship with the brand, agency or marketer you’re working with.
On reaching out to brands:
Show how you align with our values
Location is important and collaborations need to make sense to the brand, so make sure you consider this, and mention it, when you reach out. For example, Miss Bliss is only in Brisbane, so it only makes sense to work with influencers whose followers are also in Brisbane.
Explain what you can do, what value you have and your demographics. Show that you know your stuff.
Answer the questions that a brand will ask, before they have to ask.
Don’t be afraid to pitch a creative idea and approach the brief creatively.
Bring your ideas to the table and show you are prepared and have thought about how the collaboration might work.
And a great way to provide additional value:
One way influencers can provide additional value is by sending through all of the images they take as part of a collaboration. Even if you are only posting one, sharing the images that you aren’t using with us is a great way for me to get content that I can share on social media and in EDMs. I always tag the influencers who provide content - so it’s a great way to get more of your content out there too. It puts influencers to the top of my list.
Laz Smith - Apéro Co-Founder
On building a personal brand:
Know your audience, your niche and your brand.
Don’t sell yourself out - keep your defined niche and have a clear personal brand.
Be particular about the brands you promote and who you work with. You don’t have to accept every collaboration request that lands in your inbox.
On content creation:
Keep content on brand - this is why brands want to work with you because they love your content. Don’t stray from your typical content style and do something significantly different if you haven’t brought it up with the brand first.
If you took more than one images, we’d love to see them all, even if you are only posting one. If we can share them on our socials, then that is a bonus. We love receiving all of the content from influencers.
We use influencer content in a number of ways - EDMs, brand books, PR and marketing, paid social media ads. So, if you can provide additional content that you took featuring the brand but aren’t necessarily posting, that’s great for us and we really appreciate it.
On why it is important to be professional:
Don’t commit to deliverables that you cannot maintain. If you can’t do it, be upfront. Know your limits and don’t overcommit.
Hold your word. If you say you are going to do something, do it. Be professional.
Our product is seasonal and that's why we have timelines for influencer collaborations. We sell out of styles fast, so when we set a timeline, we need influencers to stick to it.
At the end of the day, you are a business and you need to present yourself well if you want to get consistent business. Just like any other freelancer or consultant.
Approach collaborations with the intention for a long-term relationship.
And something to remember:
Substance and value is needed to have longevity as an influencer. You need to diversify and don’t get pigeonholed.
Thanks again to Ashton, Jacqui and Laz, as well as our partners Miss Bliss Whole Foods Kitchen, Bevi Prosecco Spritz, The Print Bar and Kate Penberthy Photography.
