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Influencer Campaign Guidelines Tutorial

Collaborations with influencers look simple and straightforward, but take it from us (as we’ve been managing influencer campaigns for a decade!), violations of FTC and other industry guidelines and contract breaches are persistently looming problems that require certain preemptive measures to avoid.

This involves a fine balancing act. On the one hand, you want to give influencers the creative freedom to do what they do best: develop content that resonates with your product or service and that aligns with their aesthetic, voice and sensibilities. Yet at the same time, you need to ensure sure they do not miss critical deadlines, disclaimers and deliverables.

It is for this reason that brand and an influencer(s) obligations must be put in writing, fully delineating respective the objectives, goals and deliverables for the collaboration.

The “Campaign Brief” is the scope of work proposal that details everything to which influencers must adhere in order to complete the assignment successfully. This document can and often acts as a contract between you and the content creators with whom you partner to ensure the assignment is executed properly. After clearly defining your campaign goals, your BabbleBoxx Account Manager will craft and distribute comprehensive campaign guidelines and monitor activity to ensure assignments are successfully completed.

 
  1. Campaign Title/Theme & Run Dates
 

The opening paragraph serves as the icebreaker, so make sure you select a title that inspires the influencers to create content that is (1) interesting/engaging (2) educational/informative and/or (3) amusing/entertaining. To avoid missed deadlines, be sure to include the campaign start and end dates so the influencers can ensure their editorial calendars are clear and that they are not already scheduled to work with a competing brand. If your promotion is scheduled to run on a specific day or time, or you want to avoid certain windows during the week to avoid posting, this should also be highlighted upfront.

 
  1. The Objective of Your Influencer Marketing Campaign
 

The next step to building a good foundation for your influencer campaign is to outline the goal. It’s important to think about your desired outcome, whether it be increasing awareness, engagement or driving an action, so that the influencers can tailor their content to deliver those results. No need to get too technical, just include one to two bullet points with specific actionable objectives for the influencer.

 
  1. Brand Background

Before delving into the details of the assignment, provide influencers with a little context about your company and its raison d’etre. Sharing the brand history, values and/or mission and raison gives you the chance to establish a meaningful connection with your partners, so they are enthusiastic about creating content for you. We suggest you keep this section limited to 150 words or less.

 

Now here is where the fun begins! The next section is critical because it provides direction for content creation with specific guidelines on which social channel your partners should share (i.e. Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, Blogs etc.)

Keep in mind, this is a framework and depending on the industry product rules and requirements will vary.

 
  1. Campaign Requirements

Start with bullet points that list the number and types of pieces of content you expect the influencers to create as part of the assignment. Here is where you can also specify days and times you want posts to go live. And if video is part of the ask, you may want to include duration times you expect for each story, reel or segment.

 

EXAMPLE ONE

  • 1 x Blog Post
  • 1 x Facebook Post
  • 1 x IG Post
  • 1 x Pin to Pinterest
  • 1x 2-4 frame Instagram Story Video Unboxing
  • 1 Week EXCLUSIVITY: You cannot endorse, nor enter into a contractual or sponsorship relationship with any other competing content for retailers of grocery products or about any grocery delivery service on your social channels during the week your content goes live
  • CONTENT REVIEW: Please note for legal reasons you will need to submit all content before going live so we may provide feedback to correct any inaccuracies, factual errors and legal disclaimers.

After content review, you will be assigned a specific date and time to post between Monday April 5th and Friday April 9th, 2021.

 

EXAMPLE TWO

  • 1 x IG Video, IGTV or IG REEL posted to your IG grid feed with CTA to visit link in bio. Your unique tracking link must be placed in your bio for 48 hours once your post goes live.
  • 1x 3-5 frame Instagram Story with CTA and Swipe-Up

Your content must go live between 10am and 3pm EST Wednesday May 5th ,2021 OR between 10am and 3pm EST Friday May 7th, 2021.

 

Next, break down key pieces of information you’d like the influencers to consider and/or include when creating the promotional assets (video, photos, copy) for the campaign. Keep instruction concise and make sure to include:

  • Product/Service Name + Description: Start by listing the product or service name along with a brief overview. Don’t forget to include trademark or copyright requirements and emphasis on font nuances, like for example, brand name must be in ALL CAPS.
  • Key Messaging Points: This is the framework for your campaign, so in a few sentences set forth what is special about your product/service. This will vary based on your campaign theme and objectives for the campaign but may include benefits, usage tips, statistics, expert quotes etc. We suggest this you keep these to 5 points per product/service
  • Keywords: If blog content is part of the campaign scope, provide influencers with a list of 5 Key Words from which they can select a few to include for SEO purposes.
  • Special Calls to Action: To drive engagements or actions, you can provide influencer with special incentives (sales, discounts, contest or giveaways) to share with their followers. And make sure to include information on valid dates for any promo codes. We also encourage you to provide influencers with unique URLs to specific landing pages they point to so you can monitor traffic, clicks, purchases and other performance.
  • Hashtags – You may not love them but don’t leave Hashtags out of your campaign guidelines – they make it easier for audiences to find information on social networks, allow you to reach target audiences and to track the content as it goes live for your campaign.
  • Imagery/Video Guidelines - Do you have special instructions for bloggers for their imagery and video? It is also beneficial to provide examples of the kind of content you are looking for so influencers have enough information to feel confident in creating content that will resonate with both you and their followers.
  • Mandatory Disclosures – We all want to make sure influencers comply with legal requirements and/or guidelines based on your industry. Be sure to provide specific direction on how you’d like them to disclose their partnership with you to ensure compliance with FTC and WOMMA guidelines. If you work within a highly regulated industry such as Wine + Spirits, healthcare or finance/insurance you will need to provide influencers additional protocols to which they must adhere.
  • Content Review/Approval (Optional) – Some brands prefer to review content before influencers go live to provide general feedback and correct inaccuracies, factual errors and legal disclaimers. If you choose to do so, here you will provide a deadline for your partner to submit content, along with information on when they can expect to receive your feedback to make requested changes.

There you have it – a template which should provide you with the necessary framework for your next influencer campaign. Keep in mind that this is meant to be a baseline upon which you can add to and elaborate on each of the elements listed. The more details you provide, the better the chances for a truly successful campaign.

Need additional guidance to create your campaign brief? Email team@babbleboxx.com to connect with a BabbleBoxx team member today!