How To Do a Sponsored Instagram Post: A Step-by-Step Guide
Influencers have a knack for effortlessly turning people’s heads with the brands they post about. They make products seem so tantalizing and glamorous that their fans end up buying them. That’s why many companies clamor to collaborate with influencers on sponsored posts.
Think you’ve got what it takes to work with brands and promote products through authentic content? Here’s how to do a sponsored Instagram post, step by step.

What Is a Sponsored Post?
A sponsored post is a piece of content an influencer is paid to make to promote a certain brand. It’s born out of a collaboration between a brand and an influencer they hire to talk about their products online. In return, the brand will compensate the influencer, whether through a monetary fee or some cool freebies.
The idea is to borrow a creator’s influence to get them to make noise about a brand. This helps boost brand awareness, engagement, and maybe even conversions for that brand.
Here’s a quick example of a sponsored post. Say there’s a protein shake brand that wants more exposure on Instagram. They tap a popular fitness influencer on Instagram and offer to sponsor a post of him talking about their product.
That influencer then goes on to produce fitness content, like a video incorporating the protein shake into his workout routine. His thousands of fans learn about the protein shake for the first time, boosting awareness and sales for the brand. In return, he gets paid at an agreed-upon rate and a hefty supply of protein shakes from the brand. It’s a win-win!
Sponsored content is an excellent way for influencers to monetize their Instagram. On the other side of the coin, it’s a terrific marketing tool for brands, too. People consider organic posts by creators way more genuine and trustworthy than hard-sell ads by big companies. This makes their product look a lot more authentic, creating a positive response to the brand.
Of course, it will work best for certain target audiences. According to Statista, Gen Z and Millennials have the highest level of trust in brand recommendations from influencers. So, if a brand wants to target those demographics, sponsoring content from creators they love is an amazing game plan.

How To Do a Sponsored Instagram Post: 7 Steps to Success
Ready to dazzle your fans and partner brands with engaging, high-quality, organic content promoting products you believe in? Here’s how to do a sponsored post on Instagram, step by step.
1. Secure a Deal With a Brand That Wants To Sponsor You
The first step is, of course, to get sponsored by a brand. Some influencers are lucky enough to have partnerships fall on their lap. Others work with an influencer agency to book jobs for them. But most influencers have to actively reach out to brands they’d like to collab with.
Shoot your dream brands a DM or an email. Ask if they’re looking to sponsor posts for influencers who can promote their brand. Then, give them your most compelling pitch. Convince them that you can be an effective brand ambassador. Show them your stellar engagement rates or the types of content you’ve successfully created before—anything to win them over.
A key aspect of how to get an Instagram post sponsored is contacting brands you share similar target audiences with. You should also look for brands with the same aesthetic style as you. These increase the chances for them to take you on as a brand ambassador.

2. Align on the Expectations for the Post
Once you sign a contract to do a sponsored post, the brand will likely brief you on the project. This helps you get a better grasp of what is expected from the branded content you post.
During the brief, the brand will tell you what products they’d like you to promote. You’ll align on specific key messages and creative guidelines they want to shine in your content as well.
They’ll also tell you what kinds of content they want you to create for the project. These can include feed photos, entertaining Reels, Instagram Stories with you talking straight to the fans, and many more.
3. Produce the Branded Content and Get Approval From Your Client
Now for the fun part! Influencers get to work their creative magic and produce branded content to showcase the product. It’s time to whip out your cameras, editing tools, and cute outfits and shoot those photos and videos!
Once you’re done making your content, send it over to the client for approval. The output should be aligned with the creative expectation and content type the client is expecting. If it’s not exactly what they wanted, they may ask you to revise or redo the work. The back-and-forth process continues until the content meets their standards and is finally approved.

4. Add the Paid Partnership Label When You Publish Your Post
Then comes the most crucial step in how to get an Instagram sponsored post—correctly posting your content. Cover the basics, like proofreading your caption and publishing the post at the times of day your fans are online. But also, ensure that you add the paid partnership label to your post.
Instagram requires all influencers to disclose every sponsored post as a “paid partnership” on the platform. Users can see this at the very top of the post, right under the creator’s username. This makes things fairer and more transparent for consumers on the platform.
You can add the paid partnership label right before publishing your post. Here’s how:
1. Open the advanced settings of a post you’re about to publish.
2. Under branded content, switch on the toggle labeled Add paid partnership label.
3. Type the name of the brand you’re collaborating with in the search box. Choose the correct brand based on the results that come up. You can tag up to two brand partners.
4. Click Done and publish your post to the feed!
Note that you can only add the label if you have a professional account with branded content tools switched on.
5. Allow Your Brand Partner To Boost Your Post
Before you publish your post, toggle on the switch to allow your business partner to boost your content. This gives your partner brands the option to turn your organic content into a paid ad by boosting it.
If your client boosts your post, they can set it up as a regular ad. They’ll choose custom audiences to see it, set a budget for the campaign, and manage the asset through Ads Manager. They can even add call-to-action buttons on it to give it some more oomph!
6. Engage With Fans Who Interact With Your Content
Respond to comments and reactions that your fans leave on the post. Use this opportunity to talk more in-depth about the product you’re promoting, especially if your followers have questions about it.
This can also help boost the post’s engagement, helping it fare better in Instagram’s algorithm. Your partner brand will definitely give you extra brownie points for that!

7. Check Instagram Insights To See How Your Content Is Faring
Lastly, look at your content’s metrics on Instagram Insights to assess its performance. This will give you an idea of whether your post resonates with your fans. Use the learnings to create even better and more compelling content for your future sponsored posts and collabs!
You might also want to share screenshots of your metrics with your partner brand. This can be a huge help for them in assessing their influencer campaigns.

Frequently Asked Questions
How do I make a sponsorship post?
Creating a sponsored post is all about promoting your partner brand through authentic content. To do that, you must create content that’s relevant to your target audience while seamlessly incorporating the brand’s key message. Then, you add the finishing touches, such as adding the paid partnership label or including branded hashtags to your post.
Do sponsored Instagram posts work?
Yes, sponsored content is amazing for brands who want to reach their online audience in a more organic way. Many people are easily put off by hard-sell content that brands post. But if it’s an influencer they admire that sings praises about a brand, they might be more willing to listen.
How much do you get paid for sponsored posts?
An influencer’s rate for their sponsored posts depends on many factors, from their follower count to their engagement rate. The rates can go as low as $10 a post for nano-influencers to a few hundred dollars for micro-influencers. Meanwhile, brands pay thousands of dollars for mega-influencers and celebrities to promote them on Instagram.
How can I monetize my Instagram page?
Aside from landing sponsorships with brands, you can also monetize your page through the Instagram bonus program. This allows you to get money from Instagram for your high-performing content. It’s perhaps the easiest way to make money from being an IG creator.
Grow With Path Social and Get More Eyes on Your Sponsored Posts!
It’s important to nail every sponsored post you create. If you impress your partner brand, they’ll be more likely to tap you for future influencer campaigns. That means more opportunities to monetize your Instagram and cement your influence on the platform.
For sponsored posts to be successful, you must ensure many users see them. The more people see your branded posts, the easier you’ll meet targets like high reach and engagement.
But how exactly do you get a lot of people to see your influencer content? We at Path Social can help with that.
We use proprietary algorithms to promote your content to your niche target audience. More people see the branded content you post to promote your partner brands. At the same time, we expose your page to new people, potentially boosting your follower count. Influencers like Terrell Conyers have seen these awesome results from our strategies, and you can, too!
Now that you know how to do a sponsored Instagram post, it’s time to grow the audience that sees it. Get more fans and impress your future brand sponsors with Path Social’s tried-and-tested growth strategies today!


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