Written by: Autumn Stone

Have you ever wondered how creators go about connecting with some of your favorite brands? You find yourself scrolling across different platforms and your feed is full with influencers that we all know and love and you think to yourself, I wish that was me. But how do they do it? How do brands decide who will be their voice of influence? Even more importantly, how do those influencers manage to protect themselves and their own brand? And the biggest question of all, how can someone get started?

Most people start as a nano-influencer. Someone with a small number of followers  (1,000-10,000 followers) who’s content relates to a specific niche. As someone who’s considered a nano-influencer herself, I knew it was important to reach out and connect with some brands and creators who have a greater following and ones that are increasingly growing to give you some real advice and insight on these topics we are diving into.

Being in the rave community can open a lot of doors into the world of music, art, fashion, health & wellness, and entertainment. However, sometimes just posting those special moments that you have at a show might not get you the reach that you are looking for. We have to remember that the goal is to be seen. This can happen in various ways including hashtags, reels, tagging brands in grid & story posts, reposts from said brands, and more. Once you start to consistently post, support businesses, and engage with other creators, you will begin to notice an increase in engagement on your own feed. This traction will possibly in turn help you become more recognized by small brands.

The next thing you need to know is the difference between brand programs and deciding which ones are going to align with your own goals as a creator. There’s 3 programs you should know about, they are influencer, affiliate, and an ambassador. To learn more about what each one entails, I recommend reading this article from SocialLadder by Laura Ferrazzano. I’ve reached out to a few brands that I personally love and asked them about the programs they offer. 

My first stop down this rabbit hole was a small business owner from Smol Cotton Creations named Tina, who recently launched an influencer team with members to represent her brand. We discussed how it was decided who would be her voice of influence, what was it that she was looking for in a team member, and what made these individuals unique or stand out? The response was enlightening. She stated that it was hard. She did want a large following BUT, her biggest concern was finding a large variety of people from various walks of life. She was also looking for those who emphasized slow fashion or small businesses and it was a huge plus if they were into sustainability and eco awareness! Lastly, she wanted to know the likelihood they would share her work and actually wear it.

I gave these same questions to Braids by Shayna, a small rave braid business local in the PNW. She has a similar yet different outlook that I found very wholesome. She simply said that she likes picking people that she has connected with and got a nice vibe from. She likes people who are real and that you can relate to. She also notes that followers are great and all, but it’s not about how many you have. She feels it’s more about how genuine the person is. 

Next I spoke with Hannah, the owner of Valkyrah. She started an affiliate program for her clothing brand and I wanted to get some insight to see if there was some sort of screening process or standard to become an affiliate. I was also curious as to why she chose to go the affiliate marketing route as opposed to others. She began by saying that she doesn’t have a screening process at this time and anyone can sign up! However, she would like to offer a more exclusive program in the future. She then talked about the benefit of going into affiliate marketing and how a lot of people love to post their rave outfits as a creative outlet. For the average person, they are incentivized by being able to make some money off of something they were going to post anyway and support their favorite brands. For creators, it’s an opportunity to add to their income, incentive to promote more often and more authentically, and create better performing content. The benefit for the business is that they get extra support marketing their business which may reach new audiences that they would not have found themselves.

Then you have ambassador programs such as the Elev808 Designs Street Team, the Flowstar Flowmies, the Sunshine Attire Rays Of Sunshine, or the Beatbox Ambassadors. These are just some examples of brands whose goal is to reward loyal members who complete monthly post challenges in exchange for discounts, goodies, etc. This is also a great way to network within the rave community and meet new people.

Now we pivot to promotions. There are companies out there like The Festival Babes for example who promote shows big or small and not only use their platform to spread the word, but also enlist others to post on their feed or story about these events. The incentive to post about said shows usually includes discounted or free tickets which is a huge plus in my book! It’s important to keep in mind that every company is different though, and may expect different tasks in order to receive the reward. 

Finally, let’s say you’ve made a bit of a name for yourself and brands are reaching out to you left and right. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great problem to have, but you have to remember to protect yourself from being ghosted, scammed, and sometimes just newbies in the industry. Melanie Monroe, the marketing director of The Festival Babes touches on this topic and speaks about why contracts are so important in her interview with the Rave Culture Cast podcast hosted by Emma Kapotes. I found this captivating, informative, and very well said. 

I also thought it was important to ask the social media manager of The Festival Babes and recent nominee of the EDMMYS festival fashion icon of 2024 Maggie, or maybe better known as magpiiee on Instagram, what precautions she takes before agreeing to work with a brand. She shared that it’s important for her and other creators to stand up for themselves and know their worth when working with big brands. She explained that she has a media kit that lists out information such as rates, engagement numbers, past collaborations, etc. This gets sent out for possible partnerships which is professional and leaves no room for miscommunication. However, she stated that she does love working with small businesses as well for free as they might not always have a big budget to work with. She also mentioned how important it is to have a contract between a creator and a brand that lays out what the requirements for creating content are, along with the end payment details. We have to remember that this really is a job. It takes time and effort to curate creative content that gets seen by a community that you’ve built for yourself. 

I could go on and on about these topics and then some. This was very interesting to research and my final take away from all of this is to keep showing up and be unapologetically you. The right people will find you and if that doesn’t work, then you can always go find them. They’re out there, believe me. And when it comes to reaching out to brands, you just have to remember the worst they can say is no. But you’ll never know unless you shoot your shot! How do you think I got these interviews? 😉

With luv,

Autumn Stone