How to hire an influencer without the risk

By On Your Terms
March 2024

Kim Kardashian charges half a million per post for her influencer services. But just possibly (if you’ve got that kind of marketing money), it’s the best investment you’ll ever make, with countless examples of products she’s endorsed selling out in a matter of hours.

But for those of us not in Kim’s circle, is influencer marketing a good idea? What are the risks, and how do you go about hiring an influencer to ensure the best result for your business?

What is influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing is where a person with a high number of followers or ability to gain attention on social media, illustrates their endorsement of your product, service, or brand through social networks.

There are various ‘tiers’ of influencers, including ‘nano’ (1000 - 10,000 followers, often with loyal and engaged followers), ‘mid-tier’ (50,000 to 500,000 followers, seen by some as a cost-efficient choice), ‘macro’ influencers (500,000 to 1 million followers, popular for product collaborations due to huge reach), and ‘mega’ influencers (over a million followers - celebrities, basically - with a celebrity price tag).   

Should I hire an influencer?

Some big brands (think Nike) are massive users of influencer marketing and view it as an essential tool in their marketing belt. But what about for smaller businesses? Influencer marketing tends to ‘fit’ best for certain types of products and services – including those that can be well showcased on screen, like clothing, food and beverage or accessories. But the right influencer who has built know, like and trust in their area of expertise can lead to great engagement and increased brand awareness for any business.  

However, influencer marketing will only benefit your brand if you pick the right influencer. In addition to the size of their following, you also need to closely consider whether the influencer is the right fit for your business. Do their values align with your brand values? What other brands have they (or are they) endorsing? Is their ‘style’ appropriate for your product or service?

To get the most out of your arrangement, you also need to ensure your business’ goals for the campaign are clearly agreed with the influencer from the get-go.

How can I ensure the campaign goes smoothly?

Once you’ve chosen the right influencer and determined the goals you want to achieve, you need to make sure you and your influencer are aligned. Putting your content creation needs and other expectations into words before you begin is essential.  

The key things to set out in an influencer agreement are:

• scope of the influencer’s service (number of posts, platforms, frequency)
• how you’ll pay them (per post, fixed fee for the campaign, a percentage of revenue generated, bonuses for meeting targets)
• what happens to the products provided to the influencer – can they keep them, or do they need to be returned at the end of the campaign?
• who owns any IP created
• any specific branding guidelines the influencer needs to follow
• any restrictions on the influencer endorsing competitor brands

Why do I need an influencer agreement?

A verbal or unclear arrangement could have terrible consequences for your brand’s reputation and damage (rather than boost) your sales. Think about use of competitor or off-brand imagery, offensive content, or disputes regarding how fees should be calculated. 

An agreement will also make it clear who owns the intellectual property rights in content created and can allow you to agree exclusivity and other restrictions. 

There are requirements in the Fair Trading Act 1986 that businesses must comply with when they advertise (including not misleading consumers) and also separate advertising standards, codes and guidelines. If your influencer breaks any of these laws or guidelines, you will be responsible for this. Therefore, it is important your agreement requires the influencer to comply with the applicable laws, standards, codes and guidelines when posting on social media.   

Having the important conversations upfront will make for a much more successful campaign and create a base for a great ongoing relationship - once you’ve discussed and agreed the fundamentals, you’ll only need to agree specific campaign details if you want to hire that influencer again. 

Just remember, don’t assume you’re on the same page if you haven’t put it clearly in writing. It’s not worth the risk to your business! 

Key Points

Influencer marketing can do great things for your brand if it’s done right. But you need to be picky with who you use choose as your influencer and put an agreement in place up front so that you reap the full rewards rather than ending up with misunderstandings and additional costs.

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