3 Ways To Make Your Sponsored Posts Feel More Authentic
As an influencer, you know that you are picky with your sponsorships and you won’t promote something that you don’t like. Authenticity is important to most influencers, not to mention, legally, you have to mean what you say in an ad. Nonetheless, it’s easy for sponsored posts to come across as in-authentic, too scripted, or just plain cheesy, especially once you’ve covered all of the requirements from the brand that don’t always feel like you. Here are a few tips for making your sponsored posts feel more authentic, to boost post performance and make sure your audience isn’t feeling spammed:
1. share unsponsored products too, and stop saying “this isn’t sponsored, i just love it”
Share brands and products you love before they sponsor you — This is not only a great way to connect with the brands to start talking about partnership ideas, but also, your audience will know that sponsored posts featuring these brands are authentic because they’ve seen it on your page before it was sponsored. They might even be excited for you, knowing you landed a deal with one of your favorite brands. Stay away from adding the “This isn’t sponsored, I promise. I just love it” disclaimer when you share “free” posts, though. If you always add that disclaimer when your posts are not sponsored, it takes away the feeling of authenticity and trust when your posts are sponsored.
2. Show bTS of creating the ad (as much as you can)
If you can share any behind the scenes (usually without showing the actual product or any reveals) of your ad before it’s posted, do it! This is a great way to build some suspense and show the audience that you genuinely had a fun/interesting time creating the content. Having watched the creation process, your audience will want to see the results and will more likely engage with the ad and see it as a positive thing instead of an inauthentic interruption in their day.
3. Incorporate sponsorships into a consistent series that you already share
We always encourage our roster to create content series, meaning one or two types of content that you post every single week (or whatever regular-ish schedule you choose). Series are great for audience engagement, and they make for an easy pitch to brand partners, and they are a built-in natural, authentic, already-happening way to incorporate sponsors that you know your audience will love. You can do a series of monthly fashion hauls, a comedy series with the same character or theme that comes back each time, a weekly furniture flip, a friday coffee shop taste test — the possibilities are endless and the consistency will do amazing things for your partnerships!