Year over year, brands are spending more on influencer marketing campaigns. Even if you think you’re not familiar with an influencer campaign – you’ve likely been exposed to one. Brands partner with bloggers who create content for their blog, YouTube page or social platform (or all three!) around a specific topic such as fashion, food, auto maintenance, crafting, etc. Through the partnership agreement, the influencer reviews and shares tips for using a product or service on one or more of their platforms. The brand is able to leverage the influencer’s audience to bring awareness to what the brand is selling.
For example, NST works with farming influencer Iowa Dairy Boys, on behalf of client WD-40 Brand, to create content showing uses for WD-40 EZ-REACH™ and WD-40® Trigger Pro®. Throughout the video, Iowa Dairy Boys show how to use the products to lubricate and protect while performing maintenance on a field cultivator and barn door.
These partnerships have grown more complicated as most quality influencers require payment. The more time NST has spent developing these partnerships for clients, the more we’ve learned how to improve the agreements, so the partnership is a win for our clients and the influencers.
To best set up a relationship for success, influencer contracts should be more long-term and detailed. At NST, we work with attorneys to develop a detailed contract to protect our clients and establish clear expectations. The contracts typically outline the following:
- Number of posts.
- Term date of contract – typically six months to a year.
- The platform where posts will appear– blog, YouTube, Facebook, etc.
- The content and type of post – video, etc.
- Though the influencer should post in his or her own voice and style, an outline of content will set expectations, which is helpful to the influencer.
- Cost per post.
- This includes extra budget for the influencer to boost the post. Why? Check out this article about the effects of the latest change to the Facebook algorithm. Though influencers are a great way to get your content seen, with the algorithm change, it’s becoming a pay-to-play platform even for them.
- FTC disclosure requirements.
- Deadline to submit post analytics.
- Outline of appropriate language expectations.
- Exclusivity guidelines.
NST recommends long-term relationships over short-term campaign partnerships. The more an influencer shares engaging and informative content about your products, the more authentic the recommendations become.
Is your company looking to dip its toe into the world of influencer marketing? Give us a call so your program is set up for success. We can provide guidance on outlining KPIs, contract development, and selection and negotiation with influencers across numerous industries and audiences.
