What key elements should be in your influencer content brief to align with your brand's message and values?

It's so important to make sure your influencer partners not only understand the campaign and it's goal but even more importantly truly understand the brand and core messages to consider. Always include: - Campaign summary - Brand background - Key brand messages for consideration - Thought starters can be helpful to kick start creative ideas that align well with the campaign - Do's and Don't - Place to find additional resources Some other things to consider: - review the brief with your talent so they can ask questions in real time - include a concept phase - that will help you ensure that the influencers understood the ask and are following brief before anything is shot.

Your influencer content brief should be a comprehensive document that outlines your campaign goals, target audience, messaging, and deliverables. It should also include clear and concise instructions for the influencer, such as the tone of voice, style, and visuals you expect.

Condensing information into bullet points, rather than having all the information in heavy detail, is a way to set clear expectations for your agreed deliverables For example.... - 1 x Instagram Reel, showcasing X product or X messaging - Deadline for sign off - Posting deadline - Tags & required hashtags - Required links for stories / UTM tracked links - Links to creative examples This way, the influencer can get all the information they need in an easy digestible way, rather than having to read through detailed briefs when they're at the point of content creation etc.

The overview of your campaign is a critical component of your influencer strategy. It's does the job of showcasing the internal team's expectations and setting out a clear strategy for how the influencer or partner you are collaborating with will be asked to bring this forward. It's a full-scale document that you will draw on for each component of your working relationship so it's critical to involve all key stakeholders in the development, review and launch process of this document.

An overview should be exactly that, keep things light- this is often the creators' first introduction to your brand/product. When talking about your mission and campaign objectives, make things easier to digest - use bullet points. Instead of trying to explain your brands visual identity or "tone of voice", give examples of past work with creators, or showcase a brand reel. As alluded to above, this is often the first formal port-of-call with a creator you want to collaborate with, you want to engage them in the brief from the outset, and so remember who you are talking to - creators are creators and often lack understand of media/industry terminology, bare this in mind when crafting your brief.

When it comes to tone of voice, it is critical to allow the influencer room to put messages into their own voice. Brands should keep top of mind that many influencers know their audience very well. Messages that are cut and paste from the brand are often seen through very quickly by the influencer's audience. This is because people can spot inauthenticity from a mile away. When an influencer uses their own voice to communicate a brand's message, it comes across as more genuine and believable. This is because the influencer is using their own words and personality to connect with their audience. This can be especially effective if the influencer's voice aligns with the brand's voice.

Briefing and Brainstorming with the creators is an important step! Sometimes they bring up ideas that your whole creative team couldn’t think about, maybe because they give outer perspectives which are unique in their own. As a step, in my own workstream, this one addition, has really resulted in one of the best outcomes.

While it's incredibly tempting to dictate this, the most successful content often emerges when left in the hands of the creators. Each creator possesses a distinct style and flair. While it's essential to provide brand guidelines, do's & don'ts; let's empower our creators to truly "create" and witness the magic unfold. :)

Influencers have grown their following based on their unique delivery method and tone. Their delivery style should align with what is working and not how a brand wants them to portray their message. Obviously there are guidelines to follow but this will give far greater engagement and brand recall.

Here are the key elements that should be in your influencer content brief: Campaign goals:What do you want to achieve with your influencer campaign?Do you want to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, or generate leads? Once you know your campaign goals, you can tailor your content brief accordingly. Target audience:Who are you trying to reach with your influencer campaign?Be as specific as possible when describing your target audience.This will help the influencer create content that is relevant &engaging for their followers. Messaging:What key messages do you want the influencer to communicate to their audience?Be clear and concise in your messaging, and make sure that it is aligned with your brand voice and messaging.

Keep it super visual. I have found that sharing a mood board of creative inspiration, using a variety of their content and others in the industry is the best way to ensure that the creator is totally aligned with your vision but ALSO ensures that they have freedom to create in a way unique to them and bring their ideas to the table. It's important not to suffocate the creativity for them, you choose to work them for a reason! They know their audience and they know what works to resonate with their community.

Great ways to do this are: 1) Visual examples / Links to content on that Influencers account that you really loved 2) If you have it, examples of content OTHER influencers have created that worked really well. And remember, influencers / creators are visual by nature. Images are worth more than words.

While it's important to be super clear on your brand guidelines, brand identity, and overall campaign goal within your brief, it's even more important, to make sure your influencers are aware of their creative freedom and your willingness to work with them on content idea, specifically when working with video content. This way, you avoid all influencer content looking repetitive, disingenuine, and ultimately not something their community would normally engage with. Sometimes, companies feel a brief is enough to get the best results from influencers, but actually, the best output comes from working with them or talking to them about their idea to encourage out the box thinking and avoid typical influencer product videos.

This tip is often overlooked, so I wanted to call it out! When writing your guidelines and examples, be sure to send along what your current audience demographic is, and what your preferred target audience is. Outside of converting viewers to your target destination (buying products, becoming a user, etc.), influencers/creators can also help you reach brand-new markets and even more consumers. Trust in your creator. They know content and audiences, that's why you're working with them! So when it comes to briefing, don't be afraid to let the creator know who you want to engage. And hopefully, before you even start conversations, you've identified that this creator's audience is in line with yours!!

This is the first thing I review with my clients when I sign them. It is incredible how much of an impact guidelines, examples & assets make in the final results. You could have the best possible match & very affordable price but still have ROI negative results because the product was not promoted in an attractive and engaging way. This often happens due to poor guidelines. Always prioritize making the best and clearest possible brief as possible.

This whole process is best done on a one on one call or video call. A good influencer has a system prepared and should be able to effectively communicate with the business representatives in a way that lays out that process. Obviously this includes answering questions and securing the key elements they are looking to achieve.

Clearly outlining the content delivery and approval cycle minimizes issues that could arise later on. This also compels all involved parties to adhere to a specific schedule and ensure that content launches on time. One overlooked aspect is the scale of revision requests that can be made during a particular round (assuming there are multiple content approval rounds). Larger requests should be made during the first approval round, leaving any additional rounds for refinement.

We used to always ask the influencer to share their content with us before going live. This helped us in evaluating the content for errors if any. We reviewed the content largely on: 1. Messaging 2. Use of visuals 3. Content delivery and quality 4. Content duration The POC who managed the influencer was also responsible for reviewing content and sharing feedback.

You should remember this is a collaboration and so from brief to live the process should be exactly that. Work with the creator in the early stages of briefing to understand how they work; do they have the resource to make quick edits? Could lots of feedback coming over in part be a struggle to work flow? This will allow you to craft a campaign timeline that suits all parties, and means everyone (agency, brand and creator) meets the deadlines mutually agreed.

Providing a clear outline of the content delivery and approval cycle is pivotal in preventing potential issues down the line. This structured approach not only sets expectations but also encourages all stakeholders to follow a predefined schedule, ensuring timely content launches. However, one often underestimated factor is the magnitude of revision requests, especially in scenarios involving multiple approval rounds. It's imperative that substantial revisions are addressed in the initial approval round, leaving subsequent rounds primarily for fine-tuning and refinement. This strategic allocation of revisions guarantees a more efficient and streamlined content approval process.

In addition to the tracking tools I use, I always ask the influencer for a screen grab of their content analytics 7 days after it was posted.

Besides what other colleagues have mentioned, when it comes to TikTok if the influencer is a brand partner, you can check the analytics directly on the platform. I feel not many people know about this and is game changing for social media managers!

Mixpanel is a good tracking tool for understanding content performance. When complimented with a UTM link builder, it tells you what kind of traffic is coming from the content posted by the influencer. You can get additional info like views, likes, etc. publicly from YouTube. For the remaining channels like Instagram, you need to ask the influencer to share a screenshot of their content analytics dashboard.

It is fairly standard to ask the influencer to share an overview of their analytics once the campaign is concluded. If you are going to request to see their analytics, I feel this should be mentioned in the original content brief as part of the deliverables, or in a standalone KPI/reporting section of the brief. It is also essential to track engagement and other metrics on your own relevant platforms for the duration of the campaign. Without this, it will be almost impossible to get a clear picture of the campaign's effectiveness. It will also make it difficult to know what adjustments can be made for your next influencer campaign to improve performance.

Content rights / ownership are VERY important. It is important to have a clear agreement in place that outlines who owns the rights to the content that is created for the campaign. There are 2 main approaches The influencer retains ownership of the content that they create, but they grant the brand a license to use the content for the duration of the campaign. This is the most common approach in influencer marketing. The brand owns the content: the influencer transfers ownership of the content to the brand. This is less common, but it is sometimes used. The best approach to content rights and ownership will vary depending on the specific campaign. However, it is important to have a clear agreement in place...upfront!

This is a very important one. If you know that you will be using influencer content in organic or paid social, be sure to spell this out clearly here. Influencer content almost always outperforms brand content. So you'll want to use this if you can. If it's your first time working with this influencer, wait to see how the content turns out before getting the rights. There is no point in paying for something you don't use!

This is always tricky as each campaign and the usage of content will vary. Brands frequently forget the relationship aspect of influencer marketing and try to strong arm creators in this area. As a general rule, creators should never agree to handing over full content and ownership rights as brands don't mind paying a licensing fee later on if the content has performed well. On the flip side, brands should ensure the duration of this agreement gives them enough time to use the assets in relevant marketing material. Tracking down a creator or agency to renew rights can be a headache. Lastly, creators should ensure the original context of the content will be not be changed under any circumstances.

The goal of influencer marketing should be to reach a new audience and build trust with them. By allowing influencers to put messages into their own voice, brands can create content that is more authentic and engaging.

Keep your briefs straightforwad & simple. If you overwhelm the influencers with jargon & too much information about your brand, it will get lost. You objective is to communicate effectively & efficiently so your content comes back perfectly the first time!

As a brand you have a mission, but remember you get the best out of creators and their reach when you play to there strength in understanding their fandoms. Collab with the creator on your activation, come with a foundation and build the brief with them to garner the best results.

Consider fostering authenticity in influencer collaborations. Encourage influencers to genuinely connect with your brand, weaving it into their own narratives. Allow creative freedom while maintaining brand alignment. Transparency about the collaboration is vital; ensure influencers disclose partnerships clearly. Beyond metrics, gauge the emotional resonance and audience engagement generated by influencer content. Cultivate long-term relationships with influencers who share your brand values. Successful influencer marketing isn't just about guidelines; it's about building meaningful connections and trust with both influencers and audiences.