What is Instagram Influencer Agreement?

Author- Nandini Bhagat

INTRODUCTION

Instagram is one of the most famous social media applications among the youth. It is one of the platforms that consumes most of the watch time and attention span of the generation nowadays. Since it has many influencers that make content for the app and a considerable amount of audience for it, the companies also have a great chance of getting their products sponsored and getting the attention of their potential buyers. Since the people making content have the power to influence society and have developed trust for themselves by the people or their followers or viewers companies find it a great chance to expand the scope of their product and attract the limelight. Every business seeks expansion by educating a sizable population from a variety of backgrounds about its goods, services, works, etc. Before these social media platforms existed or became widely used, advertisements were mostly made through TV shows, commercials, movie adverts, salespeople, campaigning, posters, etc. But since these methods of advertisement proved to be costlier and time-consuming, the companies moved to social media platforms to reach a larger amount of masses in a short period. Since influencers already have a certain level of reach, marketers found it more beneficial to reach a larger audience in a shorter length of time with less commitment of money and time. This is how social media platforms like Instagram became so popular.

Therefore, we see many content creators promoting a brand or its product under the title of sponsorship or in paid partnership and by signing the Instagram influencer agreement.

INFLUENCER AGREEMENT

The term “influencer agreement” refers, in a general sense, to the contract between an influencer and the company, brand, or agency that wants to use the influencer to promote its goods or services, etc. The terms and conditions that each party to the Agreement must abide by are set forth in the Influencer Agreement. The Agreement covers everything pertaining to that specific brand’s marketing activities, including:

• The attention a star receives,
• The influencer must post stories, posts, videos, etc.
• Use of Hashtags, Time of posting advertising,
• The brand name should be included in the account bio, etc.

The term “influencer agreement” refers, in a general sense, to the contract between an influencer and the company, brand, or agency that wants to use the influencer to promote its goods or services, etc. In addition to all of this, the Agreement lists the fundamental terms of agreements, such as but not limited to the Indemnity clause, payment clause, dispute clause, confidentiality clause, content rights clause, termination clause, post-termination clause, etc. These clauses can be considered the basic features of any influencer agreement.

Instagram is currently the most popular platform for advertising, marketing, and promotion, as well as the place where the Influencer Agreement is most frequently employed. The celebs advertise the goods through their Instagram posts, stories, likes, bios, etc. In exchange for this, they receive enough financial rewards to promote the brand or product.

Celebrities sign an Influencer Agreement with the brand or product before beginning to publish the ads related to it. This agreement broadly outlines the work to be done regarding the advertisement to be posted-

1. When is the advertisement going to be posted, whether on alternate days or a daily basis, and for what duration?
2. Will the influencer post through stories or via photos or videos, for which they get a higher consideration?
3. What all hashtags will be used.
4. Since the posts move done the profile and stories get disappeared after 24 hours therefore will the brand name will be used in the influencer’s bio.

All the terms and conditions are decided before the deal of the advertisement and are to be adhered to by the influencer if agreed upon.

IMPORTANT CLAUSES

1. CONTENT

What the advertisement will look like and what will be included and what will not be included will be made clear in the advertisement. The advertisement should provide clear instructions and should not be vague.

• CREATIVE VALUATION

This clause will determine who will create images or videos, whether will it be the creator or the company that will be providing it, or who will hold the production costs or charges.

• DURATION

Duration will include the time frame or till when the post regarding the advertisement will stay on the social media handle of the creator. Will it be a lifetime or two or three months shall be included?

• PAYMENT

This will include how the payment will be made and through which mode (cheque, cash, etc.) and how the payment process will take place, and in what stages or installments the creator will get paid.

• TERMINATION CLAUSE

This includes if any such situations arise that the deal needs to be terminated how the termination will take place who will bear the expenses and how the payment will be made if it needs to be made. Even if the termination takes place after posting the advertisement due to any situation the clauses regarding that need to be mentioned in the agreement beforehand.

These are a few crucial provisions that must be in the Influencer Agreement. Along with the aforementioned, various provisions like dispute resolution, exclusivity, content approval, compliance, and others should be taken into account while creating an Instagram influencer agreement.

There are a few provisions that need to be taken care of by every company before entering into any influencer agreement.

• Laws- Every company needs to take care of the law of the land before entering upon any agreement, that the product or the provisions are not void ab initio.
• Fake followers – The most crucial factor that brands and businesses should consider is if the influencer has real or false followers, as well as whether they are paid or unpaid. Today, many people have started using follower applications, hacking, etc. to instantly increase their following. So, businesses must be careful with these accounts.
• Know the influencer – It’s essential for companies nowadays to have a background check of the creator and how has been the past experiences of the creator regarding sponsorship deals. Also, whether the creator is trustworthy and does not involve in regular controversy can hamper the brand value of the product.

CONCLUSION

The use of Instagram influencer agreements is essential for publishing and branding businesses. Instagram has been utilizing a variety of influencers to persuade consumers, which benefits marketers and generates revenue for the social media platform. Hence, to be on the safe side, having a formal agreement becomes necessary. There may be disagreements over the concept, timing, content objectives, etc. when an influencer promotes the goods or services of a business that is unfamiliar to them. So, having a written influencer agreement is a safe way to ensure that work is completed without hiccups because it contains all of the terms and conditions to which both parties are subject to follow.