The Lion's Den
How to Write an Influencer Brief For Partnership
Instagram Marketing
Want to get the most out of Influencer posts? You need a well-constructed brief. An Influencer brief is a document that outlines the guidelines of a campaign; it indicates which activities are to be implemented, how, when, with what tools, and with what budget.
The operational management of an influencer marketing campaign requires a lot of expertise, strong organizational and problem-solving skills. Drafting a brief represents one of the first steps to be faced and it is important to proceed with criteria in order not to have to manage unpleasant inconveniences in the most advanced phases of the activity. The brief is an indispensable collaboration tool to allow creators to understand the needs of the brand and develop valuable content.
If you’re already doing Influencer Marketing or planning to get started, don’t miss the opportunity to boost the impact of Influencer posts. In this article, we explain how to best prepare a winning campaign brief.
The importance of a detailed brief for Influencer Marketing
Even personalities with the smallest communities —micro and nano Influencers— care about their autonomy as content creators. But when it comes to paid posts and sponsorships, brands need influencers to comply with certain guidelines. The reputation of the brand and the success of the campaign are at stake. And this is where the brief comes in.
The brief dedicated to Influencer posts is the only tool capable of establishing a win-win relationship between the company and the Influencers. Creators know what to produce, without misunderstanding, and the brand knows what to expect from the collaboration. In a nutshell, with a detailed brief, your Influencer Marketing campaign will be:
- consistent with the objectives and identity of the brand;
- effective from a communicative point of view;
- measurable with extreme precision
How to write a brief for an Influencer Partnership
The brief for an Influencer post must shed light on 3 focal points: who the company is, what it wants to promote, how the campaign is set up. Clarity and precision are the fundamental ingredients to provide the Influencer with a complete overview and detailed indications. Here is the model brief explained point by point.
Company Presentation
The starting point is the brand, its identity, the aims it pursues, and the audience with which it wants to connect —basically, an overall introduction. The brief must accurately describe the following elements.
- History, Vision, Mission: A detailed account of how the company was formed, how it evolved, and what its face is today. The Mission must indicate what the company does, for example, production of functional design furniture at competitive prices. Vision is the company’s perspective, the ultimate purpose for which it works daily, such as: making design accessible to simplify everyone’s life.
- Target: The brief must provide precise indications on the type of public that the company wants to reach, detailing the socio-demographic information, for example, American women and men between 30 and 50 years, average income bracket, clerical work, freelancers, small business owners. To better describe the buyer personas, it may also be useful to mention the interests, passions, problems, and aspirations of the ideal target.
- The tone of voice and style of communication: In the brief, indications on the verbal approach of the company (ToV) and on the style of communication cannot be missing. The aim is to obtain Influencer posts consistent with the brand identity in the words, in the images, in the global message that is perceived. For example, if the company is represented by minimal images and evocative texts, the Influencer’s post cannot have a humorous tone and confusing images.
Presentation of the product to be sponsored
The Influencer post message must hit the mark. For this, you must put attention and care in the description of the product or service to be promoted. Here are some pointers.
- Product Description: In this section of the brief, explain what your product’s Unique Value Proposition is: what are the benefits to customers and what makes the item different from competing products. Highlight the elements of differentiation, novelty, exclusivity to make your product appear truly unique.
Campaign Presentation
The Influencer must know why you are running an Influencer Marketing campaign and what results you want to achieve. Present your plan and determine what you expect from his job.
- Campaign Goals: Put your goals in black and white: brand awareness, brand reputation, lead generation, sales, engagement. Explain what are the purposes you pursue and which KPIs you adopt to measure performance, for example, dissemination, resonance, purchases, subscriptions, and so on.
- Campaign duration: Determine if the collaboration is campaign-based, i.e. aimed at a specific campaign, or if it is an ongoing work. Define the time frame of the work by specifying the start and end date of the collaboration.
- Deliverable: We come to the contents, that is the posts that the influencer must create and publish. In this section of the brief, it is necessary to clearly list: how many contents to produce, of what type (photos, videos, articles …), the platforms to post the Influencer posts, the timing of the publications. You can use a simple, schematic, and easy to understand brief template. Here is an example; 1 Instagram video story with product unboxing; 1 YouTube video with product review; 1 Instagram image with product presentation.
- Elements to be included in the caption or description: Let’s get to the essential part of the brief, the one that allows you to measure (in part) the performance of the campaign and the effectiveness of the Influencer paid post. Indicate which information and resources to include in the caption of the Instagram post, in the description of the YouTube video, or any other social or blog post. What must absolutely not be missing? Campaign hashtag, profile tag or brand page, link to purchase page, discount code.
- Methods of remuneration: It is important to define the cost of the Influencer’s posts and specify in the brief the methods of calculation of the remuneration and payment. You can set a price per post, but your best bet is to pay the Influencer based on performance, such as reach or engagement. Define the amount to be paid for each like, comment, or impression and enter precise indications within the brief.
What the brief shouldn’t include…
Oftentimes, the common mistake brands make when crafting the influencer brief is trying to control the creative production and output consciously or unconsciously. Remember you’re the client, not the creative director. So, by all means, ensure to give space for creative freedom.
These creators are experts both in content creation and audience engagement; they understand their community and know what would work best in telling your story. Take the time to listen to your influencer’s insight and expertise and craft your brief around this.
Try not to suffocate their creativity by dictating and insisting on a particular storyboard, script, content setting, or an approach that worked in your partnership with some other influencer. As a brand, your job is to provide an overall guideline, and the influencer’s job is to input your guideline into a creative process.
Conclusion
As you now know, an influencer brief is crucial to a successful Influencer marketing campaign; you could say it’s a practical extension of your influencer marketing strategy. Before going on an Influencer partnership hunt, you should have your brief ready, with the information above stated clearly. Once you have the brief in a clear and concise manner, there will hardly be anything that can stop you from having a successful campaign.
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