So if you’re just starting out as a blogger, it’s likely you’ve never joined an Influencer Marketing Platform before. “What even is that?” you might ask. An Influencer Marketing Platform is where a third party company connect influencers with brands! They basically facilitate collaborations.
If you’ve never worked with one before, the good news is that I’m here to help you get started with one! It’s hard to get collaborations when you don’t have a lot of followers; however, this company helps you find the ones perfect for you!
The #1 Campaign Platform for Newbie Bloggers
A lot of the larger influencer marketing platforms require a minimum of 5,000 Instagram followers for collabs and then specific platforms want you to already have a collaborative post or two. This is the #1 Influencer Marketing Platform for Bloggers (With Less Than 5,000 Followers) and will help get you where you need to be.
The Platform:
The platform I’m talking about is Heartbeat! I found them through someone else’s post a while back, but I swear it’s totally worth it. I started with them when I only had around 2,500 followers (in about February) and immediately started getting campaigns.
Heartbeat partners with some really cool brands and you can get some really great items out of these collabs! It also gives you experience posting on deadlines and scheduling posts which is really important in blogging.
Just as an example, I’ve worked with Better Skin Co., Sexy Hair, DryBar, DSTLD, Crabtree & Evelyn, and more!
How It Works:
It’s super simple and easy to use. Once you sign up with Heartbeat, you can then start applying to campaigns! You’ll see them all listed on the main discover page. Once you’re in the system for a bit they’ll start emailing you about more exclusive campaigns/campaigns that fit your niche more!
For every campaign, you’ll either get a free product OR you’ll get paid via PayPal. I didn’t have a PayPal before this, but it’s free and super easy to sign-up with. All Heartbeat needs is your email address (the one that you use for PayPal)!
The way they determine you pay rate is through how many followers you have. At around 2,500 followers I made $12/post and at over 6,500 followers I now only make $15/post. It’s not much, but it’s money! I personally prefer the free items. The best product I’ve gotten out of my campaigns with DryBar has 100% been my straightening hairbrush. It’s AMAZING and works wonders on curly hair.
To apply:
All you have to do is hit “Join Campaign” and basically check the little boxes to accept the terms and conditions of the campaign. Then all you have left to do is to enter the same email you signed up with (and have PayPal with) and input your shipping address.
Once you’re accepted to a campaign, they’ll text you that you’ve been accepted! Usually that’s a week or so after you apply. Sometimes faster, sometimes longer. They also text/email you updates about tracking as well as what your campaign entails.
Once you post your photo on IG, it’s super easy to submit! You put a little URL in your IG bio, the system tracks it, then your post pops up on the Heartbeat page once you hit “Submit Your Post“! If you are getting money compensation, it usually takes around a week. I’ve never had issues with that part!
Your Dashboard:
On you dashboard, you’ll find your pay rate, your campaigns, and your previous engagement rates. Engagement is just the term used for how many people liked/commented on your posts versus your following! This is big when it comes to working with brands.
Examples of my Heartbeat posts:
Sound good to you?
Great! Now you can sign up! I have a referral link you can use that will take you straight the Heartbeat page where you can join. I 100% guarantee that if you have less than 5,000 followers (or over 5,000 followers!!!) this is the influencer marketing platform for you.
I’ve been working with them for about 9 months now and I haven’t had a bad experience yet! It’s simple to use, they keep you informed, and you get cool stuff/partnerships out of it.
Sign up (here)!
Thanks so much for reading this post! If you’re a micro-influencer (as they call us with less than 100K followers), this is such a great opportunity to start partnering with some awesome brands! I have loved working with brands through Heartbeat and I know you will too.
Thanks for reading and if you like this post be sure to give me a follow over on my home page (on desktop) or scroll down (on mobile)! Want to stay up to date on things? Follow me on Instagram too at @sequinsandsales!
**Note: I do get a small commission for every person who decides to join ONLY once they complete their first campaign. So it’s an I help you, you help me kind of deal!**
I’ve worked with plenty of brands through BrandBacker but have been wanting to branch out/start freelancing with a little bit of income so I will have to check this out! Did you gain all those followers because of the passing time or because of using Heartbeat?!
I gained followers because of passing time! But I am in a FB group for Heartbeat that they reach out to you about once you sign-up and I’ve connected with people that way!