Here’s the truth about making money on Instagram: 

There are accounts with 100k followers that don’t make ANY money, while there are smaller accounts that rake in thousands of dollars in brand deals. 

So while follower count is important, it’s not the “end all and be all” of getting brand deals. 

Instead, follow these 8 tips to make your account attractive to brands, and to get deals done and dusted. 

How to Get Sponsored on Instagram: 8 Tips You Can Use Today

#1: Niche Down

One of the biggest mistakes I see new creators making is picking a super broad niche like “Cooking,” “Travel,” or “Fitness.” 

Instead, niche down. 

Be more specific about what type of cook you are: Do you cook budget meals at home? Do you cook vegan food only? Do you specialize in grilling?  

When you do this, you’ll build a more loyal (and engaged) follower base of people who care about that specific niche, which is exactly what brands want. 

They want creators who are an “authority” in their sub-niche, the person that people look to for advice. Because when that authority recommends a brand, their followers are more likely to buy.

Not only that, but brands will have an easier time seeing if you’re the right fit. 

A brand selling budget kitchen utensils is more likely to work with a creator who has budget-conscious followers, while a vegan brand is far more likely to sponsor a vegan content creator because they know that a lot of your followers are their target customers. 

Brands are trying to reach their target audience, and they’ll pay top dollar if they know everyone who follows you is in their ideal audience. 

So niche down. 

Take a broad niche, and find a sub-category to focus on. Bonus points if it’s something that you know better than everyone else. But also be careful not to be too niche, where you pick something that nobody else but you is interested in.

It’s great for building your account and also attracting brands. 

#2: Post Every Day

What does posting every day have to do with getting brand deals?

Everything. 

Some Instagram coaches will tell you it’s okay to post three times a week. But in my experience, posting daily is one of the most effective strategies for growing an account. 

Many coaches will say that you should focus on quality instead of quantity…

But I say, focus on BOTH. 

Make your content high quality, spend a few extra minutes perfecting a strong hook, and make it as engaging as possible — while still posting every day. 

Besides, posting every day will help you improve your quality, too. 

You learn what works (and what doesn’t) very quickly, you get more followers faster, and, for brands, you show that you are active and reliable. 

Brands don’t want to work with someone who isn’t constantly engaging with their audience. 

They want someone who is constantly showing up on Instagram. Because the more you show up, the more their brand shows up too. 

So stay consistent. 

Post every day, find out what content works, and you’ll find that brands will be much more open to working with you. 

#3: Post Non-Sponsored Reels

Not every product feature you post has to be sponsored. 

In fact, you should post some non-sponsored content of brands that you already use/love. 

Why? 

First, this prepares your audience for brand posts. If sharing products/brands is not a normal part of your content, your audience might not like it when you actually get a sponsor (they’ll know it’s unlike you to promote a product). 

But aside from that, you can also use these non-sponsored product features in your portfolio. 

That way, when an interested brand comes along, you can show them what you can do. They won’t have to guess if you’re a good marketer or not, because you already have published work (even if you weren’t paid for it). 

So every once in a while, find a product you actually use and share it with your audience. 

Talk about what you love about the product, and encourage your followers to get one themselves. 

You can also take it a step further by doing this next step…

#4: Make a Media Kit

Having a media kit is one of the best ways to appear professional to brands. 

There are so many content creators just posting on Instagram for fun. By having a media kit, you’ll stand out as someone who means business. 

What do you include in your media kit? 

• About You — a quick about you, your niche, what your account is all about. This doesn’t have to be long, but brands like knowing who they’re working with, so add it in. 

• Audience Insights — a snapshot of your followers, their demographics, their interests, your engagement rates, and your monthly reach/impressions. This is super important because brands want to know who they’re reaching if they decide to work with you. 

• Content Examples / Brands I’ve Worked With — this is where you show previous brand deals you’ve done. Or, if you haven’t worked with a brand yet, your non-sponsored product posts. You can also include some of your viral content here. 

• Services You Offer — the big separator between casual posters and serious content creators. Add here what services you can do, like product reviews, product placements, reels, carousels, stories, etc. Tip: Also add in a line that you’re open to other projects depending on the brand’s needs. 

• Rates — this is optional, but if you have set rates, add them to your media kit. You can add a disclaimer that you’re open to negotiation if you’re unsure. But if you know what you want, then add it here because it makes it easier for brand managers to pull the trigger and work with you. (I’ll talk more about setting your rates later). 

• Contact Info — add all your contact details here. Make it easy for brands to reach out to you through DMs, email, or other methods. 

#5: Try an Influencer Marketing Platform

This isn’t my favorite way to get a brand deal on Instagram. I’ll get into why in a bit, but first…

Influencer marketing platforms (such as Upfluence, HypeAuditor, Heepsy, etc.) allow brands to find and connect with creators. 

Brands can post campaigns about a product they want to promote, and creators on these platforms can reach out and try to strike a partnership. The brand can also filter through creators based on niche, follower counts, engagement rates, and find creators that best fit what they’re looking for. 

It makes it much easier to find brand campaigns (and for brands to find creators looking for brand partners). 

However, these platforms are middlemen, and they’ll usually take a pretty big cut of any deals that you make on their platform. 

You also have to be careful with the terms for these platforms. If you’re not careful, the platform could have the rights to your content that you upload to the platform (and they could be free to use it however they want). 

That’s why I recommend actively searching for brands you want to work with, and doing this next step: 

#6: Reach Out to Brand Managers

Once you’ve compiled a list of brands you want to work with, reach out!

This might be intimidating at first, but trust me, this IS the way to get brand partnerships. 

Here’s how: 

• Find The Right Contact Details — go to the brand’s bio, and look for their email or contact details there. A lot of brands will have an email for PR or influencer collaborations. If you can’t find any, send them a DM asking who to contact about partnerships. Finally, you can also search LinkedIn and look for the PR or brand manager, and try to connect there. 

• Write a Personalized Pitch — do NOT make a general pitch and copy-paste the message to all the brands in your list. Instead, personalize it. Remember, the manager reading your pitch is a human too. Here’s a simple template you can use: 

Subject: Partnership Inquiry – [Your Name] x [Brand Name]

Hi [Name or Brand Team],

I’m [Your Name], a [your niche — e.g., lifestyle and wellness creator] with a community of [X followers] who love [something that connects to their product].

I’ve been using [their product name or line] and think my audience would really enjoy it too.

I’d love to collaborate on a [post/reel/story/review idea]. Would you be open to discussing potential partnerships?

[Attach or link your media kit]

Best,

[Your Name]

[@yourhandle]

[Email or website]

• Attach Your Media Kit — having a media kit ready is great because it cuts needless back-and-forth between you and the brand. From that simple pitch and a detailed media kit, the brand will already know if you’re someone they want to work with. 

• Follow-up — Brand managers are busy. They might like your pitch, but forget about it because they have to do a gazillion other things that day. So follow up nicely, remind them that you’d love to work with them, and emphasize how you think partnering up could benefit THEM. 

• Keep The Relationship Warm — remember, “no” just means “not right now.” Don’t burn the bridge. Keep engaging with the brand’s content. And who knows? Maybe one day the brand will launch a new campaign, and you might just be someone they reach out to help promote it. Or, maybe you’ll grow to a hundred thousand followers eventually, and the brand just won’t be able to say no anymore. 

#7: Set Realistic Rates

I know you want to make $1,000+ per reel. 

But if you charge that initially, you might spook brands away. 

Spend time thinking about how much you want to charge brands. 

The simplest way to do this is to use the 1% rule, where you charge $10 per post for every 1,000 followers that you have. 

So if you have 15,000 followers, you can charge $150/post. 

Aside from that, consider: 

• Production / Deadlines — if a brand wants a quick turnaround, add another 25% – 50% depending on their demands. 

• Usage Rights — if a brand wants to use your content for their website or other advertising materials, consider tacking on another 20% – 150% depending on their request. 

• Exclusivity — if a brand doesn’t want you to work with any other brands during their campaign period, then ask for another 50% – 100%, because you could miss out on other deals if you’re exclusive. 

• Niche — some niches pay more than others. For example, food creators can usually charge around 10% more than the standard 1% rule, while tech creators might charge 50% more. So do some niche-specific research into how much creators are charging in your space. 

Put all that together, and you should have a good starting point for how much to charge. 

If you’d like more info on this, then check out my full post on how much to charge here. 

Bonus: Show Your Face

Showing your face and your personality gives you a massive advantage on Instagram. 

People like following real people. 

Brands like working with real people. 

Sure, some people can grow an account without ever revealing who they really are — but they’re the exception, not the rule. 

If you want to give yourself the upper hand, turn that front camera on and show your face. 

How to Get Brand Deals as a Small Influencer

I know what you’re thinking…

“That’s great. I’ll start doing all that once I reach 10k followers.” 

Gotcha? 

Well, if you’re going to wait until 10k followers, you might as well wait for 100k followers. Because the truth is, even small influencers can strike brand deals. 

There’s no magical follower count that unlocks brand deals once you reach it.  

So if you’re still small, here are a few key details you need to do to get that deal: 

• Focus on Engagement — 100 loyal and highly-engaged followers are more valuable than 10,000 followers who never react to your posts. So build your community, answer every comment, comment on other people’s posts, and get that loyal follower base. When you reach out to brands, show them your analytics and your strong engagement numbers. 

• Niche Down Hard — avoid posting anything that’s not related to your niche. Big accounts can get away with this, but as a small creator, you want to be hyper-focused on your niche. 

• Build Brand Relationships — post about brands you love, tag them in your posts, and write authentic captions on what you think/feel about these brands. Brands are often on the lookout for people who truly like their brand — not just people with big follower counts. Who knows? You might land a great deal this way. 

• Practice With Free Gifts — if you’re under 1k followers, one of the best ways you can “practice” working with brands is to ask for free gifts instead of payment. A lot of brands are willing to give freebies in exchange for exposure. Plus, if your post drives engagement, you might use it as leverage to ask for a paid deal next time. 

• Overdeliver — if you do get a deal (whether paid or gifts), overdeliver. Make it the absolute best reel you’ve ever made. You want to wow the brand and make them seriously consider paying you for your work. 

Do those five things, and you can get deals even under 1k followers. 

Ready to Get Sponsored on Instagram?

Getting brand deals is not luck. 

Applying these 8 tips will make your account as attractive as possible to brands. 

So get out there, start working on your account, and start reaching out! 

Before you know it, you’ll strike your first deal, second deal, third deal, and so on until your account becomes your career. 

But if you’re struggling to figure out what to post, then check out this article next, where I go over 14 ways to get more views on Instagram.