Creating Instagram branded content ads through paid partnerships with influencers can help reach your target audience and achieve your marketing goals.
Branded content is any content or media funded by a brand to spread its message. When an influencer posts that content in paid partnership with the brand, it’s sometimes called influencer-branded content. In other words: influencer-branded content is anything a creator posts online for an “exchange of value” (money, products, or services) from a brand.
For example, let’s say your brand connects with a creator on Instagram that aligns with your niche, brand values, and target audience. From there, your brand partner launches Instagram posts using appropriate hashtags, timing, and language according to your parameters. They tag your brand in the posts, you receive new followers and get sales, and you pay your Instagram business partner as agreed.
Why do so many brands turn to influencers to create their branded content? Engaging influencers in your Instagram strategy can enhance your reach, brand trust, sales, and more.
Benefits of Branded Content with Influencers
Branded content is one of the fundamental pillars of social media marketing, but there’s a reason why incorporating influencers on the Instagram app can take it to the next level:
Branded Influencer Posts Are More Than Your Standard Ad
Advertising on social media is a non-negotiable for most brands, but standard advertisements can get dull. Even with exciting content, many users simply scroll right past Instagram ads they see that disrupt their feeds.
Regular paid ads are undeniably different than creative content users see otherwise on Instagram. When an Instagram ad or sponsored post pops up, your customers might ignore it, making you miss out on views of value. Branded content posts eliminate that immediate reaction to ignore because they match the content users want to see. People follow influencers because they love their content, so they’re always excited to see new posts from their favorite creators.
You Can Extend Your Reach to New Audiences
Picking the right Instagram brand partner can help you get in front of audiences you might not have a chance with otherwise. For example, you could partner with an influencer with 10K followers on their Instagram account. Their thousands of followers see your content on their Instagram stories, reels, or in-feed, giving you access to a new group of potential customers that increases your brand awareness.
Creator Accounts Have Built-in Trust
Influencers on the macro and micro scale have something your brand can’t always offer: an established presence with existing trust. Content creators have been developing relationships with their followers for years, giving them a voice people pay attention to. Instagram beginners – and even accounts that have been around for a while – don’t have that type of leverage with followers. An Instagram partner can boost your brand trust just by advocating for the quality of your product or service.
How to Start an Influencer–Branded Content Strategy
Branded content via influencer marketing can be profitable for any brand – all that matters is your ability to identify partnerships that will benefit you:
- Find the right business partners
There are as many influencers on Instagram as there are brands trying to influence. That’s great because it means you have options – but you also need to find creators that match your brand values, voice, strategy, and marketing goals. Once you’ve found a match that can engage their followers according to your needs, collaborate away.
- Negotiate terms for the perfect content
Branded content can either be collaborative or left entirely up to the creator. In a collaborative approach, you communicate with an influencer to design a post that aligns with your brand voice and social presence. This way, you get more say in the content.
On the other side, leaving posts up to influencers could earn you more trust and confidence with their followers. Creators will generate content that lines up with their other posts, presenting users with something they’re familiar with – just with your name on it.
- Keep content requirements in mind
Instagram influencers are required to tag business partners in any promotional posts with a paid partnership label. These branded content policies protect viewers by encouraging transparency on the parts of brands and influencers. Read up on Instagram’s community guidelines and partner monetization policies to make sure your posts don’t get banned. The policies are not likely to change – but that’s not a downside for your brand. Content tags that lead back to your page can get you more clicks and views.
- Measure your results
Instagram and other socials offer valuable content insights via ad manager features like Instagram’s Branded Content Tools and Facebook’s Brand Collabs Manager. These tools can help you determine the performance of your campaigns. Use the advanced settings of your business account to see metrics on post engagement, determine which partnerships aren’t profiting you, and explore how to inform your future marketing strategy.
Partner with First Media as your Content Creator
Instagram influencer accounts come in all shapes and sizes, so it’s important to find the ones that will impact your brand the most. With First Media as your content creation partner, you get access to all the benefits of influencer-branded content on a more substantial scale.
Our brand channels have mass reach, getting you in the Instagram feeds of millions of users. For example, Blossom, our lifestyle, DIY, and home decor brand, is the most viral of its niche on social media, holding over 106 million followers across socials. Partnering with First Media means you can start leveraging that scale of reach.
Reach of that proportion also comes with a superior level of trust. First Media channels have been inspiring and exciting users for years – and our followers have come to know and support our message. Utilizing our expertise in Instagram best practices and visual storytelling techniques, we craft custom content that drives users to action based on that trust.
As a partner of First Media, you get access to content that actually moves people. Join First Media to explore Instagram marketing that can take your brand further.
