Imagine scrolling through Instagram or Facebook, enjoying the usual posts from friends and family, and suddenly, a post catches your eye. It’s compelling, beautifully crafted, and feels just like a regular post—but there’s a tiny “Sponsored” label at the top. Welcome to the world of sponsored posts, a powerful tool for brands to reach new audiences and engage effectively. In this guide, we’ll delve into what sponsored posts are, why they are essential, and how you can leverage them for your brand. By the end, you’ll have a clear understanding of how to integrate sponsored posts into your marketing strategy.
Key Takeaways
- Sponsored posts are a form of advertising where brands pay influencers or publishers to create and share content on their platforms, reaching a targeted audience. Unlike traditional ads, sponsored posts are more authentic and blend seamlessly with regular content, making them more engaging and trustworthy.
- There are two main types of sponsored posts: promoted or boosted posts, and influencer partnerships. Promoted posts are paid advertisements on social media platforms, while influencer partnerships involve influencers promoting a brand to their engaged followers, adding social proof and credibility.
- To effectively use sponsored posts, brands should identify their goals, choose the right platform, collaborate with relevant influencers, create high-quality content, and monitor and optimize their campaigns. Each step is crucial for achieving desired outcomes such as increased brand awareness, traffic, and sales.
- Different social media platforms offer unique opportunities for sponsored posts. Instagram and Facebook are popular choices, with Instagram allowing both promoted posts and influencer collaborations, while Facebook focuses on promoted posts. TikTok, LinkedIn, and Twitter also provide various formats and tools for creating and tracking sponsored content.
What Are Sponsored Posts?
Simply put, a sponsored post is a piece of content created by one party (usually an influencer or publisher) and paid for by another (a brand). This content is typically shared on the creator’s platform, reaching their audience. It’s a win-win situation: the brand gets exposure, and the creator gets paid.
Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Isn’t this just another fancy term for advertising?” Well, kind of. But there’s a subtle difference. Sponsored posts are more authentic and often feel less promotional than traditional ads. They’re like a trusted friend recommending a product – it carries more weight.
Sponsored posts can be found throughout all social media platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and even LinkedIn.
Why Are Sponsored Posts Important?
Sponsored posts are crucial for several reasons. First, they provide a way for brands to reach a larger and more targeted audience. Unlike traditional ads, sponsored posts blend in with regular content, making them more likely to be viewed and engaged with. According to a study by Nielsen, consumers are 70% more likely to remember a brand from seeing a native ad (like a sponsored post) compared to a traditional display ad. See infographics below:
Type of Sponsored Posts
There are two types of sponsored posts:
#1. Promoted or Boosted Posts
This is the classic type of paid advertisement. Brands pay to have their native ads published on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. Paid ads target specific audiences based on data such as location, age, and gender. Your ad money is sent straight to the social media platform.
Boosted posts are easily identifiable since they have the words “sponsored” or “promoted” underneath the account username. Paid posts frequently include a call-to-action button, such as “Shop Now” or “Download.”
#2. Influencer Partnerships
This type of sponsored post involves advertisers paying a specific user, typically an influencer, to promote their brand in a post. These influencers provide access to their community of engaged followers.
An influencer’s ideas and recommendations are important to their followers, thus these posts are an excellent approach to produce social proof. Your brand can collaborate with influencers to gain access to a powerful “word-of-mouth” marketing channel.
An influencer ad might be difficult to identify because it often appears like their normal content. To promote openness, most social media platforms require influencers to label their paid posts.
How to Leverage Sponsored Posts for Your Brand
Using sponsored posts effectively requires a strategic approach. Here are some steps to help you get started:
#1. Identify Your Goals
Before you create a sponsored post, it’s essential to identify your goals. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, or boost sales? Knowing your objectives will help you design a more effective campaign.
#2. Choose the Right Platform
Not all social media platforms are created equal. Your choice of platform should align with your target audience. For example, if you’re targeting a younger demographic, Instagram might be your best bet. On the other hand, if you’re looking to reach a broader age range, Facebook could be more effective.
#3. Collaborate with Influencers
Influencer marketing is a powerful way to leverage sponsored posts. By partnering with influencers who have a strong following in your niche, you can tap into their audience and gain credibility. For example, a fitness brand might collaborate with a well-known fitness influencer to promote a new workout program.
#4. Create High-Quality Content
The success of your sponsored post largely depends on the quality of the content. It should be visually appealing, engaging, and relevant to your audience. High-quality images, compelling videos, and well-crafted captions can make a significant difference.
#5. Monitor and Optimize
Once your sponsored post is live, it’s crucial to monitor its performance. Use analytics tools to track engagement, click-through rates, and conversions. Based on the data, make necessary adjustments to optimize your campaign for better results.
Instagram Sponsored Posts
Sponsored posts on Instagram allow you to promote a post from your company profile or collaborate with an influencer on a paid sponsorship. In addition, you can market Instagram story ads.
Instagram sponsored posts to include a “Sponsored” tag below your brand name, as well as call-to-action buttons such as “Shop now”, “Learn more”, or “Sign up”. Here’s how a promoted Instagram post looks:
Sponsored posts on Instagram with a “Paid partnership” tag under the influencer’s name can also include your brand’s name. A paid partnership on Instagram looks like this:
How to Create a Sponsored Post on Instagram
To create a promoted post on Instagram, you’ll need to boost an existing post:
- Go to your profile and select the post you want to promote.
- Press the Boost post button.
- Select your goal (whether that be more profile visits, website visits or messages).
- Choose your target audience (it can be automatic or you can create your own).
- Set your Budget and Duration.
- Pay and you’re done.
To manage your Instagram advertising efforts and monitor how your sponsored post is performing, go to your profile, choose your post, and then click View Insights or Ad Insights. From there, you can see your engagement and goal analytics.
With paid partnerships, the influencer will create and share the content. It is up to you to approve the influencer as a content creator for your brand. To accomplish this, you will:
- Go to your Settings and press Business.
- Select Branded content and then Approve content creators.
- Enter the username of the influencer you’re working with.
- Press the Approve button that’s next to their username.
With your permission, the influencer can tag you as a business partner in their sponsored post. You will also be able to check the reach and engagement data from the influencer’s post.
Facebook Sponsored Posts
Facebook only allows you to create promoted posts (no influencers). Facebook-promoted posts have a “Sponsored” tag underneath your brand’s name and a call-to-action button that can read “Shop now,” “Learn more,” or “Sign up.”
This is what Facebook’s promoted posts look like:
How to Create a Promoted Post on Facebook
These are the steps to create a promoted post on Facebook:
- Go to your Facebook page.
- Select the post that you want to promote and press Boost post.
- Choose a campaign goal based on the stages of Awareness, Consideration or Conversions.
- Select a recommended audience or create your own custom audience.
- Enter your Budget and the Duration of the campaign.
- Pay and boost your post.
To view the results of your boosted post, go to your Facebook page, select Ad Center, select your boosted post, and then click the View Results option. The Ad Center allows you to track all of your paid posts and evaluate how your Facebook advertising campaign is performing overall.
TikTok Sponsored Posts
Sponsored TikTok posts include both promoted posts and paid partnerships for TikTok ads. Like the others, a “Sponsored” tag shows beneath your brand’s name and captions, along with a CTA button.
Here is how sponsored TikTok posts look like:
TikTok-sponsored posts include a “Paid partnership” tag next to the influencer’s username and caption. Here’s how paid sponsorships on TikTok look like:
How to Create a Sponsored Post on TikTok
Sponsored posts are only one of several ways to generate money on TikTok. TikTok users are 1.4 times more likely to explore businesses or products on the platform, thus these types of posts can be particularly beneficial.
Here’s how to create promoted TikTok posts, presuming you’ve already developed and posted sponsored content on your account:
- Go to your Profile and tap on the three-line menu.
- Select Creator tools and then Promote.
- Pick the TikTok video you want to promote.
- Choose your goal: more video views, website visits, followers, messages or profile views.
- Choose your audience (it can be a default or custom audience).
- Set your Budget and Duration.
- Pay and start your promotion.
To track the performance of your post, go to your Profile, tap the three-line menu, click Creator tools, and then Analytics. On the paid partnership side, you can contact a TikTok influencer and collaborate with them by following these steps:
- Log into the TikTok Creator Marketplace.
- Click on Explore and use the filter to find TikTok creators that you want to reach out to.
- Select Create Campaign and fill in your campaign details.
- Click on Upload Message to initiate contact with your chosen TikTok creators or influencers.
Later, when you’ve reached an agreement with an influencer and the sponsored TikTok post is online, you can track its performance. Log into your TikTok Creator Marketplace account and select Reporting to view your Campaigns, Views, and Engagement Rate.
LinkedIn Promoted Posts
For LinkedIn sponsored posts, the format remains consistent, with a prominent “Promoted” tag and a CTA.
How to Create a Promoted Post on LinkedIn
These are the steps you need to follow to create a LinkedIn ad:
- Sign in to the LinkedIn Campaign Manager.
- Select an objective from Awareness, Consideration or Conversions.
- Build your audience by selecting multiple attributes.
- Choose an Ad format.
- Set a Budget and a Schedule.
To oversee the outcomes of your sponsored content, navigate back to LinkedIn Campaign Manager and select Performance Chart to view clicks, impressions, conversions, leads, average cost per lead, and more. You can also click on Demographics to view information such as job title, company, company size, area, country, and other details about the people who interacted with your ad.
Twitter Promoted Tweets
Twitter sponsored posts feature a “Promoted” tag at the bottom left, along with a small arrow pointing upwards. It does not have defined CTA buttons, however, pressing the ad takes you to the appropriate landing page.
How to Create Promoted Tweets
This is how you create promoted Tweets for your Twitter advertising campaign:
- Go to Twitter’s ad platform.
- Input your Country/Region and Time zone.
- Choose your objective: Reach, Engagement, Followers or Website traffic.
- Write your ad text and add media.
- Select the demographics of your audience.
- Add targeting features like keywords your audience uses, followers of similar accounts, and even their operating system.
- Set a Budget and Schedule.
- Add your payment method and launch your campaign.
To track the performance of your promoted Tweets, return to Twitter’s ad platform and select Analytics. Then, click Tweet activity to view the impressions, engagement, engagement rate, likes, and other stats for your Top and Promoted Tweets.
Sponsored Posts Example
When going through your social media feeds, you’re likely to come across a sponsored post pretty soon. The strategy has increased in popularity across all social media platforms, and it is used successfully by worldwide businesses from a wide range of industries and sectors.
#1. Kind
Kind, a snack business, partnered with TikTok influencers to create sponsored posts to promote its Simple Crunch bars. Also, Kind used highly creative influencers, such as Zach King (@zachking), Oven Mom (@amystephens529), and Kombucha Girl (@brittany_broski), to reach its Gen Z target group with amusing narrative posts. The promotion was launched with a branded hashtag competition called #KindSimpleCrunchContest.
#2. Capital One
Capital One funded surfer and travel influencer Chris Burkard to market its cards in posts about his world-traveling adventures. Chris’ posts underlined how the Capital One card helped him achieve his travel ambitions to appeal to an audience that might not have immediately associated credit services with their hobbies. A post shared by Chris Burkard (@chrisburkard)
#3. Nike and Instagram Sponsored Posts
Nike is a brand that has mastered the art of sponsored posts on Instagram. By collaborating with top athletes and influencers, Nike creates visually stunning posts that resonate with their audience. For instance, a recent campaign featured a famous soccer player wearing the latest Nike gear, resulting in millions of likes and thousands of comments.
#4. Starbucks and Facebook Sponsored Posts
Starbucks effectively uses sponsored posts on Facebook to promote seasonal drinks and offers. Their posts often include vibrant images of their products, coupled with engaging captions. During a recent holiday season, Starbucks ran a sponsored post-campaign showcasing their festive drinks, which significantly boosted foot traffic to their stores.
How do you get sponsored posts?
Creating effective sponsored posts requires a blend of creativity, strategy, and authenticity. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
- Understand Your Audience: Knowing your audience is crucial. Conduct research to understand their preferences, interests, and behaviors. This knowledge will help you create content that resonates with them.
- Craft Compelling Content: Content is king. Your sponsored post should be visually appealing and include a clear call to action. Use high-quality images or videos and write engaging captions that encourage interaction.
- Collaborate Wisely: Choose influencers or pages that align with your brand values and have a genuine connection with their followers. Authenticity is key to the success of sponsored posts.
- Leverage Analytics: Use analytics tools to track the performance of your sponsored posts. Monitor metrics such as engagement rates, click-through rates, and conversions. This data will provide insights into what works and what doesn’t, allowing you to optimize future campaigns.
- Stay Authentic: Authenticity is paramount. Ensure that your sponsored posts align with your brand’s voice and message. Avoid overly promotional content that might turn off your audience.
Maximize the impact of your sponsored posts with our free checklist. Learn how to identify the right influencers, create engaging content, and measure your campaign’s success. Download now to take your influencer marketing to the next level.
Where can I get sponsored posts?
Finding sponsored post opportunities can be a thrilling adventure for both influencers and brands. Here are some effective ways to connect with potential partners:
- Influencer Platforms
- Direct Outreach
- UseSocial Media Platforms
Are sponsored posts on Facebook paid?
Yes, sponsored posts on Facebook are paid advertisements. Essentially, you’re paying to boost the visibility of an organic post on your Facebook page. This means your content reaches a wider audience than it would organically.
How much do you pay for a sponsored post?
The benefit of sponsored posts is that campaigns can be customized to meet your budget and goals. Influencers are often classified into five major categories depending on their follower count:
- Nano-Influencer: 5,000–20,000 followers.
- Micro-Influencer: 20,000-60,000 followers.
- Mid-tier Influencer: 60,000-200,000 followers.
- Macro-Influencer: 200,000-1,000,000 followers.
- Mega-Influencer: 1,000,000+.
When it comes to sponsoring influencers, greater fees are often expected for those with a large number of followers, but other considerations also come into play. The engagement rate is one. While it is simple to believe that more followers equals better outcomes, this is not necessarily the case. The smaller accounts – our nano and micro-influencers – frequently generate the most interaction with their followers.
Conclusion
Sponsored posts are a powerful tool for businesses to reach a wider audience and build brand awareness. By understanding the different types of sponsored posts, finding the right influencers, and carefully measuring results, you can create successful campaigns that drive growth.
So, are you ready to dive into the world of sponsored posts? Remember, it’s not just about spending money; it’s about building relationships and creating authentic content that resonates with your target audience.
What are your biggest challenges when it comes to influencer marketing and sponsored posts? Share your experiences in the comments below!
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