Why it’s important for influencers to work with contracts...
Based on a few chats we’ve had with people in our community, it appears there’s a bit of a vibe around freelance contracts. Especially when it comes to influencers and the contracts they do and don’t sign with the brands that they work with. (We know there’s also a bit of a vibe around the term “influencer” - call it what you will: digital creator, mom-fluencer, curator, online ambassador). What we’re talking about are people who market or review things to their online communities in exchange for a product, payment, trade exchange or sponsorship.
Some of the comments we’ve heard from influencers relating to contracts are:
“The brand owner is so nice; we just get one another - I don’t think there’s a need for a contract”
We chatted to a South African business owner and influencer, Roxy Hutton, about her experience of contracts in the influencer space. Once bitten, now twice shy, Roxy is unlikely to work without a contract again and this is the main reason why: unspoken, unwritten expectations don’t count for much in a business engagement. Even when you like the brand owner and “feel like you’re on the same page”. One of the things that Roxy shared with us was that she’d worked with a brand that dropped her as an ambassador because she’d created digital content that referenced competitor brands. Speaking specifically to her situation, the brand owner’s expectation was not only not communicated but also not put down into an agreement anywhere. Had that been the case, Roxy may not have signed up for the ambassadorship in the first place. Exclusive brand representation is absolutely a thing, but it should always be discussed and agreed upon beforehand. With a simple agreement – even written in bullet points over email with acknowledgment – this confusion and the resulting emotion could have been avoided.
“Brands will laugh at me if I send them contracts for a lower value product exchange”
When we spoke to Roxy, we asked her if any brand had ever laughed her from the room when she’d sent through a contract. She said no. To the contrary, a new brand she was working with commended her on her professionalism when she sent through her legals. It didn’t matter that the exchange or deal wasn’t a $250 million ambassadorship with Nike. Because Roxy took herself and her business seriously enough to have a contract in place, it told her client that they could also have faith in her service.
“I’m a micro-influencer with a small (but loyal) following, my business is too small for hectic legals”
Know your worth and stand by it. If you’ve got an audience of 50 people who transact with a brand because of something you marketed to them, then you’ve got something of value to offer. Big audience numbers don’t necessarily translate into measurable KPIs for brands. No matter whether you’re being given a free dummy in exchange for a shoutout on Instagram, there’s always, always room for human expectation to get in the way of a happy, amicable exchange. It doesn’t always get yucky, but if it does, then a contract helps bring things back into focus.
A contract doesn’t have to be a big ol’ 64 page document littered with legal jargon. If you’re not able to get a reusable template drawn up for your business, then - at very least - get your arrangement into writing. It’s so easy for lines to get blurred. And when lines blur, emotions often blur them even more.
It’s important to understand that an agreement is just that - an agreement between two people or businesses. If you can’t get on the same page from the start of your relationship, it’s highly unlikely that you will be in agreement if and when things go belly up.
A well thought out and drafted agreement protects both sides, manages expectations, and provides a clear framework for how the relationship should go forward. If someone is determined not to put your working relationship into writing, you should be questioning if this is the best business relationship to get into in the first place.
As always, we're here to help if you come unstuck.