What is Sponcon and should your brand do it?
What are the pros and cons of sponcon?
Pro: This is great marketing for your brand. Plus: You develop professional relationships with social media influencers. Pros: You get fresh, compelling content that promotes your business.
Con: You will have to pay – this is where the “sponsor”part comes in. Surprise! The best things in life are not free.
Read on to find marketing tips for creating successful (and free) sponsored content for your brand.
What is Sponcon?
Sponcon, also known as sponsored content, is a form of influencer marketing in which brands pay creators to create and promote content that represents their brand.
Sponcon can look like a makeup artist getting an eyeshadow palette in exchange for posting about a beauty brand, a travel blogger getting paid to advertise a clothing brand’s touring jacket, or a chef getting paid to use a certain ingredient in a video recipe. Sponcon comes in many shapes and sizes, and the more inventive you are, the better.
5 Tips for a Successful Sponsor
1. Find the right creator
Sponcon is not a one-size-fits-all situation, and not all creators are right for all brands. This is the most important part of successful sponsored content: you have to research the creator you want to work with and make sure their values align with those of your company. Make sure their audience is the audience you expect to market to and that their content is the type of content you’re willing to associate your brand with.
When you partner with influencers or KOLs, you are effectively adding them to your marketing team. So take the time and resources to make sure you find what works for you. To learn more about how to find the right creator for this job, read Hootsuite’s Influencer Marketing Guide.
2. Write a clear brief
Since sponsored content and influencer marketing are both relatively new (and ever-changing) industries, there is no standard set of practices. Expectations can vary from creator to creator and brand to brand.
To avoid complications, write a summary of your expectations from the partnership, including payment.
What information should be conveyed in the content? What is the deadline? Do you want to preview content before the creator publishes it?
Think through the process step by step to make sure you’ve considered everything before lending a hand.
3. Enable Creator Contribution
With the above in mind, it’s important to remember that this is a partnership – you can’t dictate every piece of sponsored content (if you want to, you’d be better off paying an actor and doing standard ads).
Creators have learned how to create compelling, unique and interesting content that showcases their personality. Therefore, when it comes to discussing the finished product, act together: let the creator create, this is what he does best.
4. Reveal Sponsorship
Sponsored content should be flagged as such for two reasons.
First, to pass off a paid partnership as an unbiased opinion is unsightly at best, and downright immoral at worst. Secondly, it is against the policy of any platform.
Instagram, for example, states that branded content “can only be posted using the branded content tool, “also known as Instagram’s paid affiliate label. TikTok says, “You must turn on the Branded Content toggle when posting branded content on TikTok. “
Despite these rules, it is still common for brands and creators to post sponcons without proper labeling. Some add #sponcon, #sponsored or #ad to their content, but technically this is not the official disclosure that social platforms require. And when you go against platform policy, you risk content being flagged or removed (or worse, your account suspended).
Play it safe: hit those switches.
5. Pay close attention to comments and mentions
The Internet is a beautiful, scary and unpredictable place. And while you’ll always be notified if there’s a problem with your own account (especially if you’re using Hootsuite streams), you won’t get as many warnings when sponcon is posted to the creator’s account. You may not receive a notification if trolls start showing up.
Avoid the PR nightmare by paying close attention to your sponcon’s engagement in both your account and the creator’s account. In fact, it’s best to discuss this situation before publishing content – think about what you expect from people who leave hateful or disturbing comments (for example, you can ask the author to delete them).
Another reason to be aware of comments and mentions is that they can be a reasonable indicator of partnership success. Is your employee’s audience receptive to the product? This is a factor you should consider, especially if you plan to collaborate with this author again in the future.
Sponcon examples on Instagram
A partnership that fits
The best partnerships are the ones that seem natural, and the collaboration between a baker and Bob’s Red Mill makes sense. The baker would use flour in her recipes anyway, so referring to a specific flour company doesn’t seem intrusive.
Including affiliate link
Sustainable clothing company Fig Clothing partnered with a photographer to create this sponsored content. The post shares tips from the creator herself, information about clothing, and includes affiliate marketing, which allows the brand to better track how successful the collaboration was (the brand can see how many people used the creator code to access the 15% discount).
Adding personal touches
Del Taco’s collaboration with this family influencer is a great example of how a creator can add their own touch to a campaign. Video is not just empty advertising; it shows each family member’s favorite choice from a menu that pairs well with the creator’s other content. It’s also very cute.
Partnership details
Hitting that “paid partnership”switch is the bare minimum when it comes to revealing sponcon, and the more transparent a creator can be about a partnership, the more genuine the collaboration seems to be.
This collaboration between the crochet master and the yarn company is fully disclosed in the description (“Many thanks again to @hobbii_yarn who kindly gave me some of their 8/4 cotton for this project”) and further detailed. what yarn was donated. This is a very sincere and professional move.
Beautiful lighting and video
When looking for creators to collaborate with, be sure to take a close look at their feed – does their content (sponsored or not) always have good lighting, editing, audio quality, etc.? You want your product or service to be shown in the best possible light… literally. This creator has collaborated with skincare brand Olay and made a really beautiful daily skincare video. It makes the products look amazing, which is great for the brand.
Examples of TikTok Sponcons
Creating Relevant Content
This partnership between Royal Bank of Canada and the creator of TikTok is very different from regular banking advertising. Rather than overwhelm viewers with information, this is a fun video that talks more generally about spending and saving, as well as a call to action if people want to know more. Plus, it’s a super-relevant kind of TikTok that encourages followers to tag their shopaholic friends.
@peternugget #Sponsored by @RBC | It can be hard to be responsible with your money, but it’s always best to plan out your finances and budget accordingly! Take the time to figure out how much you’re spending and prioritize the essentials. Link in bio to learn more. #RBCTok #FinTok #budgeting #budgetingtips #moneytok
Attractive hook
Especially on TikTok, creators need to grab attention quickly. Be open to an attractive hook that isn’t necessarily positive – for example, in this sponcon, the creator calls Shiseido’s new eyeliner “the weirdest eyeliner I’ve ever seen.”This is a great hook for viewers because of course we want to know what the weird eyeliner looks like (spoilers: it looks great).
@stxph.h 3 Eyeliner shapes with 1 @SHISEIDO ArchLiner Ink!? Product hack alert! #sponsored #shiseido #TikOtaku #Beautyhack #Beautytips #BeautyObsessions
Satisfying video
It’s hard to resist the visually pleasing TikTok, even if you’re not interested in the topic. This partnership between a sneaker artist and EA games is a perfect example: even if you don’t care about shoes or games, watching the artist draw crisp white lines on a pair of crisp black shoes is a great treat. This helps increase the number of video views, which makes the TikTok algorithm favorably on it.
@_ssneak_ ? the result ? @Need for Speed #SponsoredbyEA #NeedForSpeed #ChangeYourLane #LaneChangers #ad
Content behind the scenes
On TikTok, videos don’t have to be perfect to be successful, and demonstrating the TikTok creation process helps creators connect with their audience (stars, they’re just like us!). Encourage the creator to film behind-the-scenes content whenever possible – this can end up making the video even better than the sponcon itself. This green screen dancing pit bull BTS is quite interesting.
@christendugger ?Hardest working pitty in the biz. #vankyo @Vankyo projector #pennythepitbull #sponsored
Compliance with the niche of the creator
This collaboration between the movie Smile and the humorous TikTok creator (and unsuspecting partner) works because it’s very similar to other TikTok pranks the creator has made. While this is clearly made for publicity, it has the same vibe as the rest of the creator’s portfolio so it doesn’t feel out of place (and like her other content, her followers love it).
@celinaspookyboo SMILE is in theaters 9/30 #sponsoredbyparamount
Out of the box thinking
Okay, now forget everything you just learned about finding the right author. Sometimes the best matches are unlikely, as in this collaboration between the History Channel and foodie TikTokker. The atmosphere of the History Channel is very different from the laid-back creator, but they’ve hit a clever sweet spot – a history of lollipops – and this partnership feels fresh, inventive, and fun.
@cookingwithlynja #sponsored Staying Curious with @HISTORY #todayilearned
Sponcon Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Spontaneous Deal?
A sponsorship deal (or sponsored content) is an agreement between a business and a creator. The business trades in goods, services, or payments, and in return, the creator creates and promotes content that highlights the products or services of the business.
What does sponcon mean?
Sponcon is also known as sponsored content and is a type of influencer marketing. Sponcon is content created by a creator to promote a business (and in return, the creator is paid in goods, services, or money).
Leave a Reply