As the influencer marketing industry grows, the need for legal frameworks also increases. While collaborating with influencers without a legal basis was the norm in the past, it is now best practice to enter any partnership with influencers only if you have a contract or similar legal document. What do marketers need to consider when creating a contract for Influencer Marketing? Find out below.
As in (almost) every relationship, a contract is a written legal agreement between two parties. In the field of influencer marketing (IM), a contract is a binding legal agreement between an influencer and the company working with them. Contracts are necessary to set the framework, terms, and boundaries of a collaboration between the involved parties.
Collaborating with an influencer is similar to working with a freelancer, and a contract is recommended to safeguard both parties. A contract allows both parties to sue if their terms are not adhered to.
So, how do you write an influencer contract? The first step is to outline what you hope to receive from the collaboration. From there, you can determine the elements needed for your contract with influencers. Thus, before creating the contract, ask yourself the following questions:
While you should consider these questions before constructing an influencer partnership agreement, there are additional legal considerations.
The contract law that affects you will depend on the country to which your business is legally bound. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulates influencers. However, the rules are more complicated in Europe.
While the European Commission imposes rules and laws on influencers, social platforms, and advertising practices, each country can draft and enforce its own laws. Generally, legislation for influencer marketing regulations revolves around labeling and transparency.
However, some EU countries take a different approach due to the federal system.
Germany, for example, reacted to the over-labeling of posts, which made it impossible for consumers to tell when something was advertising and when it was not. Section 5a (4) UWG states that “a commercial purpose of a commercial act is generally not to be assumed if it primarily serves the purpose of information and opinion formation and no remuneration or similar consideration was granted for it.”
In addition, France has established that all influencer and brand partnerships must be agreed upon with a contract. Any sponsored or partnered posts should be honestly labelled, and anyone who fails to do so can be penalized.
Due to the discrepancies, it's essential to check your regional regulations as they may differ depending on the country and national law.
Since an influencer contract requires many essential details and incorrect input can result in legal consequences, it is recommended that you create and use a template.
Once you have created the template, you can edit and change variable details, such as the name, address, and payment, while maintaining all the necessary clauses. This way, you can easily and quickly adapt the contract for each influencer and campaign. For example, the template can be stored as an influencer partnership contract PDF.
How do you write an influencer contract template?
When forging a contract, ensure you have the following elements in place.
Like in any contract, you should start an influencer contract with an area for the personal data of all involved parties. For example, the names of both parties and data about the collaboration.
Every contract should define a clear start and end point, so communicate with the influencer to pinpoint specific dates.
No influencer contractual agreement is complete without addressing the influencer’s pay. Negotiate with the influencer to decide on remuneration. Additionally, consider whether you will cover any out-of-pocket expenses during the collaboration.
How much do influencers get paid for partnerships?
The answer is that there is no set cost for influencer marketing. The expense depends on many factors, notably the influencer's reach, engagement rate, and character. The amount of work and duration of the collaboration also affect the price.
If you’d like to strengthen your negotiation skills to secure a better ROI when working with influencers, read the Kolsquare Quick Guide to setting a price that works for both you and the influencer.
While identifying how much to offer influencers during a partnership is essential, the type of compensation also plays a role.
You must clearly outline the payment terms and structure you and the influencer have agreed upon.
A low-risk compensation structure is desirable. To achieve that, ask the following questions: What amount do you pay upfront, and what is the balance? What is the deadline for each payment? What is the trigger point for payment? When will the content be delivered?
The more precise you are, the better you can establish yourself as a reliable collaboration partner, and the easier it will be to implement the agreements. Logically, you should only pay once both parties have signed the contract.
Outline the details of the collaboration, such as specific tasks, the number of posts, and the type of content. In addition, the creative concepts and expectations of both you and the influencers should be contractually agreed upon. While we often stress the importance of letting influencers express their creativity and not restricting their voice or style, it’s still important to address your core goals beforehand. Explaining your KPIs and expectations makes you more likely to have a positive outcome from the collaboration.
Consider whether you want to include disclaimers in your contract. You can explicitly prohibit your influencers from working with brands or competitors—at least during your partnership. Specify if any of the information you share with the influencer shouldn’t be disclosed. Influencers have a large audience, so it’s important to define in the influencer partnership contract if any of the information you share must remain private.
In addition, there are, of course, termination, indemnification, and immorality clauses. Finally, consider including morality clauses that allow for the termination of the influencer marketing agreement if any acts are committed that harm the other’s reputation.
Furthermore, we recommend a disclosure agreement so that you can know more about the performance of your influencer marketing campaign through data analysis. Read more about data-driven influencer marketing.
Define where you can use the content shared by the influencer. Can you use it worldwide, or is it simply for one region?
Be sure to clarify who owns the content you create. An influencer is a freelancer, similar to a plumber or photographer. Decide whether you require permanent ownership of the content they create or if the content rights will return to the influencer. In addition, ensure you have agreed on whether you can edit your influencers’ content.
Also, allow influencers to share your name, photo, and company logo with their audience to increase brand awareness.
Before you even set up or modify a contract, you should be sure that the influencer is a good fit for your brand. Communicate honestly about your expectations through influencer partnership email correspondence. It’s essential to take the time to analyse whether the influencer appeals to the exact target group you want to reach.
Once you have finalised the contract, it’s ready to send to the influencer for approval and signing. The influencer may question or negotiate some of the terms. After these are managed, your discussions will lead to an agreement that both you and the influencer are willing to sign. A contract can be signed with a handwritten or electronic signature.
Contract changes can be requested anytime during the partnership, which may result in multiple amendments.
A template is the cornerstone of your collaborations with influencers. It safeguards your business and the influencer you work with. It is best practice to show your contract to a legal professional to ensure you haven’t missed vital details, such as names, dates, scope of work, and remuneration.
Once the contract is sent and signed, the next concern is to measure KPIs to check the investment has paid off. Influncers should create a positive ROI, like working with any advertiser.
Kolsquare is Europe’s leading Influencer Marketing platform, a data-driven solution that allows brands to scale their KOL Marketing strategies and implement authentic partnerships with KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders). Kolsquare’s technology enables marketing professionals to easily identify the best Content Creators profiles by filtering their content and audience, and to build and manage their campaigns from A to Z, including measuring results and benchmarking performance against competitors. Kolsquare has built the largest community of influencer marketing experts in the world, and offers hundreds of customers (Coca-Cola, Netflix, Sony Music, Publicis, Sézane, Sephora, El Corte Inglés, Lacoste, …) the latest Big Data, AI and Machine Learning technologies to drive inspiring partnerships, tapping into an exhaustive network covering 100% of KOLs with more than 5,000 followers in 180 countries on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. As a Benefit Company, Kolsquare has been pioneering Responsible Influence by championing transparency, ethical practices, and meaningful collaborations to inspire change.
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