As an established brand, one of the most common questions we get asked is, "How can we collaborate?"
Luckily, our Wolfie Ambassador Jasmine Yoong, or @threelittlepeople_ Instagram, has put together some tips to help.
Jasmine started upping her Instagram game around end of Feb/March 2021, landing her first collaboration on the @threelittlepeople_ account after 2 weeks of implementing new techniques. Since then, collaborations have been regular for her little family. Within 2 months, they had collaborated with around 10 businesses!
As a result, many of Jasmine's audience have approached her to ask how she has done it. This first blog will discuss the quality of your Instagram account which, from her perspective, is the first step in landing these collaborations and paid deals.
Wolfie Kids is an Instagram based shop, meaning most of our interaction is done through our Instagram DM's and our content is predominantly shared here too. Your instagram account is your first point of contact, which means we encourage you to start off with your best foot forward.
Below are some tips by Jasmine on how to improve the quality of your account to land potential brand collaborations.
Tip #1 Stop thinking about yourself and think about the value you can provide for others
As much as we wished that people could be interested in JUST our lives, that’s not what everyone is looking to follow nowadays – especially not brands! People WILL still be interested in you, because we as humans love authenticity… just don’t forget to provide some value while you’re at it!
Do you have a special skill set? Do you have life hacks? Can you provide some tips that would benefit others? What is unique to you that you believe can benefit others, what is your passion? SHARE that. Whilst you also want to show your authentic self on Instagram, you also need to consider what content people would like to follow.
Maybe you’re really good at styling your children in Wolfie Kids Clothing? SHOW US how you do that! Grab the attention of other brands to show the value you have brought to previous brands!
Tip #2 Only be you!
As easy as it is to say, hey I love this person’s feed, I want to do that… remember that copying someone else will lose your authenticity factor. By all means, draw inspiration from pages that you love, scroll the Wolfie Kids Instagram page and get ideas from other mums! BUT NEVER try to be something that you are not because people will be able to sniff that out right away.
Remember also to show up in your stories, show people who YOU are and engage with your followers! Leave some love on their page, like their images, interact with as many people as you can. Leave genuine comments that brighten up other peoples days. We want our followers to know that we are still people, and we appreciate their support and love them for who they are and what they bring to the table!
Tip #3 Consider what you are trying to display in your images
Are our children adorable? Yes! Are they model worthy? ABSOLUTELY! However, let’s not just make it all about that. Whilst people love cute babies… seeing the same cute baby over and over may get boring (omg did I just say your baby is boring? NO!). I just mean that people love to see fresh new ideas and seeing the same thing over and over will get repetitive.
Do you have a product you’re trying to show off? Could you do this in a unique way? Can you incorporate it into the photo and get people curious, rather than plaster it as front news feed and say "HEY LOOK WHAT THIS BRAND GAVE ME!"? You want to be smart in your placement and consider the composition of your photo. Could they be playing somewhere awesome that complements the Wolfie Kids outfits and provoking conversations about it?
As an example of how I may feature certain products in the background rather than the forefront… I recently created an Instagram guide that features a couple of my favourite items in Arabella’s room. So, in a reel I did with Arabella featuring her Miann & Co doll, I thoughtfully ensured the background displayed these items even though the main forefront of the video was of Arabella and her doll. You could see the items in the back, so I directed my audience to my new guide section on Instagram to get more details about those products! Curiosity is a great way to market something.
When you thoughtfully display products in a picture, a brand WILL notice. Don't forget to tag the brands you are displaying, as this is a great way to get exposure and featured on other Instagram pages with a big following!
Tip #4 Practice editing and taking photos
If you’re serious about the Instagram game, you NEED to learn how to take photos and edit! Lightroom is a great app to start off with, you can also get presets that help you create an overall cohesive feed, which again will help that initial WOW factor when a brand comes across your feed.
Check our Wolfie Kids Preset Packs as these are a quick and easy place to start. These packs are curated to have the sample feel within the preset packs, so if you stick to using all the five presets in the one pack, your feed will match and really stand out. Plus, the more you edit, the more you take pictures, the more you EXPERIMENT, the better you will get. HEY I’m still learning every day! There is always room for improvement.
Tip #5 Write high quality captions
You can always start with a hook line, something to attract readers to read the entire post! Avoid just writing generalised quotes such as, “Sunny Days” or “Love my life” etc. SOMETIMES this is okay, however, aim to post MAINLY captions that contain VALUE (see how many times I come back to the value of your post?)!
Perhaps you could provide more details on the products you are showing - could you tell us more about these products? Could you provide some beneficial insight on how to use these products? If we’re talking Wolfie Kids clothes, could you tell us what inspired you to buy these outfits? What are you going to style them with? Are you going to use the outfits for a special occasion? Maybe the style reminds you of something you used to wear during your childhood. Interest people and PROVIDE VALUE!
Tip #6 End your post with a Call To Action (CTA)
CTA’s are a great way to overall increase engagement on your post. Try leaving your post with an open ended question which prompts followers to comment and engage with you!
Here is an example of a caption…
Where did we go today?
Hook line – capturing their attention
[Proceed to share a story]
Have you been here? Let me know in the comments!
Ending with a call to action.
At the end of the day, the takeaway message is to provide value to your viewers while also staying authentic.
Follow Jasmine on her main IG page @envisionagency.co where she focuses on creating content to help other mum’s better their Instagram content to hopefully land collaborations with brands too.
If you ever have any specific questions about brand collaborations, you can message @wolfie.kids, @envisionagency.co OR @threelittlepeople_.
With love,
Wolfie Kids xx