#ad, #sponsored, #partner, #paid. You’ve seen it before, on my Instagram account and many others. These paid social media posts that were maybe once considered cool or exciting a few years ago are now deemed annoying, scroll-past-this-post content that so many of you don’t care to see. But what’s the deal with sponsored posts? Why are they happening? Why do people still do them? And how do you even get to that point?
I will start from the beginning and speak from my experience as an “influencer,” but I first want to make my intentions of this blog post clear. I want to explain how I make money on Instagram, why I and other bloggers choose to get paid to post certain content and why I, as a creator, have so many frustrations with people automatically hating on sponsored content.
On November 1, 2015 I posted my first Instagram on @kale_and_krunches. Actually, it was on @nikesbynight, the original name of my account. But DC had the foresight that this Instagram thing could be a business and I shouldn’t associate with such a big brand in my username. I thought he was crazy but listened to him and changed it anyway. See that’s the thing, I had no idea people actually made money off of this. The point of starting my account was solely to share tips and tricks on how to stay healthy when you worked 9-5.
These tips and tricks I shared often included products I loved using and people were really into that. I could “get away” with holding up an essential oil or salad dressing and talk about why I love it without eye rolls and messaged like “so what do you really think of this product?” behind the scenes. That’s because I wasn’t getting paid to do it.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. As I said, I loved sharing the products I was using without even considering I could make money off of them. These were items that I paid for myself and “advertised ” for free on my account. And this is why I believe that after about 6 months of running my account, brands started reaching out to me to help showcase their products. Because posting about products was already a part of the Kale and Krunches brand.
It started off small, hearing from companies directly and then eventually I began getting contacted from PR firms who represented the larger companies. I never even thought about asking for a dollar to post about these companies since I was so excited just to get the product for free! (Also, most of the time I just assumed these emails were spam.)
This part is important for me to address because the process of working with brands has remained relatively the same but also because I am often getting asked from people just starting out “how do you start working with brands?” My advice for those who want to get into this game is don’t ask that question if you JUST started your account because if you’re only in it for the free sh*t or a pay cheque you won’t be able to grow a loyal audience. Start by showcasing products that you like and make that a part of your feed so when your audience does grow to the point you can monetize, you’re not talking about products for the first time and getting away from your own brand.
So if you’re wondering, here is a typical walk-through of how a collaboration with a brand works:
Step 1: PR firm reaches out saying they are working with company X. X has a product they are (re)launching and want to raise awareness. If it’s something I would use, aligns with my values and makes sense for K&K, I will give it a try. (If I already use it, even better). If I like it and would recommend, we go to Step 2.
Step 2: The PR company asks for a certain number of posts and I quote them my cost for this.
Step 3: Negotiating posts, budgets, messaging, dates, etc and eventually signing a contract.
Step 4: Shoot and then submit photo and captions for approval. Sometimes re-shoots are required.
Step 5: Post.
So this basically covers the what and how. But let’s dig a little deeper into the why.
Why do I continue to post sponsored content when I know the photo will get significantly less likes and comments. Why do I continue to put so much effort into sponsored content when I know you are just going to scroll past? Why do I continue to collaborate with brands when others find it so annoying?
Because I’ve been doing it since the start of my account, when I had 30 followers and no intention of monetizing. Because I love sharing tools and advice that I think others can benefit from and often times these tips involve other company’s products. Because I love getting to try new things and share these experiences with you. Because I talk about items that I think you will also like and find value in. Because creating content is fun. And lastly, because if that sponsored post helps just one person make a healthier choice, gain more confidence, have a more productive day or just feel a little better than yesterday, it was worth it.
Some of the coolest moments for me as an influencer have been getting the opportunity to work with brands that I have literally used my whole life, like Pantene. Or even cooler, when brands that I would post all the time on my account turned into professional, paid opportunities such as Jugo Juice or Freshii.
But that’s also where things start to turn.
A recent Boston Globe article estimated that advertising dollars spent on Influencer marketing will grow from $2 billion in 2017 to $10 billion in 2020. With that growth has also come new legislation in advertising disclosure. Enter the world of #ad, #spon, #paid.
It wasn’t just the law that was catching on. Instagram, or Facebook, rather, realized that so many people were making insane amounts of money on Insta but Facebook wasn’t seeing a dime for themselves. Now enter the evil algorithm.
Now this isn’t confirmed, because let’s face it, no one actually knows how the algorithm works. But it seems like as soon as an advertising disclosure hashtag is used, Instagram will automatically hide your post to the majority of your followers. The only way for it to be seen is if you put your own money behind the photo to “boost” it.
But regardless of whether or not this is true, any photo that “looks sponsored” will automatically not perform as well for me, and for so many others.
And trust me, I get it. You are exposed to ads all day long in the media. Why do you need to see more from your fave people you follow on Insta? And do they even like or use the product?
Unfortunately I have seen it myself, where someone I know will accept a paid collab with, for example, a dairy company, when in fact, I know they are dairy-free. Another will “swear by” a product in their Insta story but then admits it’s actually still in the packaging of their front hall closet.
I really do get it. You can’t trust everything you see.
The other day I had a conversation with my friend who is a fellow blogger. I showed her a photo I wanted to use on Instagram about a product that was helping me get more protein through my pregnancy. The photo and caption answered a lot of common questions I was getting about pregnancy, and in my opinion, offered a lot of value. “The problem is” I said to her, “that it looks sponsored. But it’s not. And people are just going to scroll right past.” “Yes,” she said, “but think about how many times a day you answer this question in your DMs.”
We then realized that it is a complete catch-22. If we tell you about a brand and tag them, it looks like a paid post and many people will scroll right past without reading. But if we allude to using a certain type of product without tagging the brand, we end up answering hundreds of DMs privately about exactly what the product is, when it would have just been easier to post in the open to everyone.
Now this isn’t meant to sound whiny or ungrateful at all. I am appreciative of every single DM I get and completely understand that this account, and the opportunity to monetize it, would never be possible without loyal readers and people caring what I have to say.
It’s more about asking, how do we get around this problem? How can we as content creators continue to offer value and speak about products with your trust and attention…and get paid at the same time?
Why should you care if we get paid? I guess you don’t really need to. But the goal as influencers, at least for the ones I am friends with, is for us to be able to do this as a full time job so that we can offer you inspiring, entertaining and valuable content on a daily basis. And strategic brand partnerships are a huge part of being able to do just that.
One thing I think many bloggers can stop doing is saying things like “not sponsored” on their content. And I am definitely guilty of doing this in the past as well. But in my opinion, hearing someone say “this isn’t sponsored, I just really love it” actually does a disservice to fellow influencers. I understand why many say this. They are trying to get across how much they love a product that they will post about it even if they aren’t paid. But I think it actually discredits the products they are getting paid to talk about. After all, if you are getting paid to post about it, shouldn’t you love it?
Some may argue back that this is confusing but my goal isn’t to trick or deceive anyone. I just truly believe that if you can’t tell the difference between a paid or unpaid product endorsement on my account, that I am doing my job right, because I will post about it if I like it, no matter what.
I am also not perfect and can look back on two partnerships (one paid and one just posting for free product) where I jumped the gun and should have done more research.
It is easy to assume that bloggers accept any money thrown at them to endorse a product but I know I speak for so many in this industry when I say, you should see the sh*t we turn down. Think: weight loss pills, hair growth gummies, detoxes and cellulite creams. Unfortunately these are often the companies with the biggest budgets of them all.
So where do we go from here? My hope is that you now have an understanding of how I monetize my account and why I continue to do so. My goal for 2019 is to continue being selective with which brands I work with and ensure that each partnership I accept falls within the foundations of my business and provides you value.
I will also continue to use, share and promote brands I love that I don’t work with. Some more recent examples of companies you see on my feed all the time are GG crackers, Chosen Food Avocado Oil and La Tortilla Factory Wraps. I’ve never had contact with these brands and while I would love to work with them, I currently pay for the products myself and still give them huge endorsements on my page.
Figuring out what works and doesn’t work for my account is a constant learning experience but at the end of the day, no matter how many or few likes, I can’t look back with regret on any type of post, paid or not, that falls within the reason I started this account in the first place.
Thanks to everyone for continuing to follow along. Your feedback is always so important to me so I would love to hear your thoughts on this post. Leave a comment, send me a DM or reply to my newsletter!
xoxo