The Lion's Den
Why Is Instagram Flagging My Post as Branded Content?
Instagram Marketing
Branded content is a new feature on the Instagram platform. It’s caused a lot of excitement and some confusion for Instagram influencers and brands that are looking to make use of it. If you’re wondering why Instagram is flagging your post as branded content, keep reading.
What Is the Branded Content Warning on Instagram?
The branded content warning on Instagram is a label on posts that states the influencer is promoting products for a brand in the content. It is part of the Instagram branded content tool. This warning was created to provide more transparency to audience members about promotional content on the platform.
Some influencers don’t like having this label on their promotional posts. However, others believe it is beneficial to their success. Some of the ways it can be beneficial are building your reputation, showing you collaborate effectively with brands, and giving an official verification of collaborations.
If you’re verified as an official brand partner, and your posts get great engagement, other companies will take notice. This can lead to increased future opportunities for influencers on Instagram. After all, influencer marketing is one of the best ways for content creators to monetize their posts.
Why Is Instagram Saying My Post is Branded Content?
If Instagram is saying your post is branded content, it’s a sign that they detected promotional aspects in your content.
Even if you don’t officially tag a brand you’re collaborating with in a post, Instagram now has a detection system to look for branded content on their platform. This is meant to enforce their new guidelines that paid partnerships and promotional content should be labeled as such.
However, there are some instances where posts are wrongfully detected as branded content. Instagram may be notifying you that it thinks your content is promotional based on imagery or things that were said in your post.
What Should I Do if My Post is Not Branded Content?
If your content is in fact not a branded promotion, there should be a button to press that says, “this isn’t branded content.” Instagram will then review your post to determine if it isn’t branded content. Once they do that, the notification should disappear.
What Is Paid Partnership on Instagram?
Paid partnership is a program right on the Instagram platform that helps brands and influencers collaborate. Paid partnerships allow influencers who post content advertising your brand to tag your company in the post.
At the top of every paid partnership post, it will say the influencer’s username and “paid partnership with,” where it will list your brand’s name.
Having this label at the top of posts can actually be very beneficial for brands and influencers. Brands get more name recognition this way with their brand name clearly stated on each promotional post. Influencers will also get more credibility for having verified brand partnerships in their content.
Paid Partnership Instagram Eligibility
Many content creators are wondering about eligibility for Instagram’s paid partnership program and some are wondering why they can’t use the branded content feature at all. Unfortunately, not everyone is approved. Instagram has also been very vague about the requirements. From what Instagram has stated, to be eligible for the paid partnership program, you must:
- Have a significant and engaged presence on the platform.
- Create original content.
- Follow all community guidelines.
- Not be a politician or government official.
The first requirement in specific is very vague. It’s hard to tell how many followers qualify as a significant presence on Instagram. You also don’t know exactly what engagement rates they’re looking for influencers to have.
The best estimate would be around 10,000 followers, since many of Instagram’s other features over the years have required 10,000 followers to make use of them.
Ultimately, the best way to find out will be to apply and see if you get approved.
Why Can’t I Add the Paid Partnership Label on Instagram?
If you can’t add paid partnership on Instagram, it’s likely because you don’t meet the above qualifications. If you don’t qualify for the program, the best thing you can do is continue to grow your account and try to apply again in the future.
Information for Brands That Can’t Get Approved
Brands on the platform may also not be eligible for the program if their presence is too small. This can be common with startups that don’t have many followers yet.
If you’re in this situation, you may get a message such as “you aren’t eligible to use the paid partnership label, but you can still approve content creators.”
Getting this message means you can’t use the official paid partnership program yet until you grow your presence more, but you can still approve content creators who do a paid partnership with you.
How Lionize Can Help with Your Influencer Marketing
While branded content on Instagram is a great new feature, it doesn’t provide all the tools you’ll need to do effective influencer marketing. This is especially true for brands that want to work with nano or micro influencers who may not qualify for the official program.
If you want to get excellent results from your influencer marketing campaigns, Lionize can help. Lionize AI is an influencer marketing platform that helps brands connect with relevant influencers based on their needs. Lionize makes this process easy by using artificial intelligence software that is able to make detailed recommendations.
With Lionize, you don’t have to sift through content creators on Instagram to find the right ones for collaborations. Instead, you’ll have quick, organized, and efficient recommendations.
Along with influencer matchmaking, Lionize will also help you automate outreach and influencer management, track important data, manage payments, and communicate with influencers right on the platform.
To get more information about how Lionize helps with influencer marketing, Book a Discovery Call with us today.
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