How to Become a Brand Ambassador on Instagram

Brands are constantly looking for ambassadors to market their products on social media’s image-forward platform, Instagram. Brand ambassadors are trusted customers who share their product experiences with other existing or potential customers. Companies are looking for IG users who know how to tell their story and how to work a crowd. Here’s what you need to know to get started!

Introduce Yourself!

Your Instagram bio is more important than you think. Besides being the first thing followers see under your name, it also should serve as a quick mini summary of who you are. There are some big influencers who barely have anything here, but that’s because we already know who they are! Consider what your followers should know about you. Four things your bio should have are location, occupation(s), affiliation(s), and link to website.

Your location lets companies know if they can use you for their local stores, but it also can give your followers a sense of pride. You don’t have to put your exact location, but at least put your state. I always get excited when I see a fellow Tennessean, especially outside the state.

A lot of celebrities include their CEO or Exec. Producer titles here, but for us, this is where you put your day job. If you are currently a part-time or full-time student, then list your college and include school colors and mascot in emojis if possible. In this section, I definitely state that I’m a grad student. Before that I used to have “aspiring copywriter” here.

The affiliation section may blur with your occupation, but this category includes several things. You can list any club or school organizations. Here I list my sorority and honor societies with appropriate color and mascot emojis, established year, and chapter.

The link is optional, but it would be great to show your blog or website here to direct traffic. You don’t need a blog, but if you want to actually tell a story, it would be best to have one. Others put their YouTube Channel here which is a great alternative.

Define Your Niche!

This may be the hardest part; you must narrow your topic to revolve around one thing. With your personal page, you can talk about whatever happens in your life. However, with your brand ambassador page, you need to show brands and your audience your expertise topic. You can have the best of both worlds if you @ the other account within the bio.

Now it may sound like you’re promoting an obsession with a hobby, but that’s basically what it is. For example, if you love doing art, then base your content around your medium and style of art. Post your latest projects or your daily doodles on your class notes. Aspiring brand ambassadors should have enough curated content to prove to your followers that you’re an authority figure in the field.

Find Your Audience.

With your topic in mind, you were probably thinking, Well, anyone who likes ________. But that’s not the case with social media platforms. For instance, Facebook and YouTube have the most diverse age groups, but Instagram’s bulk users are ages 14-25. With that in mind, you have to consider what memes, emojis or slang you mention in your posts.

For example, if you’re a Millennial like me, but your followers are Generation Z, they may miss out on your Big Comfy Couch or Allegra’s Window references, but SpongeBob SquarePants has a better reach. These are things to think about when posting to certain platforms.

What Should You Include In Your Posts?

Because it’s on IG, all the images should be of high quality. Now that Instagram allows users to zoom in, pictures shouldn’t look too grainy or blurry. The picture should also relate to the theme of your niche, and the picture should clearly display the service or product. For example, if you’re showing off a nail polish, it would be best to get a pic of your nails and the bottle together. You can take a photo of the whole outfit, but one pic should act as a clear showcase.

Another way to help the post is to use hashtags of course. These function the same way keywords; they help seekers find what they are looking for. It’s like looking through your closet for a denim jacket, then pulling out all the denim jackets to see which one best fits your look of the day. The recommended amount is 2-7, and if you really wanted to put more, you can put it in a comment below. Putting hashtags in the comments also declutters the caption.

As for the caption, you’ll want to get used to mini blogging. Captioning a song lyric is cute for your personal page, but you should focus more on telling a story on how the product works for you. Instead, you can add the song to the post or explain the relevance of the lyric in relation to the picture’s story. Posts serve four reasons: inspiration, education, entertainment, or promotion. The last will always be required for an ambassador, but it must be seamlessly intertwined without it being too “advertisey.”

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What Do Your Tiles Look Like?

Back in the MySpace days, we were all concerned about layouts, and secretly Instagram has them too. Although IG is an image-centered platform, your posts should alternate between photographs and text images such as memes or quotes. It should resemble a checkerboard pattern. These text images give you the opportunity to repost from someone else which could potentially help bring notice to your page and gives your viewers a break from photos and products.

The first nine tiles on your profile are your first impression to your content, especially new followers. These first squares tell your audience what your content is about. If there is an uneven topic share, then this could lead to your content looking disorganized.

What Brands Can You See Yourself Working With?

You’ll want to consider two things: what brands do you regularly use and what brands are relevant to your niche. Just like your followers, brands are looking for customers who know the ins and outs of their product and convince other customers to join you in the brand experience and brand culture. An example of these is that Nike’s Dri-Fit material is great for sweaty workouts, while their attitude about is taking tasks head on.

There may be other situations where brands you don’t think are related reach out to you because you’re trending. In these situations you can find a way to make it fit your personal brand. Let’s say you do fashion and beauty as your thing, and an ice cream company approaches you. You could use the color pallet of the ice cream and match it to your nail designs. Then in your caption, you can mention how you enjoyed the product and how it inspired this nail design.

How Much Is Your Collaboration Worth?

You may start off with brands that only offer mentions, reposts, or freebies, but eventually, you’ll find one that pays. Think about how often this brand wants you to post, are expenses paid for, and if the work matches the exchange or pay. You’ll have to do some research because each brand is different.

One leash company wanted to work me and my photogenic pit bull. I was flattered at first, but they offered nothing in return… “for now.” They wanted me to buy their products which had a 40% discount off my first purchase and 20% off all future purchased. All the photos had to be high quality and always outside. They would use her photo on their page, but other than that, it was nothing which was not enough in my opinion.