Find customers
Find customers on Instagram through another account's audience
You post, your followers hit like, but sales aren't moving: Instagram mostly shows your posts to people who already follow you. The quickest way to find new customers is through someone else's audience. Here's how to choose an account, pitch a collaboration, and see whether it worked.
4 min read
In this article
Why your account has stalled
The more you keep posting for the same people, the fewer new faces you reach. Those who were going to buy already have. The rest have decided it's not for them. You don't need more posts. You need fresh eyes.
The principle: a complementary business, not a competitor
Look for an account that speaks to your future customers but sells something different. Selling a course for beginner photographers? An account that reviews camera gear is a perfect fit. Selling Notion templates for students? So is a creator who shares study tips. Their audience has the problem you solve, but hasn't found your solution.
How to choose the right account
- Same audience, different product: their followers are the kind of people who buy from you.
- An engaged audience: read the comments, not just the follower count. 3,000 followers who respond are worth more than 50,000 who scroll past.
- A tone that fits yours: if you wouldn't follow them as a customer, their audience won't follow you.
- A similar account size makes swaps easier. Reaching a much larger audience often means paying, which you don't need to do to make your first sales.
What to offer
Three options, from a simple swap to a bigger commitment:
- A swap: you each introduce the other to your audience. It's free and balanced when your audiences are similar in size.
- An offer for their followers: a code or free sample just for their audience. They give their community a gift; you get new leads.
- A paid spot: you pay to reach their audience for an agreed period. It's the quickest option when their audience is much larger than yours.
How to pitch it
Keep your message short and focus on their audience before talking about yourself: “I noticed several people in the comments on your last post asking how to plan their study time. I've made templates for that. Would you be open to featuring them for a week? I could offer one free to your followers.” Say how long you have in mind and what you're offering in return. A vague pitch gets no reply.
How to tell if it worked
Before you start, note your sales and visits for a typical week. Compare those numbers during the collaboration. On Partn, you don't need to create a separate link for each partner. Links to your site include UTM parameters that describe the context of the click. Your dashboard shows the views and clicks each partner brings you.
Mistakes to avoid
- Choosing an account for its follower count rather than its audience.
- Sending the same copy-and-paste message to twenty accounts. On Partn, you don't need to make your case in a message: their pages are right there in Discover.
- Sending visitors to your profile instead of what you sell.
- Judging the results after one day. Give it at least a week.
Frequently asked questions
I have almost no followers. Will this still work?
Yes. That's the point: you're reaching someone else's audience. Offer their community something useful rather than proposing an uneven swap.
Do I have to pay?
Not necessarily. Many accounts accept a swap or an offer for their followers. Paying makes sense when the other account is much bigger than yours.
What if their audience doesn't buy?
That's why you track each account separately. If a collaboration brings you nothing, you've learned that this audience isn't a fit. Move on to the next one.
Where do I start?
Create your Partn page and put your link in your bio. In Discover, Partn brings together complementary businesses. Offer a price, or a free partnership, and choose a duration. They accept or decline. If they accept, you're shown to their audience.
