Partner with Brands as a Micro or Nano Influencer

In the age of social media, influencers have become a major part of marketing strategies for brands big and small. As an influencer, you have the power to drive engagement, increase awareness, and boost sales for brands by promoting their products and services to your audience.

If you have a relatively small but engaged following, you can become a micro or nano influencer and partner with brands looking to reach targeted, niche audiences. With the right strategy, micro and nano influencers can collaborate with brands to create sponsored content that feels authentic, drives real engagement, and delivers results.

What is a Micro or Nano Influencer?

A micro influencer generally has between 10,000 and 50,000 followers, while a nano influencer has 1,000 to 10,000 followers. What these influencers lack in sheer reach, they make up for in engagement and connection with their niche audience.

Followers of micro and nano influencers tend to be highly targeted and more likely to engage with recommendations and sponsored content. Even with follower counts under 10,000, nano influencers can drive engagement rates of up to 25% or more.

Compare that to macro influencers or celebrities with follower counts in the millions. Their overall engagement rate tends to hover between 1-3%.

For brands, micro and nano influencers represent an opportunity to reach engaged niche audiences that are highly relevant to their target market.

Benefits of Partnering with Micro and Nano Influencers

There are several key benefits for brands that partner strategically with micro and nano influencers:

Authenticity

Micro and nano influencers have typically built their followings around a specific niche, hobby or expertise. Their audiences view them as trusted experts, and the content they create feels authentic and genuine. Sponsored content blends seamlessly with an influencer’s usual posts.

Cost Effectiveness

While celebrity influencers can charge hundreds of thousands for a single sponsored post, micro and nano influencers offer more reasonable rates. For small campaigns with limited budgets, partnering with multiple micro influencers may achieve better reach and engagement than a single post from one macro influencer.

Innovation

Micro and nano influencers are often more willing to experiment with different platforms, content formats and ideas. Brands can leverage this creativity to generate unique branded content that followers will love.

High Engagement

Followers of micro and nano influencers are much more likely to engage with sponsored content through likes, comments, shares and clicks. Even if total reach is lower, engagement metrics are often excellent, signaling that audiences are paying attention.

Targeting

Micro and nano influencers attract followers because of their expertise in a particular area. This allows brands to target specific demographics and buyer personas with precision when partnering with the right influencers.

How to Partner with Brands as a Micro or Nano Influencer

If you’re ready to start collaborating with brands as a micro or nano influencer, here are some tips to get started:

Define Your Niche

First, identify the niche or topic your audience is most interested in. Focus your personal brand and content in that area to establish yourself as a subject matter expert. The more precise your niche, the easier it will be for brands to identify you as an ideal partner.

Create High Quality Content

Consistently create content that provides value for your audience. Share your knowledge, experiences and personality through photos, videos, written posts, Stories and more. High quality, engaging content will attract followers who trust you and love your content.

Grow Your Following (The Right Way)

Don’t fall for sketchy tactics that artificially inflate your follower count. Focus on creating content your ideal audience responds to. Engage meaningfully with your community. Use relevant hashtags to get discovered by new people. Tools like captivating captions, strategic tagging and Instagram reels can help grow your organic reach and followers. But growing a genuine, engaged audience does take time and consistency.

Understand Your Audience Insights

Use your analytics and engagement metrics to understand your followers. Dig into demographic data, engagement rates, types of content that perform best and your followers’ interests. This will help you identify brands that align well with your audience.

Set Your Rates

Research typical nano and micro influencer rates for sponsored posts to set fair prices. Factors like the size and engagement of your audience, your industry, and content production values can impact your rates. You may start low at first as you build a portfolio and prove your value.

Reach Out to Brands

Once you know your niche, audience, and rates, start networking! Attend industry events and conferences to connect in person. Or use email and social media to directly pitch brands that are a good fit. Personalized pitches tend to get the best response.

Vet Brand Partners Carefully

Don’t automatically say yes to every sponsorship offer. Make sure the brand aligns authentically with your audience and content style. Decline offers that seem scammy, demand overly promotional content or require you to stray too far from your niche.

Negotiate Details Up Front

Before accepting any paid partnership, make sure all details are formalized in a contract or agreement covering compensation, content expectations, usage rights, measurement metrics and more. Never create branded content for a vague promise of future payment.

Create Valuable Content

When producing sponsored posts, provide the same level of value you would for your own content. Avoid overly salesy language. Focus on helpful tips, honest reviews, useful information and entertainment based on the brand’s products or services.

Prioritize Your Audience

While sponsored content is commercial in nature, your audience should still feel like the priority, not the brand. If followers respond negatively to a partnership, listen to that feedback for future improvement. Your reputation is worth far more than any one #ad post.

Use Brand Hashtags and Tags

To satisfy sponsors, make sure to properly tag them and use campaign hashtags in your sponsored content. This allows them to track engagement and reshare your content on their own channels. But don’t go overboard on promotional language.

Report Results

Share key engagement metrics with your brand partners, like impressions, engagement rate, link clicks, coupon codes used and website traffic. This demonstrates the value you provide so they will partner with you again.

Mistakes to Avoid as a Micro or Nano Influencer

Here are a few potential pitfalls to steer clear of as you get started with influencer marketing:

• Accepting partnerships that don’t feel like a good brand-influencer fit or stray too far from your niche. This can damage your credibility.
• Working with brands before all details and compensation are formalized in writing.
• Producing overly promotional content that feels inauthentic and sales-focused.
• Negotiating rates that undervalue your influence and allow you to be taken advantage of.
• Focusing solely on growing your follower count instead of nurturing an engaged, high quality audience.
• Trying to partner with huge brands right away before you have a solid influencer portfolio to showcase. Start small and build relationships.
• Measuring your success solely by the compensation you receive rather than the value you provide your audience and brand partners.

Make Real Money with the Right Strategy

Becoming a successful micro or nano influencer takes time and strategic effort. But it can ultimately become a rewarding side hustle or even a full-time career.

By providing real value to both your followers and brand partners, you can build an influential brand and business. Partner strategically, stay true to your audience, produce authentic content, prove your worth, and you’ll find meaningful ways to monetize your influence in 2023 and beyond.

Share User-Generated Content and Get Paid 

Creating and sharing quality content is essential for driving traffic, leads, and sales to your business website in 2023. However, producing enough content on your own can be challenging and time-consuming. A great way to supplement your content marketing efforts is by leveraging user-generated content (UGC).

What is User-Generated Content?

User-generated content refers to any type of content that your customers or followers create and share related to your business, products, or services. This includes:

• Reviews and testimonials
• Photos and videos
• Comments and discussions on social media
• Ratings and recommendations
• User-submitted articles and blog posts

Leveraging UGC provides many benefits:

• It’s authentic. UGC comes directly from real customers, so it carries more weight and credibility than content you produce yourself.
• It’s cost-effective. There’s no need to produce the content yourself or hire freelancers. Your followers create it for free.
• It improves SEO. Unique, keyword-rich UGC helps your website rank higher in search engines.
• It generates leads. Quality UGC builds trust and social proof, encouraging conversions.

How to Get Users to Share Content

So how do you actually get your audience to create and submit UGC? Here are some effective strategies:

• Run contests and sweepstakes. Offer prizes and rewards in exchange for UGC submissions. For example, you could hold a monthly contest for the best user-submitted photo.
• Monitor social media. Keep an eye out for any UGC shared on social platforms like Instagram or TikTok and re-share it.
• Send follow-up surveys. Ask customers about their experience with your business via email and request reviews, testimonials, or other feedback.
• Add user-generated content buttons. Make it easy for happy customers to submit reviews by adding review buttons to your website, emails, and other touchpoints.
• Promote hashtags. Create branded hashtags like #YourBusinessReviews and encourage social sharing.
• Leverage influencers. Partner with relevant influencers to produce UGC like videos and posts about your products.

Best Practices for User-Generated Content

When incorporating UGC into your marketing, keep these best practices in mind:

• Obtain permission. Always get the creator’s consent before re-sharing UGC. Give them credit.
• Check for quality. Carefully review UGC before publishing to ensure it meets your standards.
• Optimize media. If sharing UGC photos/videos, optimize file sizes for web use.
• Moderate when necessary. Monitor discussions and be ready to moderate offensive or inappropriate UGC.
• Encourage variety. Seek out different types of UGC – reviews, videos, testimonials, photos, etc.
• Integrate across channels. Share UGC on your website, social media, email, ads, and anywhere you reach customers.

How to Monetize User-Generated Content

An often-overlooked opportunity with UGC is turning it into a revenue stream for your business. Here are some savvy ways to get paid from user-generated content:

Offer Bounties for Viral Content

One option is to offer financial rewards or bounties to users who create stellar UGC that goes viral or generates a ton of engagement. For example, you could offer a $100 bonus every time someone submits a photo or video that gets over 1,000 likes and shares. This incentivizes users not just to produce UGC, but also promote it across their own networks for maximum impact.

Charge Brands to Repurpose Top UGC

Build up a library of top-performing user photos, videos, testimonials, reviews, and other UGC. Then allow other brands in your industry to license and repurpose this content for a fee.

Sell Branded Merchandise Featuring UGC

Print user-generated photos, videos, or illustrations on t-shirts, phone cases, calendars, postcards, and other merchandise to sell in your online store. This turns happy customers into walking advertisers.

Publish a UGC-Focused Content Book

Curate and self-publish an annual book, e-book, or magazine that compiles your best user content from the year. Sell it as a lead magnet or premium content upgrade. This also boosts brand authority.

Charge for Advanced UGC Analytics

Offer in-depth UGC performance analytics and benchmark reports as a paid service. Brands will pay for data-rich insights they can’t get elsewhere.

Grow Your Business with User-Generated Content

Leveraging user-generated content is a proven strategy for fueling growth, leads, and sales in 2023. Not only is UGC authentic and cost-effective, but it also boosts your SEO and conversions when done right. Plus, savvy brands can tap into new revenue streams by monetizing top-performing user content.

Focus on making it easy for your audience to submit UGC and incentivizing quality contributions. With the right strategy, you can build a steady stream of reviews, photos, videos, and other content directly from your happy customers. This content will engage new visitors, drive them deeper into your sales funnel, and ultimately boost your bottom line.

How to Sell Your Photography in 2023 to Generate More Money and Customers

Selling your photography can be a great way to earn extra income or even turn your passion into a full-time business. With the rise of sites like Etsy, Facebook, and Instagram, there are more opportunities than ever for photographers to sell their work directly to customers online.

In 2023, successfully selling your photography comes down to two key factors: reaching potential customers and showcasing your unique value as a photographer. Here are some tips to help you effectively sell your photography this year.

Leverage Social Media to Reach More Potential Customers

Social platforms like Facebook and Instagram are essential for photographers looking to sell their work in 2023. There are over 1 billion active users on Instagram alone, making it a prime place to connect with art lovers worldwide.

Post your best shots regularly to build an audience. Engage with followers by responding to comments and questions. Use relevant hashtags like #photography, #landscapephotography, #portraitphotography to get your images in front of those interested in your specialty. Instagram Stories and Facebook Lives are also great for giving behind-the-scenes looks at your photo shoots.

Growing your social media following takes consistency, but it can directly translate to sales. Add shoppable buttons to your Instagram profile and posts to seamlessly guide followers to purchase.

Highlight Your Skills and Style on a Photography Website

While social platforms are great for reaching customers, you need a photography website to showcase the full breadth of your work and story. Your website also establishes your credibility as a professional photographer.

A portfolio website lets you display your absolute best images across different categories like portraits, landscapes, architecture and more. Share some information about your background, skills, and experience in the “About Me” section to give visitors a sense of who you are.

Make sure to include your contact information and shoot availability so potential clients can easily reach out for projects or prints. Offering e-books, photography tips, or editing services on your site provides additional value and revenue streams.

Set Competitive Pricing for Prints and Digital Files

Determining what to charge for your photography is key. You want to price competitively so images sell, but also high enough to make a profit on your time and effort. Thinking about your costs – equipment, editing time, permits, travel, etc – will help avoid underpricing.

Research other photographers with similar styles and experience levels to benchmark. Common photography print prices range from $100 for an 8”x10” to $700+ for a large fine art print. For digital images, $10 for a mobile file or $25-$100+ for high-res desktop files are typical starting points. Consider bundled deals like “5 images for $35” as well.

Be upfront and clear about licensing terms, print sizes, delivery timelines, and any additional charges like shipping, tax, or rush processing fees. This helps set expectations with customers.

Market Your Work at Local Art Fairs, Galleries and Shops

While selling photography online is convenient, you can also reach local customers by displaying your work at local art fairs, stores, cafes, and galleries.

Approach coffee shops, boutiques, salons or co-working spaces about hanging your prints on their walls for a commission-based sale. Renting booth space at local art fairs and festivals also puts your work in front of potential buyers.

Research galleries that specialize in photography and reach out with your portfolio to discuss representation. While galleries take a cut of each piece sold, they handle promotion and sales transactions. Consider partnering with a local framing shop to sell your prints as well.

Offer Additional Products Like Calendars, Cards, and Books

Generating additional products from your photos – like calendars, greeting cards, and photo books – can provide recurring revenue streams.

Services like Mixbook, CafePress, and Zazzle make it easy to upload designs to be printed on demand. You just have to drive customers to your online store with marketing.

Offer customized products like personalized holiday cards with family portraits or branded calendars featuring your signature cityscape photography. Local gift shops may even be interested in carrying your cards and books on consignment.

The key is turning your images into physical products people want to display and gift. Postcards showing your most iconic city or nature photos can make great souvenirs too.

Provide Photoshoot Services for Corporate and Private Clients

One of the most profitable ways to sell your skills as a photographer is to offer photoshoot services to corporate clients and private individuals. Businesses often need high-quality product photos, headshots, event images, and brand photography for their marketing materials and websites.

Reach out to local companies explaining how you can meet their visual content needs. Corporate headshot or brand photography sessions can range from $200-$1000+ per day depending on the scope of work. Be sure to handle invoicing, licensing and delivery professionally.

Offering family, maternity, pet, senior portrait and wedding photography packages is also an avenue to make money. Clients value stunning images capturing their special moments. Market mini-sessions and clean, modern editing style on your website and social media.

Build Recurring Revenue With Subscriptions and Memberships

Recurring subscriptions and memberships create predictable revenue by charging customers monthly or yearly fees to access your photography. Offer exclusive perks only available to paid subscribers.

For example, provide high-res digital image downloads from your monthly landscape photography adventures to annual members. Or photograph a popular local landmark every sunrise and sunset, then charge a monthly fee for subscribers to get a new daily image.

Behind-the-scenes videos, photography tutorials, Lightroom presets, priority booking for photoshoots, and contests can sweeten the deal for subscribers. Offer limited-run flash sales or discounts to incentivize sign-ups.

Subscriptions and memberships keep customers engaged with your work long-term. Even $9-$19 per month can add up quickly with a subscriber base built over time.

Follow Up Regularly With Your Email List

Building an email list of potential customers and current clients allows you to directly market your photography and new products. Offer an incentive like a free print or photo tips guide to encourage signups on your website and at shows.

Send a regular email newsletter with your newest images, announcements of print sales or gallery showings, photoshoot specials, or exclusive subscriber content. Share personal experiences interacting with nature and landscapes for a storytelling feel.

Email makes it easy to announce last-minute sales or deals, drive traffic to newly listed prints, and stay top of mind with clients. Just be sure to only email customers who have opted in and offer an unsubscribe option.

Selling your amazing photography is very achievable with the right marketing, products, and customer experiences. Use social media, your website, local events, private clients and email in 2023 to maximize your photography sales reach and revenue. The more potential buyers you connect with, the more sales you can achieve this year.

Monetize with Shoppable Instagram Features

Instagram has become one of the most powerful platforms for businesses to connect with current and potential customers. With over 1 billion monthly active users, it offers immense opportunities to sell your products or services directly through the app.

One of the most effective ways to monetize your Instagram account is by utilizing shoppable posts and Stories. These allow your followers to instantly purchase products without leaving the app. If you want to optimize your Instagram marketing and increase website traffic, customers, and sales in 2023, implementing shoppable features is a must.

Enable Shopping on Instagram

The first step is to set up shopping capabilities on your Instagram business profile. You can do this by:

• Connecting your Instagram account to either a Facebook page or catalog. This allows you to tag products from your catalog in posts and Stories.
• Enabling Instagram checkout. This lets users purchase products directly within the app without being redirected to your website.
• Creating shoppable posts and Stories. These showcase your products in creative ways that inspire users to make purchases.

Once shopping is enabled, you’ll gain access to powerful analytics about how well your products are performing on Instagram. You can see impressions, reach, clicks, and conversions for each product. Use these insights to refine your shopping strategy.

Optimize Your Profile and Content

An optimized profile and quality content are essential for driving traffic from Instagram to your online store or website. Here are some key tips:

• Craft an informative bio that highlights what you sell and includes a clickable link to your online store or product pages.
• Use high-quality, eye-catching profile and cover images featuring your products. Ensure they look professional.
• Curate your Instagram grid to showcase your products attractively. Write compelling captions that describe the product features and uses.
• Post Stories that provide styling tips and showcase followers using your products. This inspires social proof.
• Go live occasionally to engage directly with your audience and promote new product launches or sales.
• Partner with micro-influencers in your niche to expand your reach and credibility.
• Leverage shoppable posts, carousels, video demos, and Stories to make buying seamless for users.

Drive Traffic to Your Website

While selling directly on Instagram is convenient, most businesses generate the bulk of sales through their ecommerce site. That’s why driving high-quality traffic from Instagram to your website is crucial.

Some effective tactics include:

• Placing clickable links in your bio and Stories that direct people to targeted product or category pages. Use UTM parameters to track Instagram traffic.
• Running giveaways and contests that require visitors to click through to your site.
• Promoting special discounts or free shipping that are exclusive to customers coming from Instagram.
• Collaborating with influencers on sponsored posts that include strong calls-to-action to visit your site.
• Using Instagram ads that are optimized for website conversions, not just reach and clicks.

Analytics and Optimization

To maximize results, you need to closely monitor performance and continually optimize your Instagram shopping strategy.

• Analyze your Instagram Insights to see which products and posts are driving the most engagement and conversions. Do more of what’s working.
• Personalize your content based on insights about your followers’ interests and needs. This increases relevance.
• Refine your product mixes and offerings based on best-selling items. Discontinue poor performers.
• Test changes to your profile and posts to improve click-through rates and conversions.
• Compare results across Instagram and your website to identify opportunities for synergy between the two sales channels.
• Partner with Instagram shopping agencies if needed to develop data-driven strategies.

Selling on Instagram requires an investment of time and effort, but the payoff can be immense in the form of new customers, brand awareness, and revenue growth. By implementing shoppable features strategically and optimizing based on data, you can maximize your Instagram marketing results in 2023.

Grow Your Business With Share Run Sponsored Video Contests and Challenges

Video marketing is exploding in 2023. Over 87% of marketers are using video in their content strategy. And for good reason—video content gets more engagement and higher conversion rates than any other type of content.

But producing high-quality videos can be expensive and time consuming. That’s why more and more businesses are turning to user generated video contests and challenges to get authentic, engaging video content.

In this article, we’ll explore how you can use a platform like Share Run to run sponsored video contests and challenges to grow your business in 2023.

What is Share Run?

Share Run is a leading user generated content (UGC) and video contest software. It allows you to easily create and manage video contests and challenges to engage your audience.

With Share Run, you can:

• Easily create contests and challenges in minutes
• Customize the contest with your brand assets and guidelines
• Promote your contest across social media to drive entries
• Let users upload videos directly from their mobile devices
• Review, moderate and select winning entries
• Share winning videos across your social channels and website

The platform is used by leading brands like Red Bull, Uber Eats, and UNICEF to run exciting and effective video contests.

Benefits of Sponsored Video Contests

Running sponsored video contests and challenges on Share Run offers many benefits for your business:

Get Authentic User Generated Content

User generated content feels more authentic and genuine to viewers compared to branded content. UGC results in higher engagement rates, greater trust, and increased conversions.

And contests provide a steady stream of UGC you can use across your marketing channels.

Increase Brand Awareness

Video contests grab attention and interest. The contest promotion across social media builds awareness about your brand and products.

Participants will engage more deeply with your brand to produce their contest entries, resulting in meaningful connections.

Drive Website Traffic

You can drive traffic to your website by hosting the contest details, rules, and entry forms on your site.

Promote the contest URL on social media and in emails to funnel visitors. They’ll come to your site to learn more about the contest and how to enter.

Grow Your Email List

Offer an email signup gate to collect lead contacts before allowing contest entry.

This allows you to grow your email list with qualified leads who already know your brand.

Increase Social Followers

Require contest participants to follow you on social media in order to enter. Run promotions offering extra contest entries for sharing with friends or getting them to follow you as well.

Contests, especially those with viral sharing and entry elements, can explode your follower count.

Improve SEO

Optimize your contest website pages for keywords related to your brand, products, and target audience. This can help boost search rankings.

Create shareable content around the contest for added exposure–videos, images, blog posts, etc.

Generate Buzz and Excitement

Well-promoted contests generate real excitement in your audience and community. A contest with fun challenges will get people talking about your brand.

Leverage that buzz on social media and user entries themselves to extend your brand reach.

Types of Video Contests to Run

Some of the most popular and effective types of video contests you can run on Share Run include:

Challenge Contests

Challenge your audience to create a video showcasing them taking on some task, activity, or challenge.

Some examples include dance challenges, fitness challenges, food challenges, comedy challenges, etc.

Challenge-based contests tend to gain a lot of engagement and viral sharing.

Product Review Contests

Ask users to produce an authentic review of your product or service. These real testimonials are great social proof.

Reviews of new product launches or rebrands work well. Offer prizes for the most creative or helpful reviews.

Talent Showcase Contests

Give your audience a chance to show off their talents and skills through video. Talent and skill-based contests work well for brands in music, arts, fashion, sports, etc.

User Story Contests

Have users share their stories related to your brand in video form. Their stories help potential customers connect at an emotional level.

Stories around user problems solved or life changes enabled by your offering are powerful.

Do Good Contests

Engage your community in contests that do social good – support charity, give back, help the environment, etc.

These show your brand values and let users create videos with a purpose.

Promotional and Seasonal Contests

Run contests tied to new product launches, rebranding campaigns, holidays, events or seasons.

Promotional contests build buzz and seasonal ones capitalize on interest spikes.

How to Run Successful Contests on Share Run

Follow these best practices when running your sponsored video contests on Share Run for the best results:

Offer Strong Prizes and Incentives

Provide compelling prize packages to motivate higher contest engagement and entry numbers.

Offer tiered prizes – a grand prize, runner up prize, community choice prize, etc.

Make it Fun and Interesting

Avoid bland contests like “show us why you like our product.” Come up with a fun, exciting or challenging theme to spark interest.

Humor and entertainment value helps contest videos spread further.

Keep it Short

Contest duration of 1-4 weeks works best. This provides urgency. Shorter timeframes also tend to get more entries submitted.

Promote Heavily

Don’t expect participants to find your contest organically. Promote it heavily across your social channels, email lists, website, and more.

Run social media ads to push the contest to a wider relevant audience.

Make Entry Easy

Minimize steps to enter. Allow direct video uploads from mobile rather than requiring editing. Don’t make contest rules too strict or complex.

Give Clear Creative Guidelines

Provide clear but open creative guidelines on what you want to see in entries. This helps align them with your goals.

Let Users Share and Vote

Leverage tools like social sharing, peer voting, and leaderboards to get the community involved and driving more entries.

Moderate Carefully

Review all entries thoroughly to ensure brand-safe content. Flag or reject inappropriate submissions.

Feature only your best, most relevant entries.

Amplify and Repurpose Winning Videos

Announce winners publicly on social media. Then reuse top videos across your digital channels – pin to social feeds, embed in blog posts, run as ads.

Repurposing extends the impact of your winning contest videos.

Inspiring Examples of Share Run Video Contests

These real-world video contest examples showcase the power and creativity enabled by Share Run:

UNICEF NextGen Video Challenge

UNICEF ran a global video contest asking youth to pitch their innovative solutions to the world’s biggest problems.

They received over 500 submissions from 100 countries, generating awareness of key issues.

Uber Eats Dance Challenge

Uber Eats launched a TikTok dance challenge to promote their app and engage customers.

Thousands of users submitted fun dance videos with the Uber Eats brand incorporated.

Red Bull Out Of Office

Red Bull challenged people to get out of the home office and show their craziest work-from-anywhere location.

The contest generated adventurous and hilarious work scenarios on video.

Made With Blend Jet Recipe Contest

BlendJet ran a video recipe contest to highlight creative smoothie recipes users could make with their blenders.

Entries shared diverse healthy recipes and showcased the blender capabilities.

As you can see, the possibilities are endless for creative and impactful video contests on Share Run.

Offer Shoutouts on Your Instagram Stories to Grow Your Business

Instagram stories have become a powerful way for businesses to connect with their audience and drive traffic. As we move into 2023, offering shoutouts on your Instagram stories is an effective growth strategy that more brands should leverage.

What is an Instagram Story Shoutout?

An Instagram story shoutout is when you briefly promote or mention another account in your Instagram story. It’s a simple way to show some love to other brands, influencers, or creators that you want to support.

Shoutouts on Instagram stories have a few benefits:

• They help you build relationships with other accounts in your niche. Collaborating and cross-promoting is key for growing your reach.
• It exposes your followers to new accounts they may be interested in. You’re providing value by recommending relevant profiles.
• You may get a shoutout back! It’s common courtesy for the other account to return the favor.
• It keeps your story content diverse and engaging. Shoutouts break up promotional posts.

Why Offer Instagram Story Shoutouts for Your Business

Offering strategic Instagram story shoutouts can be a win-win growth opportunity for your business this year. Here are some of the top reasons to start using shoutouts:

1. Boost Brand Awareness

Every time you shoutout another brand or influencer, their followers are exposed to your Instagram profile and business. You’re organically getting your brand in front of an engaged audience that may not already be following you. The more shoutouts you do, the more awareness you build.

2. Support Your Industry Peers

Shoutouts allow you to show some love to others in your niche. It helps create a sense of community and goodwill. Supporting fellow influencers, creators, and brands demonstrates that you want to collaborate versus compete.

3. Increase Followers and Site Traffic

When you receive a shoutout, it drives curious users to check out your profile and website. The referral traffic from mentions in Instagram stories can help push followers, engagement, email subscribers, and sales. Don’t be afraid to ask for a shoutout in exchange.

4. Keep Your Followers Engaged

Sprinkling in the occasional shoutout keeps your story content diverse. It breaks up any self-promotion posts. Your followers are more likely to stay engaged with your stories if they’re entertained and introduced to new, relevant accounts.

Best Practices for Instagram Story Shoutouts

To get the most value from your Instagram story shoutouts, keep these best practices in mind:

Be Strategic With Your Shoutouts

Don’t just shoutout random accounts. Be purposeful with which brands or influencers you work with. Make sure they’re actively posting with an engaged audience. Look for accounts in your niche with high-quality content.

Space Out Your Shoutouts

You don’t want every story to be a shoutout. Aim for 1-2 shoutouts per week maximum. Spread them out between your other stories. You want a natural mix of content that followers expect.

Shout Back When You’re Shouted Out

If another brand or influencer gives your business a shoutout, be sure to return the favor! Quickly reposting their story to your own story and thanking them publicly is good etiquette.

Make Your Shoutouts Visually Appealing

Use clean fonts, fun gifs, or eye-catching graphics when giving your shoutouts. You want them to stand out in someone’s story feed. Don’t just slap text on a boring background.

Measure Your Results

Use analytics to see how shoutouts impact profile visits and website traffic. This can help you determine which types of accounts to collaborate with again in the future.

Examples of Effective Instagram Story Shoutouts

Need a little inspo for your next Instagram story shoutout? Here are some great examples of brands leveraging shoutouts:

@FabFitFun

The subscription box company FabFitFun incorporates shoutouts into their Instagram stories to highlight their brand partners in a visually appealing way.

They use each brand’s logo, tagged handle, and a customized header. This gives their partners extra promotion while providing FabFitFun followers with useful discounts and deals.

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@GaryVee

Entrepreneur and speaker Gary Vaynerchuk frequently showcases fellow creators and experts in his daily #AskGaryVee show on Instagram.

He’ll mention someone’s handle and say a quick word about why he admires their work. This helps him build relationships with people in the online business space.

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@Starbucks

Starbucks uses their Instagram stories to highlight feel-good moments and initiatives at their coffee shops across the country.

Occasionally they’ll share user-generated content by reshaping a post from a customer and giving them a shoutout. This makes followers feel more connected to individual locations.

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5 Types of Accounts to Shoutout on Instagram Stories

Who should you actually partner with on collaborative Instagram story shoutouts? Here are 5 types of accounts that are perfect for shoutout partnerships:

1. Influencers in Your Niche

Leverage micro or nano-influencers with engaged audiences in your industry. Collaborate on giveaways or content series.

2. Brands You Genuinely Like

There’s power in recommending brands you actually know and love. Don’t just shoutout random companies. Make sure you’ve tried and would recommend the product.

3. Leaders in Your Space

Give shoutouts to respected thought leaders, entrepreneurs, or brands leading your industry. Tagging them adds credibility.

4. Local Businesses

Support small shops and creators in your city. Local business collaborations can help drive foot traffic.

5. Loyal Customers

Shoutout your happy repeat customers by resharing their posts and reviews. User-generated content builds trust.

Tools to Manage Your Instagram Story Shoutouts

Managing multiple Instagram story shoutouts each week takes a bit of time. Make your life easier by using tools like:

• Later – Use Later to schedule all your Instagram stories and shoutouts in advance. You can plan your visual assets and captions ahead of time.
• Hootsuite – This social media management platform allows you to draft, collaborate on, and schedule Instagram stories. Helpful for coordinating with the accounts you’ll shoutout.
• Iconosquare – Provides analytics for your Instagram stories and posts. With Iconosquare, you can see which story content and shoutout partners drive the most profile visits.
• Ingramer – Helps you identify and connect with nano and micro-influencers perfect for shoutout partnerships. Outreach is automated based on audience demographics and engagement.

Let’s Recap How to Do Instagram Story Shoutouts

Instagram story shoutouts are a smart way for brands to support industry peers while growing awareness and traffic. As you build out your shoutout strategy this year, remember these tips:

• Be strategic with who you partner with based on audience quality and relevance. Don’t randomly shoutout brands.
• Make your shoutouts visually appealing – use gifs, graphics, and clean text.
• Return any shoutouts you receive. Show the love back!
• Spread out your shoutouts in your story rotation. Don’t do too many at once.
• Use analytics to see which shoutout partners drive the most profile visits and website traffic.
• Schedule out shoutouts in advance to save time using tools like Later or Hootsuite.
• Highlight loyal customers and their UGC by reshaping their content into your stories.

Giving thoughtful Instagram story shoutouts is a win for everyone involved. More brands should test out this growth tactic in 2023.

Let me know if you have any other questions on mastering Instagram shoutouts for your business!

Use Instagram to Drive Traffic and List Building

Instagram is one of the most powerful social media platforms for driving traffic and building an email list for your business. With over 1 billion monthly active users, Instagram provides a huge opportunity to get your content and offers in front of potential customers.

In 2023, Instagram will likely become an even more important part of any social media and content marketing strategy. As organic reach on Facebook declines, Instagram stands out as one of the best places to reach and engage an audience.

Here are some proven tips and strategies for using Instagram to drive traffic and build your email list this year.

Optimize Your Profile

The first step is optimizing your Instagram profile to attract your ideal audience.

Your bio is prime real estate for describing what you do and including a strong call to action. Make sure to include:

• A brief description of your business or niche.
• A link to your website or landing page to drive traffic.
• An email signup link or prompt to build your list.
• Keywords and phrases that relate to your niche.

You also want an appealing and cohesive profile aesthetic with a recognizable profile picture and quality images on your grid. This helps establish credibility and show you have a polished, professional brand.

Post Valuable and Shareable Content

Posting content regularly is key to driving traffic and engagement on Instagram. Focus on creating content that provides value for your audience and is highly shareable.

Some types of content that do well on Instagram include:

• Educational content: How-to tutorials, tips, lessons, guides.
• Behind the scenes: Give your audience a look inside your business.
• User-generated content: Repost customer photos using your product.
• Quotes and graphics: Design quotes and graphics related to your niche.
• Industry news and updates: Commentary on news related to your field.

Make sure all posts are optimized with strong, keyword-focused captions that will help them get discovered in searches. Include a strong call-to-action in each caption as well to convert scrollers into site visitors.

Use Instagram Stories for Engagement

Instagram Stories have quickly become a central part of the platform. Stories are a great way to increase engagement and followers.

You can give followers a daily inside look at your business through Stories. Some ideas include:

• Show your product in action.
• Share behind the scenes footage.
• Do polls and Q&As to engage your audience.
• Re-share user generated content.

Add swipe up links to your Stories to drive traffic to your site, landing pages, blog, and email signup forms. Instagram Stories have high click through rates since you have your audience’s full attention.

Run Targeted Paid Ads

Once you’ve built up an audience with organic content, consider running paid Instagram ads to further increase your reach.

Instagram offers powerful targeting options so you can get your content and offers in front of people who are most likely to convert into subscribers and customers.

Target your ads based on:

• Locations
• Age
• Gender
• Interests and behaviors
• And more

Test different audiences, creative and call-to-action to see what converts best. The key is keeping your cost per click low while still reaching your ideal audience.

Partner with Micro Influencers

Partnering with relevant Instagram influencers in your niche is an excellent way to tap into their engaged audiences.

But rather than going after celebrity influencers, connect with micro-influencers who have under 100,000 engaged followers. Micro-influencers have high engagement rates and are more affordable.

Here are some ways to partner with micro-influencers for traffic and list growth:

• Ask them to promote your content and offers to their audience.
• Do giveaways and contests together.
• Have them use and post about your products.
• Guest post on each other’s accounts.
• Give them an affiliate commission for sales they drive.

Find influencers excited about your products or content and develop an ongoing partnership for promotion.

Promote Your Account Off of Instagram

While growing your presence directly on Instagram is essential, you also want to promote your Instagram account and content everywhere else online.

This helps drive new targeted followers to your Instagram and increase overall reach.

Some ideas to promote your Instagram include:

• Add your Instagram handle in your email signature.
• Embed Instagram photos and videos on blog posts and other content.
• Promote your Instagram handle on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.
• Include your Instagram URL on your website, landing pages, print materials, etc.

Any place you can mention your Instagram handle helps build awareness and get more eyes on your content. More followers on Instagram equates to more traffic you can drive back to your site and offers.

Keep Providing Value and Optimizing

As you build your presence on Instagram, your focus should always be on providing value for your audience through posts they find helpful and entertaining. Be sure to consistently engage with your audience through likes, comments, and messages.

Keep optimizing your content by testing different posting times, using high-traffic hashtags, and analyzing your metrics to see what resonates best.

Instagram is going to be a key platform for all marketers and business owners in 2023. By applying these proven Instagram marketing strategies, you can tap into its huge potential for driving website visitors and building an email list to boost sales.

Wrapping Up

Instagram’s unique visual nature makes it easy to capture attention and engagement from a targeted audience. With a business profile, compelling content and smart marketing tactics, you can leverage Instagram to drive significant traffic and subscribers to grow your business in 2023.

Focus on creating content your audience loves, engaging with your community, partnering strategically and optimizing your presence. Promote your Instagram account offline and on other channels to maximize your reach.

Use built-in analysis tools to track growth metrics and fine-tune your strategy over time. With Instagram’s popularity showing no signs of slowing down, now is the time to build relationships with your audience on this powerful platform.

Generating Income Through Sponsored Posts and Branded Content Partnerships on Instagram

Instagram has become one of the most powerful platforms for influencers and businesses to generate income through sponsored content and brand partnerships. With over 1 billion monthly active users, Instagram offers immense opportunities to connect with engaged audiences and monetize your account.

In 2023, sponsored posts and branded content collaborations will continue to be highly effective ways to earn money on Instagram without compromising the user experience.

Why Sponsored Posts and Branded Content Are Effective

Sponsored posts and branded content allow you to leverage your audience and expertise to promote products or services in an organic way.

Here are some of the benefits of partnering with brands as an influencer or business on Instagram:

Promote Products to Targeted Audiences

Instagram’s algorithm is designed to show users content from accounts they are most interested in. This means your followers are likely to engage with promoted products or services relevant to your niche. Strategic partnerships amplify your reach and allow brands to get their products in front of targeted potential customers.

Increase Credibility and Trust

When executed appropriately, sponsored collaborations allow you to align with brands that your audience knows and trusts. Promoting quality products helps build credibility and long-term loyalty with your followers.

Diversify Revenue Streams

Sponsored content provides a steady stream of income that helps diversify your monetization beyond just selling your own products or services. Multiple partnership opportunities mean you don’t have to rely on just one brand or revenue source.

Expand Your Influence

Partnerships with the right brands position you alongside industry leaders and help grow your audience. When done thoughtfully, it’s a mutually beneficial opportunity to cross-promote content and expand reach.

Best Practices for Sponsored Posts

Here are some tips to ensure your sponsored posts achieve results for both you and your brand partners:

Choose Brands That Align with Your Niche

Partner with brands that make sense for your audience and content focus. For example, a fitness influencer could promote supplements or activewear in a relevant and authentic way. But randomly promoting a new streaming service would likely confuse followers.

Disclose Sponsored Content Transparently

Federal trade commission rules require clear disclosure when posts include paid promotions. Be upfront by using #ad or #sponsored in your caption.

Balance Sponsored Content

Avoid having your feed become overwhelmed with promotions. Limit sponsored posts to no more than 1 in every 7-10 posts to keep your content and engagement optimized.

Show How You Use or Benefit From the Product

Showcase the product in real-life use cases. For example, an influencer could post an Instagram story sharing their experience testing out new headphones they are promoting. This builds credibility and interest.

Give Honest Feedback

Be transparent about any sponsored products you don’t fully endorse. Providing honest feedback, even in a constructive way, shows audiences your authenticity.

Creating Effective Branded Content Partnerships

Branded content involves collaborating with a brand to create unique co-branded social media content that promotes a product, service, or campaign. Here are tips for creating successful branded content:

Brainstorm Creative Concepts

Work with brands to come up with fresh content ideas that engage audiences, such as co-creating recipes, DIY projects, or fun challenges featuring the brand in some way. Provide ideas tailored to your audience and brand.

Align on Campaign Goals Upfront

Agree to specific key performance indicators with the brand such as impressions, engagement rate, and traffic driven to the brand’s website or sales pages. Track results against goals.

Produce High-Quality Content

Invest time to produce compelling images, videos, or other content that aligns with your brand aesthetic. Audiences expect a high level of quality in exchange for their attention.

Leverage Your Expertise

Position yourself as an expert by creating content that educates audiences on relevant topics and organically features the sponsoring brand. For example, a fitness influencer could share tips for healthy smoothie recipes made with a sponsored protein powder.

Promote Content Across Your Channels

Maximize reach by sharing branded content across your social platforms and channels. Re-share content through Instagram stories, TikTok, YouTube and other platforms.

Best Practices for Long-Term Brand Relationships

The most lucrative approach is developing long-term partnerships with brands over one-off sponsored posts. Here’s how to build relationships that achieve results:

Start with Affordable Packages for New Brands

Offer entry-level packages at reasonable rates for brands you haven’t worked with before. Deliver results, then showcase your track record to negotiate higher-paying packages.

Outline Packages and Pricing in Media Kits

Create media kits that outline standard packages, pricing, and advertising opportunities across your platforms. This shows brands you are serious and makes it easy for them to purchase and scale campaigns.

Communicate and Collaborate

Maintain open communication with brand contacts to align on content strategies and optimize performance. Be professional and personable.

Offer Reporting and Insights

Show your value by providing performance recaps and audience insights that help brands decide where to allocate marketing budgets.

Explore Revenue Sharing Opportunities

Propose deals where you earn commissions or revenue sharing when leads or sales can be directly tracked back to your campaigns and promos. This incentivizes growth for both parties.

Maximizing Earning Potential on Instagram

Here are some additional tips to help maximize your earning power through branded partnerships on Instagram:

Grow Your Audience for More Influence

Continue growing your followers, engagement, and authority in your niche to have access to more lucrative partnership opportunities. Post high-quality content consistently.

Diversify Partnership Opportunities

Partner with brands in complementary niches and categories beyond your core focus to multiply opportunities. For example, a fashion blogger could work with beauty, accessory, or even tech brands.

Leverage Instagram Tools Like Shoppable Posts

Use built-in features like shoppable posts to seamlessly drive traffic to your sponsors’ products and services to demonstrate your direct impact.

Offer Multi-Platform Campaigns

Brands will pay more for influencers who can execute campaigns across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and other channels. Offer value through broad exposure.

Provide Reporting and Optimization

Show your ability to track performance and make data-driven optimizations during campaigns. This “managed service” approach justifies higher rates.

Consider an Agency or Management

High-earning influencers and creators often work with agencies or management that professionalizes processes and unlocks bigger, exclusive deals.