You know what really grinds my gears? Instagram brands that have built up their entire following and content based on scamming people into “collaborations”. Let me explain.
I’ve noticed that when I use certain, usually more vague, hashtags on my Instagram posts that I get messages and comments asking to “collaborate.” Now that I’ve been doing the blog thang for a while, I can sniff out when these requests aren’t legitimate, which is most of the time.
For anyone newer to the game, let me tell you this: if a brand wants you to pay anything upfront, this is not a true collaboration. Even shipping. No. Don’t do it.
Usually I leave the comments alone under my post, for engagement purposes, but never respond to those. If I get a message requesting a collaboration, I’ll ask them how it works. It’s usually that I’ll get a discount or just have to pay shipping. I politely decline and let them know I don’t enter into a collaboration where I have to pay anything upfront. They’ll respond that they’re legitimate and then I ignore them. This is pretty much an every-time-I-post occurrence.
There are certain patterns I’ve noticed with these type of brands:
- They have “brand managers” reach out from an account that is separate from the main one.
- Often, the brand managers will tell you to contact someone else about applying to be an ambassador.
- They’ll put it front and center that they’re looking for ambassadors. Think of your favorite legitimate brands – do they do this? I’m willing to bet the answer is no.
- They’ll prominently feature ambassadors in their story highlights. This last one isn’t a total giveaway, because of course brands want to see real people with their products and show them off, but along with the above three clues, it just doesn’t sit right with me.
I’m not saying that there aren’t real brands out there that are willing to give product away for free in exchange for a post. Heck, I’m one of them! I’m just saying that you shouldn’t feel pressured into paying money up front and that it isn’t a true collaboration if that’s what a brand is asking for.
Some bloggers/influencers don’t even accept just product in exchange for social media shout outs. I’m not one of them. That’s up to you and if you think the brand/product is worth the time to style, shoot, and share. If a company comes to me with a truly free product and it’s something I think I’ll like and use, bring it on!
One last thing-I posted in October about how I had been gifted a bunch of products from Amazon shops in exchange for reviews. I have stopped doing that altogether and should have done more research first. My reviews started disappearing and I wasn’t aloud to post reviews at all on the last couple of products I received. I looked into it and apparently the practice of exchanging product for reviews isn’t allowed as per Amazon. Now, while I’ve definitively made a conscious effort to shop small for Christmas this year, I do use Amazon for essentials. I didn’t want to risk loosing my account for sweaters. I would advise anyone to steer clear of reviewing for Amazon products.
As with all of my blogger advice posts, I feel like I threw a lot out there. Please feel free to come at me with any questions or comments!
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