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If you’re new to influencer marketing it can be a somewhat daunting task. Where do you start?

We’ve got you. It’s not as complicated as you think - you really just need to know a few key points to get you started.

What’s a collaboration? How do you write a creative brief? Do you need a contract? All important questions that we’re going to cover in this post. 

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What is a collaboration? 

A collaboration (or collab as it’s also known by influencers), is a co-operation between a brand and influencer to create content and exposure. It’s beneficial for both parties because it not only presents the influencer with new content for their feed and blog, but it also provides brands with content for social media, in addition to exposure for their brand. 

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A collaboration can be paid or unpaid, but when paid, is often called a campaign. There are two kinds of collaborations, paid and gifted. Gifted campaigns are where the influencer is paid for their content in product only, and paid campaigns are obviously compensated on a rate/post basis, or a paid/content basis (more on this next).

Often influencers have a set rate/post, but this can vary depending on how many posts or pieces of content that you are looking for. Building relationships with influencers you like for long term collaborations is always a good idea too. 

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What is content creation? 

Content creation is a term used to describe when an influencer creates images specifically for a brands feed, not for posting. Brands go this route when they’re not looking for exposure from the influencers following, they’re just looking for content to post on their own feed.

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Often content creation is coupled with posting campaigns, so that a brand asks for maybe 10 images over the course of 2 months, and 2 posts. This amount and timeline can vary quite a bit depending on the project, but is a great option for brands who don’t have the time/energy to set up and style photoshoots. 

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It’s also a great way to get a variety of styles of images without having to hire photographers, stylists, shoot locations, etc. All of which can end up being much more expensive and time consuming than hiring an influencer for content creation.

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The trick is to find content creators that are already creating the type of content you’re looking for, and then get them to create some with your product. 

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Should you pay for influencers / content?

This is a complicated question, but the simple answer is yes. The reason being quality. If you are looking at influencers with more than 5-10k followers, they are most likely being approached by quite a few brands, and their time is limited, so they will only be able to take on the best offers.

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Often brands think that their product will be enough of a payment, but you have to consider that the influencers time/talent is valuable, and you’re also paying for the time they’ve spent building their following, and the experience they have creating content.

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When brands just send a product and hope they get great photos they are often disappointed, because the influencer may not be motivated to create amazing content for a gifted collaboration when they have other paid collaborations that are taking their focus. 

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This is especially true for products that they don’t necessarily need. The exception to this is when the influencer really wants your product, because then they’ll be more motivated to work with you, in the hopes that maybe they will work with you in the future and start a long term collaboration that is beneficial for both parties. 

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How should you approach influencers?

Often we forget that influencers are just people like the rest of us. Most of them have their email right in their Instagram bios, so check there first, and then if you can’t find their email address there, check the contact on their website, or send them a direct message.

Email is always preferable to DM (because some of them will get SO many DMs), so opt for email wherever possible. When emailing an influencer, be sure to highlight why you’d like to work with them, what your product is, what you’re offering, and what you’re looking for. The more clear you can be, the better.  

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How to write a creative brief

The depth that your creative brief needs to have can vary quite a bit, but in general, the more detailed you can be, the more likely it is that you’ll get the type of content that you’re looking for.

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On the momfluence.co platform we walk you through a detailed campaign builder so that building a top notch creative brief is easy peasy.

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Do you need a contract?

In general we recommend having a contract. This makes both you and the influencer accountable, and makes it very clear what the expectations are.

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On momfluence.co we have built contracts into our creative briefs to make this simple for you so that you never need to write your own contract, but can edit it when there is need to. Because who really wants to write a contract  (other than maybe lawyers!?). 

Have more questions? Feel free to email us at hello@momfluence.co, or see of FAQ page!