How To Link My Blog On Instagram Posts

Instagram has 1 billion monthly active users.

500 million of those users are engaging daily on the platform. And they're not just engaging with their very best of friends. They're engaging with brands, too, 10x more than they do on Facebook.

As a result, many brands and marketers are clamoring to find new ways to increase their reach and grow their followings. In the process, many are turning to Instagram sponsored posts.

In this post, we're going to discuss everything you need to know about Instagram sponsored posts, including:

- how to create an Instagram sponsored post
- how to attract sponsors to your own brand
- how much Instagram sponsored posts cost

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What is an Instagram Sponsored Post?

An Instagram sponsored post is content that's created and published by an influencer on their own account in exchange for some sort of compensation. This is where "Instagram influencers" come into play in the marketing world and it's how they can leverage their Instagram account for a lucrative career.

As influencer marketing skyrocketed to popularity over the past few years, there were some concerns about transparency. To account for this, Instagram rolled out its branded content features, which allows Instagram influencers to create branded partnerships with businesses on the platform and tag the brand in the content they sponsored.

What do Instagram Sponsored Posts Look Like?

Instagram sponsored posts are flagged with a "paid partnership with [brand name]" tag that appears immediately under the user name. This makes them highly visible.

Example of Instagram sponsored post from Half Baked Harvest

This tagged partnership will also grant the business partner access to organic insights to posts that they're tagged in. They can see the date the content was published, whether it was an image or video post or a Story, and both the reach and engagement metrics. The Insights can help them determine which partnerships are most lucrative and beneficial to them.

If you're creating sponsored posts on Instagram, you must use this feature. Not only does it keep you in Instagram's good graces, but since clear disclosure of sponsored content is required by the FTC, it protects both parties from potential liability or fines.

Since the FTC was cracking down on rogue influencers who weren't properly disclosing sponsored content, this is significant. It also promotes general transparency, which helps maintain user trust in both the brand and influencer.

How to Sponsor a Post on Instagram

Want to sponsor a post on Instagram as a brand who will work with an influencer?

First, you need to iron out the details with an influencer privately. You can reach out to them directly through their Instagram private messages or their website to ask about a sponsored opportunity. Some influencers will require payment upfront, while others may create sponsored posts in exchange for free product samples.

Once you work the details out and payment is sorted, it's up to you as a business to set up the branded sponsorship on Instagram.

To do this, you're going to go to your account's "Settings," and then find "Business." From here, go to "Brand content," and then you can go to "Approved Business Partners" to add public business or creator accounts as a partner.

You can also choose to manually approve all tags, which allows you to accept the sponsored tag before it displays. This gives you the chance to monitor content and make sure it's what you want, which is crucial for brand safety purposes.

Once a branded partner tags you in content, you'll get a notification with the option to approve it. Once you do, the post will show up in your Insights.

If you're wondering how to delete a sponsored post on Instagram, you can remove the tag at any point when viewing the content. You can also choose not to approve it to begin with.

How to Create a Sponsored Post on Instagram

We're going to look at how to create sponsored posts from both the brand side and the influencer side. First, let's look at how an influencer can create a sponsored post, because it will be on them to do so.

First, you need to set up a branded sponsorship with a business. The business will need to add you as a partner who can tag you on Instagram following the steps detailed above.

Then, you can create the post. When creating the content, it's important to remember any brand guidelines that your partner may have provided you with. It never hurts to run the post by the business first (both the visual and the copy) to ensure they're happy with it, even if this isn't stipulated in the contract.

When you go to upload a sponsored post on Instagram, start by uploading the post or Story as you normally would. For in-feed content, go to "Advanced Settings," and then select "Tag Business Partner." You can then tag the brand, who can approve the content before it is published if approval is required.

For Stories, you'll do the exact same, only you'll go to the link on the icon toolbar, which will open up the ability to tag a brand.

How to Get a Sponsored Post on Instagram

Becoming significant enough on a platform or in an industry that you can attract potential sponsors is a goal that plenty of people have, especially with how lucrative it can be. So if you're looking into how to get an Instagram post sponsored by a company, know that you're not alone.

You'll want to take the following steps before you're likely to find sponsors:

Build up a large, engaged following on Instagram. You don't need ten million followers (though you can certainly charge more if you have that many). You do need a solid follower count of at least a few thousand to catch potential sponsors' interest. And don't even think about buying likes; you need to have an engaged audience who is actively liking and commenting on your content.
Niche down.While some mega influencers like those coming off of reality TV attract a variety of diverse sponsors, many individuals will find most success if they become a well-known name for something specific. You can focus on healthy living, for example, or become well-known for your excellent dog-training tips. If you're seen as an expert, you become more attractive to sponsors, because your followers are more likely to trust you.
Make your account public.Make sure that your account is set to public, and that you have either a business or creator account. This gives you the ability to set up branded partnerships later on, but it also gives you access to analytics. You can use these to pitch businesses later.

How to Get Noticed for Sponsored Posts

Once you have a solid account up and running, you can do the following to hopefully attract potential sponsors:

Instagram Sponsored Post Costs

If you're wondering how much to charge for a sponsored post on Instagram as an influencer, or how much you could expect to be shelling out to sponsor someone, the simple answer is that it depends.

Costs vary wildly depending on the influencer's status, follower size, and industry. Someone with a highly engaged audience and a reputation as an expert who has 1 million followers can charge much more than an industry blogger with 10k followers.

According to Influencer Agency, you might expect to pay the following ranges based on follower count:

$800-1500 for 25-50k followers
$1500-2000 for 50-100k followers
$2000-6000 for 100-150k followers
$6000-10000 for 250k-1m followers
$10000+ for 1M+ followers

Ultimately, if you're wondering how much a sponsored post is on Instagram, the best way to find out is to email the individual influencers you want to work with.

How to Create Instagram Sponsored Posts in the Ads Manager

Following up on our "How to Create an Instagram Sponsored Post" section above, business partners can promote branded content through the Facebook Ad system, even if they didn't create it. If you want to promote a Story, the creator must have Stories archived.

For businesses to do this, they must go to the Ads Manager to create a new ad. Choose your objective. On the next page, you'll see the option to "Use Post" at the very top right corner. Click this.

Facebook Ads manager showing how to boost a post

Once you click, you'll see all the existing creatives that you can use, including posts that branded partners and creators have granted you permission to use. Complete the ad creation process, and submit! Your collaboration will now receive an even larger audience than it might have organically.

Ads manager showing different posts that the advertiser can promote

Final Thoughts

Influencer marketing is a major force to be reckoned with in the social media marketing world. If your business has the budget available to you, it's well worth considering reaching out to influencers who you think could connect you to your target audience. If you're on a tight budget, look into "micro-influencers" who may only have a few thousand followers but who are well trusted in your field. They can be a great place to start because even "only" a few thousand impressions can make a big impact in the right audience.

What do you think? Have you ever used sponsored Instagram posts for your business? How do you find influencers you want to work with? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below!