You got to be very strategic when it comes to influencer marketing. First:
Why should you sign an influencer-brand contract at all?
I strongly recommend signing an agreement between the influencer and the brand, and here is why:
Because you want everything (or at least as much as possible) to be CLEAR between the brand and the influencer. For example:
Ownership?
Who will own the content the influencer creates for the brand? If you are not the owner of the content that was created for you, then legally you cannot use it, and you also cannot…
Reuse it.
Expect the influencer to create a original, native, not-intrusive, intriguing, impactful, content with a great point-of-view and attention to detail! That’s why they call them “creators“… But if you are not the owner of the content, and do not have the creator’s consent to use the content you hired them to design and write for you, you cannot use it. So make sure that the contract says that you can re-use the content, because that gives you huge value.
Hashtags
As we say — ”Chase the Hashtags”: tell the Influencers which hashtags you want to be included on the posts they do for you — of course*! And be clear that one of those should be the #Ad or #sponsored required by the FCC so neither of you get in trouble.
*Some say that when someone who is highly ranked on a topic associates YOU with that topic, via a hashtag, social media platform algorithms will register that and favor you. If so, that’s another good reason to ask the influencer to include your preferred hashtags in the posts they write for you.
Preview
Yes, you can ask to review the campaign and its scheduled deadline. This can be an item you include in the contract.
Why would you want to preview the post? Not because you want to interfere with the influencer’s creative freedom. On the contrary, let the influencers have the freedom to write what they know can move the opinions of their followers. Otherwise, if they copy & paste content you, the post will look just like another ad, so what’s the point?
But you should still review a post before it goes out: you want to see if the language is acceptable and sensitive to your audience, you’ll want to check for misspellings (e.g. of the brand or its product), and confirm that the right hashtags are used, and make sure that the influencer understands and is reflecting your brand well.
Deadlines
The contract should also clarify the deadlines and specific dates for posting, engagement, etc. so that both sides can prepare accordingly. For example, if the plan is for you to jump in and engage on the comments the minute the post goes up, that needs to be laid out and you need to know exactly when that will be.
Social channels
Another area that is important to cover in the contract is which social channels are included. Yes, you know the influencer you picked is dominant on Instagram. But most influencers still have a lot of followers on Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook. Usually for the influencer it’s not a big deal to cross post on other platforms, and yet this will amplify the campaign, so why not?
Deletion
How long the post will stay up? Some Influencers expire sponsored posts shortly after posting them. You want the contract to clearly set expectations.
Payment details
This might be obvious, but all parties should agree on the payment terms, including amount, due date, and form of payment (PayPal? Bank transfer”).
Tip: Influencers are business entities, paying them with actual money rather than free samples is the right thing to do.
There’s a lot to remember when it comes to writing an influencer-brand contract. Rather than hire a lawyer to adapt your standard contract, you can save time and money by downloading my Influencer-Brand Agreement Template. As long as you use it to make the world better and to build better relationships between influencers and brands, it’s yours to use!
Email me: what are some other things YOU would want to include in YOUR agreement …?
