News
Companies and brands are increasingly seeing the value in engaging social media personalities and content creators to help promote their products and services, even on a small scale. If you have even tens of thousands of engaged followers, you may be an attractive candidate for an influencer deal. But while you have built your social media account through a certain kind of content and interaction with your followers – what companies and brands want and demand from you can lead to disputes or disappointment if communication is not clear or if your obligations are overwhelming. So here are some things to pay attention to, in order to make sure that your collaboration is a success:
Number of Posts and Type of Posts
Review these obligations carefully – how many posts are you required to make, how frequently, and on what platforms? For Instagram, are they story posts or feed posts? Do they require you to use a feature like “swipe up” (and do you have access to that feature)? Even an experienced influencer with a team in place to assist can get overwhelmed by posting requirements if they are too frequent or involved – so it’s important to understand exactly what is required – and think about whether it is too much for you. Also: watch out for the term “bi-weekly” – it can mean twice a week or twice a month.
Content
Who provides the content for the posts? Does the company provide images? Text? Or do they want User Generated Content (UGC) for a more organic feel? Posting or reposting content created by the company can be easier, but if the posts are not in your style or voice, they will be less effective or may affect your own brand. On the other hand, good quality UGC can take time and energy to create – not to mention location, wardrobe, hair, and makeup! And if you are required to make posts featuring a certain product, make sure that the company is required to provide you with enough product to make your posts. Sometimes these influencer agreements are a scam: they “hire” you to make posts, but you are required to buy their product in order to do so!
Duration of Posts
How long do you need to leave the posts up? Can you delete them? Nothing is forever: you likely curate your social media accounts to maintain an engaged audience the same way a store or a gallery chooses what is on display. Make sure that you have the freedom to delete posts after a certain amount of time if you want to so that your page doesn’t become one big advertisement for the company.
Tags
Are you required to post any tags (e.g., #ad #sponsoredpost #companyname #campaignname)? Are there tags or disclosures required by government agencies? Make sure you know what you need to include in your posts.
Content Ownership
Who owns your posts (images/video/text) created for the company? Can the company continue to post your content after the term of the agreement has ended? If they have made posts to the company social media account featuring your content, are they required to delete those posts at the end of the term? If you are a producer or artiste, is the company asking for permission to use your song in their marketing campaign? Or do they want to adapt your song as a jingle? Typically, this would require a license agreement separate and apart from the influencer agreement – and depending on the circumstances could require compensation to both composers/songwriters and producers / owners of the master.
Data Tracking
Make sure that you track the engagement with your posts – likes, views, follows, retweets, swipes – whatever the metrics, be prepared to show the company at the end of the term how far your influence extends.
Social Media personalities and Content Creators are in high demand. With a little preparation and organization, your career as a social media influencer can flourish! For more information, or to set up a consultation, give us a call: (876) 855-6676 (JA) or (646) 868-5085 (US).