As the digital marketing landscape becomes increasingly effective and profitable for brands, small businesses must tap influencers for increased reach and engagement.
A Harvard Business Review article notes that influencer marketing reached $16.2 billion in 2022, with more than 75% of brands dedicating their budgets to influencer promotions and collaborations. The influencer marketing strategy yields a positive return on investment, with the increase in engagement depending on factors like the number of followers, posting frequency, and the type and content of the post.
Considering the positive impact of influencer marketing on brand awareness and identity, business owners are incentivized to work with influencers who can creatively and strategically promote their products and services. In this case, a previous post entitled "How to find influencers to drive sales and brand awareness" serves as a helpful guide for reaching out to influencers who align with your brand and target audience via databases, agencies, or social media search.
However, after you find influencers who can create content for your brand and offerings, the next step to consider is writing a contract that seals all the terms and conditions of the collaboration in writing. By drafting a legally binding contract, you can protect your brand and ensure successful campaign outcomes while also properly compensating influencers for their content creation.
Below are tips for optimizing your marketing strategy and setting up your business for success through well-written influencer contracts.
Identify the right type of collaboration for your brand
When deciding what terms and conditions to include in the influencer marketing contract, it’s best to first consider what type of collaboration is appropriate for your brand, its offerings, and your current marketing budget. Among the common campaign types are sponsored social media content or blog posts, product reviews, affiliate marketing, and brand ambassadorships.
The content of the contract, such as the post quantity and frequency, timing, deliverables, and compensation rates, will then depend on the type of partnership you’re aiming for. For example, hiring a brand ambassador will garner regular content and promotions in the long term but will require a big budget. Smaller businesses with more limited budgets can thus draft short-term contracts for affiliate commissions or write a one-time agreement for gifting influencers products or services that will be unboxed or reviewed.
Utilize legal drafting software for efficiency and accuracy
Regardless of the type of influencer collaboration your marketing strategy will be based on, drafting a contract can be tedious and time-consuming, especially if you’re a small business with less manpower and resources. However, you can leverage digital tools that help create, draft, and proofread legal documents to improve efficiency and help you allocate your resources to more complex marketing tasks, such as maintaining communication with influencers.
For instance, the legal drafting software Definely can assist you throughout the entire contract lifecycle, from creating legal agreements that align with your brand’s internal documents, such as brand guidelines, to cross-referencing legal terms to ensure all your contracts are watertight and protect your interests. With the power of artificial intelligence, Definely can also automate proofreading checks to enhance accuracy and save time.
Define key performance metrics to be monitored
Another crucial element that must not be overlooked when drafting influencer marketing contracts is performance monitoring. By defining the key performance indicators (KPIs) that must be monitored throughout the campaign, you are also setting benchmarks for the influencer and ensuring that the content will succeed in terms of expanding reach and engagement.
In this light, a Forbes article highlights the crucial KPIs in influencer marketing, namely the view-through rate on video-focused platforms like YouTube and TikTok, purchase intent from audience interactions, and influencer-generated sales lift. Make sure to also explain in your contracts how these performance metrics will be tracked and shared with you, as well as what will happen should the influencer fail to meet the predetermined standards.
Work with influencer platforms or agencies
Lastly, you can always work with influencer platforms or agencies who have experience with the initiation, negotiation, and approval processes involved in content creation and marketing. Since influencer marketing contracts must also include clauses for content removal, termination, and confidentiality, these parties can mediate and ensure that influencers comply with the agreements.
When connecting with the creators and users on Social Cat’s influencer platform, you can also gain a more concrete understanding of industry rates, types of collaborations, and the extent of engagement your brand can get. Knowing this information can then help you create a realistic, data-driven contract that ultimately aligns with your brand interests.
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About Stefan A.
Stefan is a Growth Marketer turned founder with a background in customer acquisition, Influencer Marketing, and early-stage startups. At Social Cat, Stefan drives day-to-day operations and growth, helping small brands connect with the right influencers to scale their reach and impact.
