How to Get Collaborations with Brands on Instagram

Landing your first brand collaboration on Instagram can feel like a huge milestone, and it is. This guide breaks down the exact steps you need to take to go from content creator to brand partner, outlining the process for building a standout profile, finding the right brands, pitching them professionally, and building a foundation for long-term success. We'll cover everything from perfecting your profile to crafting the perfect outreach email.

Step 1: Build a Brand-Ready Foundation

Before you even think about reaching out to a brand, your Instagram profile needs to look the part. Brands are looking for professional, reliable partners who have a clear point of view and an engaged audience. Think of your profile as your storefront - it needs to be clean, inviting, and make it instantly clear what you're all about.

Define Your Niche and Stick to It

Brands want to partner with creators who have a direct line to a specific community. If you post about vegan recipes one day, vintage fashion the next, and rock climbing on the weekend, it's hard for a brand to know who your audience is. A clear niche shows you're an expert figure in a specific area, whether it’s sustainable living, home organization for small spaces, or minimalist tech.

Ask yourself:

• What am I passionate and knowledgeable about?
• Who am I creating content for?
• What problem do I solve for my audience?

A plant-based protein powder brand, for example, will choose a creator who consistently posts vegan fitness content over a general lifestyle creator because they know the audience is a perfect match.

Optimize Your Bio and Profile

Your bio is your digital business card. In a few seconds, it should tell a brand who you are, what you do, and who you serve. Make sure it's completely filled out and professional.

• Profile Picture: A clear, high-quality headshot or a clean logo.
• Name Field: Use your name and a keyword that describes your niche (e.g., "Anna | NYC Food Stylist"). This part is searchable on Instagram.
• Bio Description: Clearly state your value proposition. Example: "Helping you cook healthy meals in under 30 minutes. NYC".
• Include a Call-to-Action & Contact: Always provide a way for brands to contact you. Use your Link in Bio for a portfolio or website, and add an email address directly to your profile using the "Contact" button feature. A professional email address (yourname@domain.com) is better than a generic Gmail one.

Create High-Quality, Consistent Content

Think of your grid as your portfolio. When a brand manager lands on your page, they should immediately see consistency in quality, style, and subject matter. This doesn't mean every photo has to look exactly the same, but there should be a cohesive aesthetic and a reliable posting schedule. Great content shows that you take your work seriously. This includes crisp photos, clean video edits, well-written captions, and a clear understanding of what performs well on Instagram, like Reels and Stories.

Grow an Engaged Community, Not Just a Follower Count

A few years ago, follower count was everything. Today, a high engagement rate is far more valuable. A creator with 5,000 highly engaged followers is often more attractive to a brand than one with 50,000 passive followers. Engagement (comments, shares, saves, and DMs) proves your community trusts you and listens to your recommendations.

Focus on building relationships by:

• Responding to comments and DMs.
• Asking questions in your captions and Stories.
• Using interactive stickers like polls, quizzes, and Q&As.
• Going live to connect with your audience in real-time.

This community management shows brands that when you post about their product, your audience will actually pay attention.

Step 2: Create a Professional Media Kit

A media kit is your creator resume. It's a 1-3 page document that showcases your brand, audience data, and collaboration options. Having one ready to go makes you look professional and serious. It saves brands time because all the information they need to make a decision is in one place.

What to Include in Your Media Kit

• Introduction: A short bio about you and your brand. What's your story? What's your mission?
• Audience Demographics: This is a must-have. Go to your Instagram Insights and pull data on your audience's age ranges, gender breakdown, and top locations (cities and countries). Brands need to know if your audience aligns with their target customer.
• Key Performance Metrics: Don't just list your follower count. Include more important numbers like:
  • Average engagement rate on posts and Reels (you can calculate this: (Likes + Comments) / Followers * 100).
  • Average Reel views (e.g., over the last 30 days).
  • Average Story views.
  • Monthly impressions and reach.
• Past Collaborations & Testimonials: If you've worked with brands before, showcase them here. Include logos, sample work, and any positive performance data (e.g., "Generated 200+ link clicks for Brand X"). If you have a quote from a happy client, add it in.
• Services & Pricing: Clearly outline the collaboration packages you offer. Be specific. Instead of just saying "a post," list out your offerings:
  • 1 In-Feed Static Post (with X photos)
  • 1 Instagram Reel (30-60 seconds)
  • 1 Instagram Story set (e.g., 3 frames)
  • Bundles (e.g., 1 Reel + 1 Story set)
  You can list your starting rates or simply say "Rates available upon request," but many brands appreciate seeing the numbers upfront as it saves everyone time.
• Contact Information: Make it easy for them to get in touch. Include your full name, Instagram handle, and professional email address.

You can easily create a professional-looking media kit for free using a tool like Canva, which has dozens of pre-made templates.

Step 3: Find and Research the Right Brands

Mass-emailing hundreds of brands is a waste of time. Your focus should be on building a curated list of a dozen brands that are a perfect fit for your niche and audience. A personalized pitch to the right brand is a hundred times more effective than a generic pitch to the wrong one.

Start with Brands You Already Use and Love

Authenticity is the most powerful selling point. What products are already in your photos? What services do you talk about with your friends? Make a list of these brands. Your pitch will be much stronger when it comes from a place of genuine admiration. You can say, "I've been using your products for years and my audience is always asking me about my skincare routine."

See Who Your Peers Are Working With

Look at other creators in your niche who are slightly bigger than you. What brands are they partnering with? This is a great way to identify companies that already have a budget for influencer marketing and understand its value. You can use this information to see who's active in your space right now.

Do a Brand Health Check

Once you have a list, do some research. Make sure the brand aligns with your values. If you promote slow, sustainable fashion, partnering with a fast-fashion brand will alienate your audience and damage your credibility. Visit their website, check out their social channels, and see what kind of messaging they put out. Ask yourself: "Would I be proud to represent this company?"

Step 4: Craft and Send Your Pitch

This is where your research and preparation pay off. A thoughtful, personalized pitch will get a response, while a cookie-cutter email will be instantly deleted. DMs are okay for an initial connection, but a professional email is almost always the better approach.

Find the Right Contact Person

Don't send your email to a generic info@brand.com address if you can avoid it. Try to find the email of the person who actually handles influencer collaborations. Look on LinkedIn for titles like:

• Influencer Marketing Manager
• Social Media Manager
• Marketing Manager
• Brand Partnership Coordinator
• Public Relations (PR) Manager

If you can't find a specific contact, sending a concise and well-worded DM to the brand's Instagram account asking for the best person to contact for collaboration proposals can also work.

Write a Compelling Pitch Email

Your email should be short, to the point, and focused on the value you provide to them, not just what you want from them.

Here's a simple structure:

1. A Clear and Catchy Subject Line: Don't be vague. Example: "Collaboration Idea: [Your Niche] Creator, @[YourHandle]".
2. A Personalized Opening: Show you've done your research. This is the most important part. "Hi [Brand Contact Name], I'm a huge fan of the recent [Mention a Specific Product or Campaign]! I've been using your organic oat milk in my morning latte recipes for months."
3. A Quick Introduction: Briefly introduce yourself and your brand. "My name is Jane and on my Instagram, @[YourHandle], I share easy vegan recipes with my audience of 10,000 engaged food lovers, mostly Millennial women based in the US."
4. Present The Idea & Value: This is where you connect their product to your audience. Don't just ask to work together - propose a specific idea. "I'm planning a series next month on '5-Minute Vegan Breakfasts,' and I'd love to feature your oat milk in a Reel showcasing 3 recipes. My Reels average 25,000 views and have driven significant interest in products I use."
5. Wrap it Up with a Call to Action: Attach your media kit and end with a clear next step. "You can find more detail about my audience and past work in my media kit attached. I would love the opportunity to work with you. Would you be open to a brief chat next week?"

Don't Forget to Follow Up

Marketing managers are busy. If you don't receive a reply in a week, send a brief, polite follow-up email. A simple, "Hi [Name], just wanted to send a friendly follow-up on my email from last week. Let me know if you had a moment to consider my proposal!" is all you need. Sometimes it's this gentle nudge that gets your email noticed.

Final Thoughts

Securing brand collaborations on Instagram is a process that rewards patience, professionalism, and authenticity. By building a strong foundation with quality content, developing a powerful media kit, and crafting personalized pitches to the right brands, you shift from simply creating content to building a sustainable business. Remember, it's about building long-term relationships, not just one-off transactions.

To succeed with brand partnerships, consistency is everything. Having a clean, professional feed and a predictable posting schedule shows brands that you're reliable. We created Postbase to make that part easier. Our visual calendar lets you plan your content weeks in advance, so you always know what's coming up, and our reliable scheduling means your content goes live exactly when it's supposed to. A well-managed presence makes you a far more attractive partner for any brand.