How to Get Influencer Sponsorships on Instagram (Without a Million Followers!)

So, you want to make money on Instagram?

We get it.

The idea of getting paid just to post sounds pretty sweet, but you might be thinking, Yeah, right. Who’s going to sponsor me?

The truth is you’re likely way more marketable than you think. Brands aren’t necessarily looking for people with millions of followers anymore. Instead, they’re turning to micro-influencers – people with smaller but highly engaged audiences in specific niches.

This means that having just a few thousand followers can actually be an advantage as long as you’re getting comments, likes, and real engagement on your posts.

But we’ll be honest with you – becoming a paid influencer isn’t easy, and there’s a ton of competition.

Still, it’s very much doable if you take the right steps. Here are 7 proven strategies to help you with how to get sponsors on Instagram:  

1. Learn About Your Audience

The first thing you need to do is understand your audience. Brands want to work with influencers who get their audience. If you know who your followers are and what they care about, you’ll have no problem posting what they like and, in turn, landing sponsorships.

Take some time to analyze your audience demographics. Look at their age, gender, interests, and even their behavior on your posts.

https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6284f7327b63a63510a796c8/674eb244190aaa88b7c650e7_6290ab2a389e21345711ab35_audience-data-of-creator-across-platforms.png source: https://www.getphyllo.com/post/instagram-demographics-audience-creators-stats

2. Define Your Brand and Aesthetic

One of the most important things you can do as a micro-influencer is to define your niche. If you’re all over the place with your content, brands won’t know if you’re a good fit. Having a clear brand identity will make it easier for companies to see who you are and decide whether they want to work with you.

The best way to go about it is to think about what you love posting and what kind of content gets the most engagement. Do you focus on lifestyle, fashion, fitness, food, or travel? Maybe you have a super-specific niche, like plant-based recipes or sustainable fashion.

Whatever it is, embrace it and make it part of your personal brand.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CkoHBv3Inap/

Your Instagram aesthetic also plays a big role in attracting sponsorships.

While you don’t have to have a perfectly curated feed, having a consistent style helps create a cohesive brand image. Consider your color scheme, editing style, and the overall vibe of your content.

It’s also important to maintain authenticity. Scrolling through other influencer accounts for inspiration is great, but don’t copy them outright.

The more authentic you are, the more your audience (and brands) will trust you, so find what makes your content special and lean into it.

3. Post Consistently & Frequently

One of the key habits of successful Instagram influencers is maintaining a consistent posting schedule.

This helps you attract more followers and land brand sponsorships because frequency and consistency directly impact your engagement rate. Brands pay attention to the likes and comments your posts receive because these metrics indicate how much visibility their products will get when featured on your account.

Ideally, you should aim to post at least once a day, preferably between 8 AM and 9 AM or between 12 PM and 2 PM.

However, the optimal posting frequency varies depending on your niche, brand identity, and audience.

To keep on schedule without constantly needing to be online, you can use a post scheduling tool:

https://images.ctfassets.net/ta4ffdi8h2om/4cXgXheN4CTW71Fz9QMcPV/eb7d5a088592aa5844f2148adc6183ec/Enterprise-Publishing-600x400_3x.png source: https://www.hootsuite.com/platform/publishing  

4. Use Geotags & Hashtags

Hashtags and geotags are great tools for increasing discoverability because businesses often use these to target specific audiences.

Keep in mind that using overly broad hashtags like #makeup, #travel, or #nutrition might not be the best strategy – these tags have millions of posts, so your content might get lost in the algorithm.

Instead, go for more specific hashtags derived from the general category, such as #makeuptesting, #budgettravel, or #nutritiontipoftheday.

Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post, but research suggests that using around 5-7 tags gives you the best engagement results.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DFeKbZMt97X/

5. Know Your Worth – Literally

Your pricing should reflect factors such as follower count, content quality, engagement rate, and niche relevance.

Researching how much other influencers in your industry charge can help you set competitive rates, but the most important thing is to strike a balance between being affordable for brands while still valuing your work.

Undervaluing yourself could make it difficult to negotiate better deals in the future, and overpricing could deter brands from working with you.

Here’s a general breakdown of what influencers are earning:

• Micro-influencers (fewer than 10,000 followers) earn around $88 per post on average. However, many micro-influencers opt to work with brands for free at this stage to establish long-term partnerships and credibility,
  
  
• 10,000 – 100,000 followers – influencers in this range often receive direct messages from brands offering free products in exchange for posts. Some may begin receiving small payments in addition to free merchandise,
  
  50,000 – 80,000 followers – these influencers can start charging around $200 per post, though rates vary based on niche and advertizer,
  
  
• 250,000 – 500,000 followers – this tier of influencers can earn an average of $670 per sponsored post. At this stage, influencers often gain access to exclusive features like Instagram verification (the little blue checkmark) and the ability to add swipe-up links in Stories, which brands find important for driving engagement.
  
  

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6. Improve Your Engagement Rate

As you could’ve guessed from the fact that this article keeps mentioning it, engagement is one of the most critical factors brands consider when choosing influencers for sponsorships.

A higher engagement rate increases your chances of being featured on Instagram’s Explore page, which exposes your content to a broader audience beyond just your followers.

To boost engagement, you can:

• Interact with your followers by responding to comments,
• Like other people’s posts,
• Join engagement groups (also known as comment pods).

7. Pitch Yourself to Brands 

At the end of the day, if brands just aren’t reaching out to you, take the lead and reach out to them yourself. Send them a short but compelling pitch explaining why you’d be a great fit for their brand.

Talk about your audience demographics, engagement rates, and past collaborations if you have any. If you have worked with brands before, include testimonials or results from those.

Keep your tone professional but friendly, and don’t be discouraged if they don’t respond right away. Follow up after a week or two, and keep putting yourself out there.

Influencer Sponsorships – Key Takeaways

• Understand your followers' demographics and behaviors to create content that resonates with them and appeals to brands,
  
• Establish a niche and maintain a consistent style to attract brands that align with your identity,
• Maintain a regular posting schedule to improve engagement and visibility,
  
• Use geotags & hashtags to boost discoverability and bring in new audiences,
  
• Set competitive pricing based on your follower count, engagement rate, and niche,
  

Be proactive &reach out to brands with your own pitch.