Social media has completely transformed how we live our lives. With their power to connect people, social media influencers have changed how we do business. This is especially true in the case of influencer marketing, which is now valued at over a billion dollars. Some businesses and brands have become dependent on influencers for promotion.
Considering how much money is involved, influencers must ensure that they are always protected when committing to agreements. This is easier said than done as it can be quite difficult to navigate the legal side of the influencer marketing business. To help you out, we’ve put together a brief list of the four best practices for influencer marketing agreements. If this is something that you want to learn more about, read on as we list down best practices that you have to know about.
Define Your Content
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently updated its Endorsement Guides to provide more detailed information about what disclosures are necessary for social media influencers. Certain hashtags, such as #partner, #ambassador, and #thanks are no longer sufficient. For paid partnerships, influencers must indicate that the content is an ad by adding hashtags such as #paid, #ad, and #sponsored.
Also Read: Liability Waivers in the Pandemic: A Producer’s Guide Part 1
Establish Guidelines for Exclusivity
When you’re hiring an influencer or an agency to create content for your brand, be sure to create specific guidelines that set the boundaries about exclusivity. For example, are they allowed to work with other agencies for the same or similar products or services, or is the influencer tied to creating content exclusively for you? If so, be clear about the boundaries of their exclusivity within your initial agreement.
Understand Who Is Signing the Agreement
Increasingly, deals are not negotiated with individual influencers but rather with influencer networks on behalf of many influencers. Keep in mind that the influencer network will often try to avoid direct responsibility for any of the influencer’s content. Today, more than ever before, influencers are celebrities, and as such, you will need to know as much about them as you would know about a traditional celebrity talent or production agreement. This could mean taking into account matters such as SAG-AFTRA issues, and you should take this issue into account when committing to an agreement.
Divide It Into Parts
Each influencer agreement should be tailored to the specifics of each marketing campaign, but they will all include elements such as:
- What kind of material is required? Photos, videos, and stories, among other things. Decide on the format and the number of bits of content to be shared.
- Who is in charge of the campaign’s creative direction? Is the influencer responsible for providing photos and copy, or does the brand?
- What is the campaign’s duration? This should include a campaign timeline as well as any exclusivity agreements that prevent the influencer from working with competitors.
- Payment details. When and how will the influencer be compensated for their services? Determine which currency will be used if you’re dealing with an overseas influencer.
- Ownership of the work. Who declares the work’s ownership, copyrights, and licences?
Who will examine and approve the information before it is published? - Who will be in charge of responding to comments and participation in the campaign’s social media posts? Certain comments can put a brand’s or influencer’s reputation in jeopardy. The agreement should state who is in charge of public relations.
- Standard contract clauses. Names, dates, deliverables, work descriptions, cancellation clauses, a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to protect company information, and influencer terms and conditions are just a few examples.
Also Read: Liability Waivers in the Pandemic: A Producer’s Guide Part 2
The Wrap
We hope that this article proves to be useful when it comes to helping you best protect yourself when committing to agreements within the influencer marketing industry. While this may be a lot to take in, it would be best to familiarize yourself with these best practices as doing so will help you avoid any issues and complications down the line.
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