How to Create Branded Content From a Beginner
Ahhh, the world of sponsored content.
Seriously lucrative, but very easy to get confused by — partly because it’s evolved so much since Instagram’s start. What used to fly (tags and hashtags) doesn’t quite cut it anymore. Instagram is holding its community up to a higher level of standards in the interest of being fully open with everyone’s followers… but don’t panic! We’ve put together a list of some FAQs — and their answers — for you to take a look at before your next post.
First of all, how does Instagram define branded content?
“Branded content is when a creator or publisher’s content features or is influenced by a business partner for an exchange of value (for example, where the business partner has paid the creator or publisher).”
That means that if you’re simply boosting a brand out of the goodness of your heart, because you love it and think your followers will too, you’re probably in the clear. But, if you and the brand you’re promoting have had a previous conversation involving a quid pro quo – i.e., we’ll repost you to our 1.5M followers if you post this story now — that may mean you have to adhere to some rules and regulations.
Ok, cool – so what’s a branded content ad?
“Creators on Instagram can allow business partners to promote branded content. This means that when a creator partners with a business to create a branded content post or story, the creator can give their business partner permission to turn their content into an ad. ”
Essentially, that means a brand will repost your post as an advert to their channels, and if that ad is properly tagged and distributed, it will find its way into Instagram’s public “Ad Library”. The only catch is that once that happens, you no longer have editing or deleting power over that post, even though it will technically have your profile and name attached to it. Whatever’s there is there for good, baby!
Why should influencers want to work with brands?
Well for starters, who doesn’t like to get paid? If you partner with a brand, you’ll likely enter some sort of contract with them that will ensure you’re paid for the content you produce. For another thing, if they choose to make the content you create an ad, you’ll likely gain a lot more traffic to your page! You’re showing up on people’s gram feeds as a #ad — and they just might like what you’re selling.
So what’s in it for businesses to partner with me?
Girl, know your worth! Social media is the fastest growing form of advertisement being utilized today — and Instagram is no exception.
There are two major reasons businesses should be utilizing BCAs:
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You can track both organic traffic to and paid engagement with your ad by working with an influencer to create BCAs. Influencers can see the organic traffic (how a post did with their followers) and businesses get the engagement stats by promoting it on their own channels as an ad.
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When businesses promote a branded content post from an influencer (using Ads Manager), that post will subsequently show up as an ad on people’s Instagram feeds — meaning businesses will then be able to reach an audience of Instagram users relevant to their product or company.
The important piece here is that those ads aren’t just showing up on your followers’ feeds — they’re showing up as ads to anyone who fits the bill of the business you’re working with’s audience.
In this sense, it’s a little bit like advertising on a bus AND in your morning paper. The more places your ad is, the more people you’ll reach, and the better chance you’ll have of reaching a consumer interested in your product.
ok, let’s get to it. how to add a branded partner, step-by-step
Whether you’re creating a static feed post, an Instagram story or an IGTV, make sure your page is set-up as a creators or business account, otherwise you won’t be able to access the following settings. If your page isn’t set-up as such, you can do so in Settings.
ADD A BUSINESS PARTNER:
Step 1: Open your Settings within the Instagram app and select Creator or Business.
Step 2: Select Branded Content.
Step 3: Select “Approved Business Partners”.
Step 4: Here you can add the Instagram handle of your business partner.
TO CREATE A BRANDED STATIC FEED POST
Step 1: Upload your photo or video and add whatever caption, effects, filters, tags you like.
Step 2: Tap Next.
Step 3: Tap Advanced Settings.
Step 4: Time to tag your Business Partner! You can search for the business name in the appropriate search bar. Note that your partner’s must be set up as a Business Profile in order to show up in this search.
Step 5: Send that baby out into the world and watch the likes and engagement roll in!
TO CREATE A BRANDED CONTENT STORY
To tag business partners when you create a branded content story:
Step 1: Tap the camera icon in the top left of your screen and create a story.
Step 2: Tap the link icon at the top of the screen.
Step 3: Tap Tag Business Partner to search for the business. (Again, business partner must have a business profile to appear in search results.)
Step 4: Tap the name of the business you want to tag in your story.
Step 5: Voila! You’ve just created a branded IG story!
in close…
All in all, this stuff can be confusing. But so long as you know the facts (and your worth!) you can partner with brands in a way that benefits both you AND your brand partner. Follow us on everything! For all the latest from #BlogHer, check out our Twitter, Instagram, Facebook — and subscribe to our newsletter.
