It’s officially Q4 which is a BIG time of year for brands and content creators who want to work with them. But not everything about being a micro-influencer who works with brands is fun and games. Esther-Lauren and I have teamed up for this post to chat about the red flags we pick up on when considering whether to work with a brand in our respective niches. While you’re here, be sure to check out Esther’s blog and Instagram. Now, let’s get into the red flags for brand collaborations.
1. Low engagement
In the same way that brands are checking for the engagement rates of content creators, I like to check the engagement rates of brands. While exposure is not enough to pull me into a collaboration, being posted on a brand’s page is an opportunity to gain it. So if I look on a page that has tens or hundreds of thousands of followers but has only about one hundred likes on photos they post, I know something is up. In order for a collaboration to be worthwhile, I have to know that a brand is also putting in work on their end to draw their audience in so that my hard work on content won’t be completely in vain.
2. No diversity in their products and feed
The push to #amplifymelanatedvoices this past summer put a lot of brands in the spotlight for their lack of diversity. First and foremost, if a makeup brand is trying to collaborate, I check to see if their products actually show consideration of my skin tone and deeper. If they don’t, that’s probably one of the biggest red flags for brand collaborations. For one, I don’t want to promote a product that actually doesn’t work for me. On top of that, I don’t want to promote a product to my audience that they can’t use. The same applies to diversity on their feed. Of course, every brand has to start somewhere. So for brands that are working to improve diversity on their feed, it’s important to discern who is tokenizing you and who is actually interested in including your voice and content to their brand audience.
3. Quality and effort put into the outreach/pitch email
Basic email etiquette says that you should try to address the recipient of your email by their name. I don’t know about you, but when an email says “Hi @enigivensunday” I’m immediately turned off. It screams copy and pasted from a spreadsheet because I’m just another number. I know brands are reaching out to more than just me, but my name is listed clearly on my Instagram page, blog, and even in my email address. Similarly, heavy spelling and grammar mistakes in a brand’s outreach email raise concerns about professionalism.
4. Asking you to pay for product or shipping
This should go without saying, but apparently, some “brands” are trying to do it to this day. It’s a scam. You should not have to pay anything to give a brand content. If they ask you to pay for shipping, if they ask you to pay and then they’ll refund you, if they ask you to pay for half, don’t do it. Just don’t.
5. Esther’s red flag: brands that take advantage
“My red flag for brands (particularly big brands) is when they say they don’t have the budget but they continue to use your content for their social media, website, ads, etc. As a smaller influencer, brands often want to reap the benefits of our content that is just as good as bigger influencers without dishing out the coins.”
That’s it for this post! But be sure to follow us on Instagram to stay up to check out our content like what you read here and more!
“Show me someone who does a good job, and I will show you someone who is better than most and worthy of the company of kings.” Proverbs 22:29
