How to approach a Micro Influencer | Influencer Agreements explained
If you run an online business, you’re likely to have come across some marketing advice that suggests there is a benefit to aligning your brand with influencers to try and increase your product or services- audience reach. But knowing where to start in the world of influencer marketing and agreements can feel pretty overwhelming.
In this article we explore why micro influencers are a good place to start, how to approach micro influencers and what you need to know in terms of the legal agreements involved.
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What is a micro influencer and where do you find them?
A micro influencer is someone who has fewer followers than high profile influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers. Instead, micro influencers tend to have at least a thousand followers, who are highly engaged. It is often better to have someone with fewer followers who are highly engaged then someone with say 50,000 followers who aren’t very engaged at all.
Engagement on social media platforms means their followers comment on their posts, are actively liking or saving their content, and they tend to take action on what the influencer posts about, whether that be signing up to a course or buying something. To put it simply; they are loyal fans. So, if a micro influencer recommends a book, their followers are likely to go and read it. Or if they have found a product they like, their followers might go and buy it.
To find a micro influencer you will need to look to your industry. Look towards someone who is very high profile or well known in your industry. And it doesn’t have to be someone local to you either. But you need to find someone who is quite niche and picky about who they align with and what they promote. What you don’t want is someone who sells anything anyone asks them to. Or someone who will post once and forget about you and your arrangement.
Your micro influencer needs to be someone who is non-competing but aligned to you and your brand.
Ensure the influencer is a good fit with your brand
Before you reach out to a potential micro influencer, you should ensure that they align with your own brand values and share a similar audience. Follow along with their posts to get a good gauge on their personality and style. Plus consider interacting with your chosen influencer in their comments first or through direct message (DM), to help put you and your brand on their radar.
Once you’ve determined you have found the ideal micro influencer for you, I suggest approaching them casually. Why this casual approach? To see if they would be open to you putting together a proposal to be an ambassador for your brand.
If the micro influencer you have chosen is interested, then is the time to provide them with some details in a more formalised proposal. The proposal should set out a start and end date as well as your expectations around what you would like them to do for your brand. If they are often approached for this type of arrangement a more formalised proposal shows the influencer that you are serious and they should take the time to review it.
You’ll need to outline their obligations. For example, determine which platforms they would promote your brand on, and whether or not paid ads are included. Plus, include information on how many posts per week or month you require. As well, determine how long the campaign is going to last for, or if you prefer that it be ongoing with a monthly or similar retainer paid.
Another aspect you will need to outline in your proposal is how you are going to pay the micro influencer. If you have a product-based business and you send them items that they promote, will you pay them in products or money? Are you going to pay them a flat fee per month, per campaign or per post, or will you pay them based on leads or cost per acquisition (new customer)?
This whole process is there to determine if both you and the micro influencer are aligned and on the same page with what you expect from one another. Because you want to be sure they’re going to be committed and put in an effort into promoting your brand to their audience.
Once your micro-influencer has agreed to the proposal/commercial agreement you’ll then need to lock it all in place when you set out the terms of agreement.
Reaching out to determine terms of agreement
When it comes to determining the terms of agreement, people often do this through exchanging DM’s (direct messages) and email. The problem with this approach is that things can easily get missed this way. A formalised Proposal that can form an Agreement upon signing will get the attention it requires and also will ensure that your terms are complied with.
Because if you don’t have a proper terms of agreement contract, the worst-case scenario is, you pay someone, and they may put up one post and that’s it. They may not think they need to keep promoting your product after one post.
When you engage a micro influencer you need them to be consistent and I often see the value in the relationship being an ongoing thing. You want the micro influencer to regularly mention you on the agreed platforms in a non salesy kind of way. That is where the bigger, long-term results are often realised.
It is important in the terms of agreement that you are specific about what you expect. If you only expect one post and they fulfil that, then that’s great. If you expect them to be posting once a week for 6 months and they only post once or twice in that time, then that’s why it’s important you have clear terms of agreement policy and both parties’ expectations are matched.
Document the terms in an Influencer Agreement
As mentioned, when working with micro influencers it is vital to document the terms. In addition to what has been listed above, you will need to document how the influencer will provide services that you have agreed on. This will include detail about the creation of content - things such as video, audio, photo, art and interview Keep in mind that the type of content can be quite broad which is why specifics and expectations need to be detailed in the Agreement.
In exchange for payment, the influencer will transfer content and give your brand an online presence. Typically, an influencer will agree to post content with the reasonable instructions of your brand. For example, you may tell your influencer that you are releasing a new product next month and that you want them to promote it. But they might not have known about that product at the time they signed the agreement. So you’ll need to discuss the conditions for these types of scenarios with your chosen influencer and how the brand/ influencer relationship will progress.
You might also require your micro influencer to use affiliate links (specific web links) so you can track what your return on investment is.
Monitor the relationship
It is a good idea for you (and your brand) to look at the influencers content before it’s published, although often brands don’t do this. But in some cases, you may need that requirement if your brand is particularly sensitive.
It is also crucial the influencer complies with all laws and regulations. In Australia there’s a code for disclosure of sponsored content or an ad. Also, if an influencer is to use your logo, they must use it in a correct way and make sure they don’t misuse it. So, they must follow the brand style guide and if they post something the brand doesn’t agree with, they might have to take it down. These things are important so that you have got some pathway if there is something you feel is not aligned with your brand.
It is also important to remember that a micro influencer is not an employee, they’re actually an independent contractor. They don’t have any entitlements as an employee would and you also want to make sure it’s either an exclusive or non-exclusive contract. Usually, it would be non-exclusive so that you have the option to engage other micro influencers to promote your brand.
Similarly, the micro-influencer can work with other brands in your space, which could be interesting if they pick up with a competitor. It follows that if you need to make sure if you want a specific micro influencer to just talk about you, or in other words an exclusive arrangement, then you will need to pay them accordingly. Either way, this should be documented in the Influencer Agreement.
You will also want indemnities in an influencer agreement to make sure the influencer has the right insurance and that they post at their own risk, so that your business is not liable for things they post. Also, you want to ensure that when they do post content, they are not copying someone else’s content and posting it in connection with your brand. If they are not posting original work and they are breaching someone else’s copyright or another brand's trademark, your brand could be in the firing line.
Confidentiality clauses are also important to prevent the influencer from telling people how much they are being paid or other things they know about the brand that shouldn’t be spoken about in the public arena.
Sometimes you might also have a non disparagement clause in an influencer agreement. This is a clause to ensure the influencer cannot speak badly about your brand. This is usually a mutual component of an Influencer Agreement.
Review the arrangement regularly
There are a number of ways to review your arrangement with a micro influencer. The first one, as previously mentioned, is by using an affiliate link, so you can see how many people are coming to your website via the influencer.
Your brand can also track and review the growth of your followers on social media following the influencers posts. It could be the number of followers or it could be the number of people in a Facebook group.
There are many different metrics for sales that you can review. You might see that your sales have increased by 10% and you will be able to see if that is attributed to the influencer as it is a trackable link. The great benefit from this is that if people are buying from that link, then they are also likely to browse through your other products and might buy them too.
This is all depending on the type of business you run. Because you may see an increase in leads instead of products sold. Or even just an increase of visitors to your website. These are all different ways to work out the effect the influencer has had on your business.
What we know is that there are a huge number of aspects to take into consideration when engaging a micro influencer. Some are more important than others, and if not done correctly, they can have huge consequences on your business. This is why it is extremely important to have correct terms and agreements set out to ensure you are best placed to benefit from the arrangement.
Related articles: Why service businesses should consider brand ambassadors and influencers to drive growth | Your Influencer Agreement Checklist
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If you would like expert advice on how to set out your influencer agreements, you can book an obligation free chat here or if you are ready to go you can buy our Template Influencer Agreement here. The template is on sale for a limited time to celebrate the launch of this blog.