The Ultimate Influencer Guide To Collaborations
When it comes to landing a campaign it can be easy to get over excited and accept right away, especially when they’re well known. The excitement is perfectly normal but once you’ve done your victory dance it is time to hang up your dancing shoes, take a step back and become a realist (even if it’s just for a short while).
We’ve devised a brief framework to consider before you accept that all singing, all dancing collaboration.
1. Is it authentic to you and your audience?
This is without a doubt the most important question to ask yourself. If the answer is no, then the campaign simply cannot and will not work for both your feed and your audience. If you’re unsure as to whether it is an authentic fit then ask yourself whether you’d actually use the product or visit the place you’re promoting and whether it would appeal to your audience. This is the most effective way of deciding whether to go ahead with the campaign or not.
2. Do yours and the brands values align?
Another important question is whether your values and the brand’s align. For example if you vegan and openly promote this across your channels then working with a makeup brand that tests on animals is not going to be a smart fit. This sounds obvious but you’d be surprised at how many times it happens.
3. Fees and what is expected of you
What content are you expected to create with the product? Influencers often charge more if there isn’t much room for creative freedom within the brief as it can look staged and cost on their engagement, where simultaneously if you are expected to go above and beyond with creativity and make extravagant content then you would also be well within your right to charge more. It’s about weighing up the authenticity of the collaboration with the amount of work that is expected of you. You also need to consider whether you have to purchase the product yourself or travel to an event. If so remember to add this to your fee. If you’re struggling on how much to charge we have written a guide which correlates with your influence and engagement rate.
4. Consistency
Does the brief allow you to create content that fits naturally into your feed without compromising on your usual style and theme? Of course sometimes sponsored content may look a little out of place but it’s important to be able to work it into your usual style as best as possible.
5. Caption requirements
With sponsored content there also come legal requirements, so ensure that you are fully aware of these conditions before accepting the collaboration. Disclosing your posts won’t make a difference, to the loyalty of your followers, however if something is sponsored, they agree that it should be marked as such. In addition, there may be phrases that the brand may want you to incorporate into the caption that don’t fit with your usual tone of voice so be aware of this.
And after following the framework it looks like you have an amazing collaboration on your hands – congrats! If you haven’t already, you can create your profile on the ZINE influencer platform and be visible to hundreds of brands to collaborate with.
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Lucy Barker
I’m Influencer Marketing Executive here at ZINE, where I manage communications of over 40,000 influencers. I’m obsessed with coffee, shopping and makeup.
