What to Look out for Before Signing an Influencer Agreement
What is an influencer Agreement?
An Influencer Agreement is a contract in which a party is contracted to market or promote the products or services of a particular brand through social media. The influencer is a party that, through its numerous social media followers, can influence the purchase decision of its many followers towards a product, service, or brand.
A major requisite for any influencer is that he/she must have many followers, such as tens of thousands of followers on social media such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc. Due to the large followership, a brand can use the influencer’s platform to promote or sell its products or services to the audience.
The Influencer Agreement however should outline the terms and conditions of the social media marketing, including the amounts of posts the influencer is required to make at a particular time, the number of platforms on which the content can be posted, the brand regulations or instruction with which the influencer is expected to comply, the influencers fees, and the duration or termination of the contract. For example, Enioluwa Adeoluwa (a.k.a Lipgloss Boy) a beauty influencer has been employed as the First-ever Nigerian Brand Ambassador by Crocs, According to Crocs, Enioluwa through his platform will bring attention to the designs and creativity of the footwear in Nigeria.
Reasons why every brand should work with influencers:
1. Brand Awareness:
Influencers are great at generating brand awareness and exposure to the market through their audience, which is important in today’s over-saturated eCommerce space.
2. Customer Loyalty and Trust:
As you probably already know, consumers are far more likely to trust a recommendation from their favourite influencers than from the brand itself. This is because influencers are usually quite transparent with their audience and are therefore a trusted voice for their following. Also, influencers are distinct in their approach.
3. Brand’s Social Media Presence:
One thing’s for sure, working with influencers and building strong relationships with them will ensure the growth of the brand’s social media platforms as the brand tags will be included in all influencer collaborations. Promotions done by the influencer will add significant growth to the brand sales and media presence.
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However, since the number of brand influencers keeps growing, it’s important for influencers looking into signing an influencer contract with any brand should consider certain factors before executing the agreement:
What to consider before signing an Influencer’s Agreement:
1. Read the Contract:
Every influencer, especially a lawyer, should read and understand the contract before execution. It should be certain that the contract contains all the necessary details, terms, and conditions of the arrangement, especially the terms agreed upon during negotiations. The influencer must understand the clear intentions of the brand through the terms stated in the contract. The influencer has to make sure there has not been any major addition or subtraction from previous discussions and negotiations as stated in the contract.
2. Purpose of the Agreement:
The purpose of the relationship must be clearly stated. The purpose would most likely be for the influencer to promote the essential products, services, and the brand by the terms and conditions of the agreement.
3. Responsibilities of the Influencer:
The responsibilities of the influencer towards promoting the company, and brand as stated in the agreement should be specific and detailed as possible. As the more detailed and specific the roles of the influencer are, the better. Specific roles such as which social media platform should be used for promotion, how many promotional posts should the influencer make per time, how the influencer approaches public relations, does he/she communicate directly to the target market about the brand also, does he/she perform or participate in premium events on behalf of the brand.
4. Terms of Compensation and Payment:
The agreement must provide specific answers to questions on how the influencer is set to be paid and when. The terms and conditions, if any, for payment must be negotiated, agreed upon, and reduced to writing in the agreement to be executed by both parties. Does the influencer get paid, does he/she get paid based on the percentage of engagement, does he get paid a specific amount, does he have to make sales before he gets his commission? Since the relationship is to be of mutual benefit to both the brand and the influencer. It’s reasonable that the influencer’s terms of payment should be favorable to him.
5. Creation of Content:
Marketing and influencing a product are all about content creation. The influencer agreement must specify the content creator. Who creates the content for promoting the brand? The brand itself or the influencer. Content in the sense that what is said to promote the brand, how it is said, the diction used, the hashtags, deliver content to the audience, and which platform is used: blogs, Instagram, billboards, short ads, Twitter posts, etc.
6. Mutual Benefits:
Since the best kind of contract is those of mutual protection and benefit to all parties, the influencer has to be careful and ascertain that the terms of the contract before execution benefits his interest and protects his reputation as much as it does to the brand. Protection in terms of how the influencer’s identity can be used to promote the brand, payment terms, mode of engagement with the audience, dispute resolution, terms of termination, duration of the relationship, etc.
Summarily, the influencer before signing a binding contract with any brand should employ the services of a lawyer to read through and ensure the interest of the influencer is also well protected in the agreement. Since the reputation and personality of the influencer is also at stake, it’s important for the agreement to address all terms of reference based on previous engagement and negotiations.
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