Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been using influencers for a while, a set of influencer marketing guidelines will make sure you get the most out of your campaigns, says Amani Youseff, founder of So Social.

With the rise of social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, influencer marketing is a tactic that’s only increasing in popularity. In fact, there’s never been a time in history where individuals have had this much influence on the Australian consumer market.

You may be a beginner or even an expert in influencer marketing. Either way, it’s critical to ensure your business has proper plans in place to optimise your influencer campaigns.

Without direction and influencer marketing guidelines, your brand risks its reputation and revenue. Especially if an influencer campaign doesn’t align sufficiently with your brand principles.

Collaboration guidelines are extremely important. They allow your business to set expectations for partnered influencers and ensures the content produced is a valuable marketing asset.

Influencer marketing guidelines vary from business to business and will look different depending on your industry. For example, if you’re a financial services business, your guidelines would reference current ASIC regulations and inform your influencers on what can and can’t be mentioned.

Influencer collaboration guidelines are key to ensuring that you make the most out of every influencer interaction.

Here is a suggested structure for your brand’s influencer marketing guidelines. Be sure to tailor these guidelines to your specific industry and carefully consider what business-specific information you need to include.

1. Be clear upfront

From the onset, state the format of the content you require. For example, a static Facebook post, Instagram story or TikTok video. If you lead with the deliverables, your influencers are more likely to meet the specific requirements and create content that will be approved as marketing materials.

Having uncertainty between your business and partnered influencers fosters animosity and can negatively affect the quality of the content produced. Instead, make it as easy as possible for your influencers to understand your exact requirements.

Be specific about any metrics you have set for the campaign. That might be impressions, engagement or even leads generated by the content. Also let your influencer know what you expect in their final report. It will guide their approach to the campaign and keep you both on track.

2. Have set deadlines

State when the content should be posted, for example within seven days of receiving your product or experiencing your service.

Influencers are great at producing content, but they’re not always the most reliable. So including a specific plan for how posts are sent out to followers once approved is critical.

Different posting times affect the engagement of social media posts. Work with the influencer to agree the most prime time to post your content.

3. Give specific examples

Influencers try their best and are experts at what they do. But if your business doesn’t include examples of ideal content, they are essentially driving blind.

It’s particularly helpful to provide visual examples of the type of content you expect. Your influencer marketing guidelines should include both positive and negative examples. That way influencers have a strong idea of what is likely to be approved.

Provide feedback on any content examples that weren’t approved in the past. It’s likely influencers will see this, analyse why it wasn’t approved, and avoid making the same mistakes.

4. Who to tag in content

Create a section in your collaboration guidelines that alerts influencers on who to tag, what to hashtag, and how to interact with commenters. If you have a plan like this, you’re already ahead of most business owners.

Incidentally, don’t tag your grandma and second cousin in your businesses Instagram feed! They aren’t your target audience and it can also negatively impact your measurable metrics.

5. Have a rough script

To ensure the influencers know exactly who you are, what you do, and why you do it, create a rough script that represents your business.

Including a script in your influencer marketing guidelines means your campaigns stay on track and your influencers know exactly what to reference.

6. Provide feedback

Just as you require an influencer to produce a report on the metrics of the campaign, it’s a good idea to give feedback in return.

Let them know what worked for you and what didn’t. It’s a fair thing to do and it will help you both if you decide to work together in the future.

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