Understanding How You’re Invited to Projects

One of the most common questions I receive from influencers is “What can I do to get more projects?” We love how enthusiastic our influencer community is, and we do everything in our power to set you up for success. Brands choose influencers based on a specific set of criteria, such as geographic region, demographics, and age. We open up projects for you that are a perfect match, meaning you don’t have to spend time or energy searching through the criteria yourself to see if you qualify - we do that.

With that said, there are some tried and true strategies that can help you receive more invitations. Here are some best practices for collaborating with Obviously:

Understand Obviously’s role

Brands work with Obviously in order to build relationships with great content creators and run streamlined projects from start to finish with them. Our first job is to find influencers in our network who are the perfect fit for a project’s unique parameters. At the same time, we’re paying attention to our influencer’s interests to make sure the brand is a great match for them too. If you’re a parenting influencer located in California, for example, we wouldn’t reach out to you for a children’s clothing campaign based in New York City. Even though this might be a good match for your interests, it isn’t a good fit based on the requirements.

Define your aesthetic

Your feed is your portfolio, and brands look at it to see if your content looks and feels like a natural fit for their product and brand image. To that end, it’s important that your content tells a cohesive story about who you are as a person and has a strongly defined aesthetic. Consistency is key in making that happen - make sure that you’re posting regular content in a consistent style. There are a ton of articles on this blog that highlight influencers with very strong aesthetics, so feel free to comb through for inspiration. (You can start here.)

Increase your engagement

We’re often asked what the minimum follower count is for Obviously projects, but this number varies greatly case by case.  Some brands are only interested in collaborating with large influencers, while others are excited to collaborate with nanoinfluencers. There are also brands focused entirely on engagement rate.

Having a great engagement is essential to building strong relationships with brands, and it’s one of the few things you can directly impact through your own efforts. You can increase your engagement by asking your followers questions in IG Stories, responding to their comments, and even commenting on their posts. Engaging with your followers will inspire them to return the favor, and nothing peaks a brand’s interest like a dedicated and devoted audience.

Pay attention to your audience demographics.

Geographic locations are often a criteria for projects, so brands sometimes look closely at where your audience lives. To have the strongest following in terms of both engagement and demographics, focus on increasing your local and regional reach as much as possible. Attend local events and interact online and in person with other local influencers. Create content focusing on places and things that would be recognizable to the audience you most want to attract. An influencer with a relevant and devoted audience is almost always more appealing than an influencer whose audience is simply large.

If you have questions about working with Obviously, or anything influencer marketing, leave them in the comments.  We’d love to chat!