An influencer marketing agreement details the terms of engagement between an influencer and the company whose products he or she is marketing. Influencers typically have upward of 500,000 followers on social media, which demonstrates their ability to set trends and have a measurable impact on a brand's digital presence.

Terms of an Influencer Marketing Agreement

The marketing agreement should:

  • Detail the role and responsibilities of the influencer, including his or her activities and concrete and specific deliverables.
  • Define an exclusive term in which the influencer is prohibited from entering into an agreement with specified competitors.
  • Include a provision that allows your company to terminate the influencer agreement at any time for any reason.
  • Comply with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines that require influencers to disclose their posts as advertisements and indicate that it is the influencer's responsibility to ensure compliance.
  • Specify the minimum timeframe each marketing post must be live on the influencer's site.
  • Detail the type of rights you are purchasing to the influencer's content and whether he or she can republish the content.
  • How written copy should be delivered.
  • Whether you have editing approval and how this process will be managed.
  • Whether you will derive other content from the author's work and/or translate it into other languages.
  • Whether the content will be used for advertising and other forms of paid promotion.
  • Define the metrics used to determine a successful partnership, whether you're looking for a specific number of leads generated, new followers and shares, or attention from new influencers.
  • Define whether the contract establishes a one-time engagement or ongoing relationship with the influencer.
  • Indicate whether penalties are involved for failing to fulfill the scope of work as written.
  • Detail the provided content and materials the influencer will have access to.
  • List specific phrases or language the influencer should include or avoid in content.
  • Indicate compensation, whether it is a flat rate, performance-based cash payouts, or free products.

Influencer Content Collaboration Ideas

Depending on the interests of your influencer's audience and his or her strengths, influencer marketing can include various types of engagement. Common elements that can fall under the scope of work for this type of contract include but are not limited to:

  • Co-hosting a brand webinar or podcast.
  • Writing a guest blog post or posting about your brand on their existing blog.
  • Speaking at a conference on behalf of your brand.
  • Attending a VIP industry event.
  • Live streaming, tweeting, or blogging from your event.
  • Sharing content on their social media pages.
  • Contributing to an e-book.
  • Creating visual content that features your brand.
  • Sharing your content with their email newsletter.
  • Testing and reviewing your products.
  • Hosting a "takeover" of your brand's social media channels.
  • Promoting a brand collaboration through their channels.
  • Advocating for your brand.
  • Hosting a focus group.
  • Hosting a contest or product giveaway.

Tips to Keep in Mind

As influencer marketing becomes increasingly integral to marketing strategies, companies must create comprehensive contracts that protect influencer rights and company needs. This can help ensure that expectations are clearly delineated in conjunction with the provision of a comprehensive creative brief.

Agreements should require the influencer to disclose his or her material connection with the company when posting about products and services. This includes any content for which the person has received financial compensation, loaned or free products and services, special access privileges, gifts in kind, and any other incentives or benefits. Disclosures must be placed in proximity to the content in question, not placed behind links or buried in terms and conditions, and are required even when using mediums with space limitations such as Twitter.

Influencers should be cautioned to only provide their truthful and honest opinions about products and services while also maintaining good taste and avoiding inappropriate language. Content should not include promotion of racial, gender, or other types of discrimination. All statements made about the products should be factual and verifiable. Content should not violate the intellectual property rights of any third party by using names, logos, photos, images, and other protected elements without permission. All content created under the agreement should comply with applicable laws, rules, and regulations as well as the terms of the agreement.

If you need help with developing an influencer marketing agreement, you can post your legal need on UpCounsel's marketplace. UpCounsel accepts only the top 5 percent of lawyers to its site. Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale Law and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb.