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Welcome to the very first episode of
Speaker:The Business of Influence Podcast.
Speaker:I have to say I'm feeling a
Speaker:little uncomfortable and quite
Speaker:outside my comfort zone as
Speaker:I'm recording this podcast.
Speaker:So I'm hoping I'll settle into this
Speaker:rhythm nicely as I start to deliver
Speaker:some really important information
Speaker:to you about developing your career
Speaker:as a professional influencer.
Speaker:Now I'm recording this podcast
Speaker:in the midst of delivering
Speaker:a very significant campaign.
Speaker:This campaign took over seven weeks
Speaker:for us to negotiate and just review
Speaker:the brief and discuss and negotiate
Speaker:all the elements of that brief before
Speaker:we even got to content creation.
Speaker:And it reminded me that every
Speaker:campaign, regardless of how
Speaker:significant, Or how small.
Speaker:It all starts with
Speaker:understanding the brief.
Speaker:So it seems appropriate that
Speaker:for episode one that we start
Speaker:in understanding the brief.
Speaker:So welcome to the episode today, I'm
Speaker:going to cover off around 14 or 15 points
Speaker:that you need to consider at this very
Speaker:first stage of engaging with a brand.
Speaker:Now I know it's really exciting when
Speaker:something pops up in your dms or your
Speaker:messages to say, Hey, hey, we really
Speaker:love the work that you are creating,
Speaker:the content that you are creating,
Speaker:and we wanna collaborate with you.
Speaker:But we do need to temper this excitement
Speaker:and really explore what it is that the
Speaker:brand wants to work with you to deliver.
Speaker:And 14 or 15 points that we're gonna
Speaker:cover off in this episode might seem
Speaker:like a lot, but really as a brand
Speaker:scales up campaign work, there can
Speaker:be hundreds of negotiating points.
Speaker:So these 14 or 15 points are
Speaker:probably the most commonly dealt with
Speaker:matters that you'll need to consider
Speaker:when understanding your brief.
Speaker:Not to jump ahead, but in future
Speaker:episodes we're going to talk about,
Speaker:, pricing your campaign and working
Speaker:through a step-by-step guide to that.
Speaker:But first of all, we really need
Speaker:to understand what it is you are
Speaker:pricing, and that is why we are
Speaker:talking about understanding your brief.
Speaker:So, point number one, what content
Speaker:deliverables does the brand require?
Speaker:It seems pretty obvious to start there,
Speaker:but have they specified what content?
Speaker:So is it one TikTok post?
Speaker:Is it one Instagram post?
Speaker:Is it one Instagram post, one TikTok
Speaker:post, and four Instagram story sets?
Speaker:Point number two are the content
Speaker:deliverables clearly defined.
Speaker:So the brand might have said one
Speaker:Instagram post, but they could be
Speaker:asking for an Instagram reel, and then
Speaker:they might expect that that Instagram
Speaker:reel is displayed as an infeed post.
Speaker:They might want an Instagram
Speaker:carousel post with nine frames in it.
Speaker:They might require.
Speaker:An Instagram story, but the
Speaker:story is required to have
Speaker:a minimum of five frames.
Speaker:Has it been specified whether the
Speaker:content is static, so photo or
Speaker:video content And continuing on
Speaker:this, has the duration been defined?
Speaker:So if you are producing video
Speaker:content, is it five seconds?
Speaker:Is it 15 seconds?
Speaker:Is it three minutes?
Speaker:What is the duration of any video content
Speaker:that is required to be created by you?
Speaker:Point number three, are you
Speaker:required to demonstrate a product
Speaker:or service in the content?
Speaker:It seems pretty natural that for most
Speaker:brand collaborations, you are going
Speaker:to have to demonstrate or discuss
Speaker:some sort of product or service.
Speaker:It's usually a product, so if
Speaker:there's a product, is the brain
Speaker:supplying this to you free of charge?
Speaker:If so, do you need to return the product?
Speaker:If you do need to return the product?
Speaker:Who covers the postage for the
Speaker:return of the goods and what happens
Speaker:if the goods don't arrive at all?
Speaker:Or arrived damaged.
Speaker:How is this going to impact the campaign
Speaker:deliverables, the timing, for instance,
Speaker:is there provision in there for the brand
Speaker:to have to resupply them at no charge?
Speaker:Once again, you don't want to
Speaker:be, , shortchanged or not be able to
Speaker:complete a campaign due to a third
Speaker:party not delivering the goods to
Speaker:you so you can create your content.
Speaker:So we need to cover that off.
Speaker:Point number four, are you
Speaker:required to boost any content?
Speaker:Now generally, if you are dealing with
Speaker:a brand that has an agency or in-house
Speaker:team, they'll be familiar with boosting
Speaker:content and they'll do this through the
Speaker:party platforms or perhaps a spark code
Speaker:or a collaborator post on Instagram.
Speaker:Occasionally you'll be required
Speaker:to arrange the boosting
Speaker:of your content yourself.
Speaker:so you need to ensure that you
Speaker:are paid upfront if you are to
Speaker:spend any money on advertising.
Speaker:Additionally, if boosting content,
Speaker:you need to know whether the brand
Speaker:will be supplying the audience
Speaker:information or whether you need to
Speaker:determine the audience information
Speaker:for that boosted content.
Speaker:Point number five, will the
Speaker:brand be publishing the content
Speaker:on their channels, so on their
Speaker:social media or digital channels?
Speaker:And will this be organic display
Speaker:of the content or paid distribution
Speaker:of the content on their channels?
Speaker:It's important to know if it's organic
Speaker:or paid, because this will all feed into
Speaker:the next step of negotiating your fee.
Speaker:Point number six, will the
Speaker:brand be publishing the content
Speaker:on any third party channels?
Speaker:And this kind of feeds
Speaker:into point number seven.
Speaker:Is the paid distribution of your
Speaker:content on third party channels.
Speaker:Generally speaking, if it's going out
Speaker:on third party channels, there is a paid
Speaker:component to it, so you need to consider.
Speaker:Where is that content that you are
Speaker:creating going to be distributed?
Speaker:Is it just in a local area?
Speaker:Is it statewide,
Speaker:nationwide, international.
Speaker:Often, if it's social content and
Speaker:they're boosting it, it's going to
Speaker:go out to a fairly wide audience,
Speaker:so you need to understand how
Speaker:that content is going to be used.
Speaker:But there's other ways that the
Speaker:content can be distributed and shared.
Speaker:, they might be using audio grabs for radio
Speaker:or they might be taking a quote and using
Speaker:it in print or billboards they might Look
Speaker:to use that content on their website.
Speaker:Television, in store,
Speaker:point of sale material.
Speaker:There's lots of ways that a brand
Speaker:can use your content to create
Speaker:additional content for their purposes.
Speaker:So you really need to understand
Speaker:what's going to happen.
Speaker:This folds in really nicely to point
Speaker:number eight, ownership rights of
Speaker:your content is the brand asking for
Speaker:ownership rights of your content.
Speaker:If so, do you really understand
Speaker:what they're asking for and what
Speaker:rights you might be giving away?
Speaker:It's rare that I would allow a
Speaker:brand to have any ownership rights
Speaker:over content, , because generally
Speaker:the fee that's required to be paid.
Speaker:For them to receive the ownership rights
Speaker:of your content is quite significant
Speaker:and the brand's not willing to part with
Speaker:that fee to gain those ownership rights.
Speaker:So often you can really negotiate out
Speaker:this, , term from any brief or contract
Speaker:that you've been presented with that's
Speaker:requesting for ownership rights.
Speaker:Point number nine, what is
Speaker:the term of the campaign?
Speaker:Is it clear when the campaign
Speaker:starts and when the campaign ends?
Speaker:Is it clear how long that the brand
Speaker:might be using the content for through
Speaker:their organic or pay distribution?
Speaker:Do you need to display the
Speaker:content on your own channels
Speaker:for a certain period of time?
Speaker:It's really important that you understand
Speaker:the term because first of all, and
Speaker:obviously you can put that into your
Speaker:content plan or your content calendar,
Speaker:and you know that you've got paid
Speaker:content going live during , this time.
Speaker:But you also need to know
Speaker:when the, the campaign's over.
Speaker:And any rights that the brand might
Speaker:have or any obligations that you
Speaker:might have in relation to that content
Speaker:is clearly well and truly over.
Speaker:So make sure the term is clearly defined.
Speaker:Point number 10, do any
Speaker:exclusivity provisions apply?
Speaker:Now, most of us are familiar
Speaker:with working with a brand
Speaker:exclusively or non exclusively.
Speaker:Just to touch on it, if you've
Speaker:got exclusivity with a brand,
Speaker:it means that you can't work
Speaker:with one of their competitors.
Speaker:Now, this is great if the brand is
Speaker:willing to pay for that exclusivity,
Speaker:but if you sign away exclusivity and.
Speaker:Prevent yourself from working with
Speaker:another brand in that same vertical.
Speaker:So for instance, if you are working
Speaker:with a makeup brand and they want
Speaker:exclusivity, , with you for three
Speaker:months, it means that you can't work with
Speaker:another makeup brand for three months and
Speaker:often a period after that term as well.
Speaker:So you need to be really
Speaker:well paid to sign away.
Speaker:Exclusivity.
Speaker:Point number 11.
Speaker:Are the campaign messages clear?
Speaker:Do you understand when creating the
Speaker:content, what messaging you need
Speaker:to deliver on behalf of the brand?
Speaker:Have they set out any
Speaker:specific calls to action?
Speaker:Any messages that they
Speaker:particularly want you to say?
Speaker:For example, well look at this handbag.
Speaker:I absolutely love the
Speaker:design and the style.
Speaker:And did you know it was
Speaker:made from vegan leather?
Speaker:Or it might be, Hey, use this
Speaker:discount code for 15% off.
Speaker:You need to understand what messaging
Speaker:that you need to deliver when creating
Speaker:this content and be really clear
Speaker:on any hashtags at tags, URLs, and
Speaker:swipe swipe ups that need to be
Speaker:included when creating your content.
Speaker:Point number 12, Are you
Speaker:creating content for a brand
Speaker:that's in a regulated industry?
Speaker:For example, alcohol, gambling, health
Speaker:government, pharmaceutical brands,
Speaker:Regulated industries have a very
Speaker:high level of legal and compliance.
Speaker:So this means that if you are working
Speaker:with a brand in this space, first of all,
Speaker:it usually means they've got good budget.
Speaker:So yay for that.
Speaker:But secondly, it often means
Speaker:that you might need to allow
Speaker:for a number of revisions.
Speaker:So the brand to come back and
Speaker:say, Hey, we need you to tweak
Speaker:this content, this caption here,
Speaker:or this wording there, and that.
Speaker:Can be frustrating as a creator,
Speaker:particularly if you have to go
Speaker:back and rerecord video content or
Speaker:re-edit video content because that
Speaker:can be quite time consuming and to
Speaker:the point of time consuming content.
Speaker:Approval in regulated industry
Speaker:can be frustratingly slow.
Speaker:You really need to
Speaker:understand and factor in.
Speaker:That the approval process when
Speaker:working in regulated, industries
Speaker:can be very, very slow.
Speaker:It could take weeks to have your
Speaker:content approved and go live.
Speaker:So to point number 13, continuing on
Speaker:the theme of content, pre-approval.
Speaker:Some brands just will absolutely
Speaker:trust you and love your work and
Speaker:say, Hey, we know that you can just
Speaker:go out and make our thing shine.
Speaker:Go ahead, create the content post,
Speaker:and they may even give you discretion
Speaker:as to when you post the content.
Speaker:However many brands will require
Speaker:content pre-approval, and this
Speaker:means that you need to create all
Speaker:the content, submit it to them for
Speaker:pre-approval, and they might potentially
Speaker:ask for revisions in that content.
Speaker:So when you're looking at
Speaker:your brief, consider is the
Speaker:brand requesting for you to.
Speaker:Submit your draft content for approval
Speaker:and consider how many revisions you'll
Speaker:provide to them that are consistent
Speaker:with the fee that you negotiate.
Speaker:Now, sometimes you can negotiate
Speaker:that content pre-approval and just
Speaker:say, look, I will create the content.
Speaker:In line with the content that
Speaker:you see on my TikTok channel
Speaker:here on my Instagram feed there.
Speaker:But try and negotiate it out if you can.
Speaker:But if you can't, you need
Speaker:to factor in the content,
Speaker:pre-approval process to your fee.
Speaker:Point number 14, you need to consider
Speaker:the objective of the campaign.
Speaker:Now, you might be thinking,
Speaker:hang on, what do you mean?
Speaker:What I mean is that brands,
Speaker:particularly brands at agency level,
Speaker:will have a clear, objective and
Speaker:outcome they're hoping to achieve.
Speaker:In working with you, and that might be
Speaker:a brand awareness campaign so something
Speaker:new, a new products coming into market
Speaker:and they want people to be aware of it.
Speaker:Okay, so you are educating your
Speaker:audience on this fantastic brand.
Speaker:But they might also be wanting sales
Speaker:results from you in this campaign.
Speaker:Sales campaigns are the most
Speaker:tricky to price because, you know,
Speaker:the brand is setting a very high
Speaker:expectation around specific outcomes
Speaker:that they're wanting to achieve.
Speaker:, And you need to understand or separate
Speaker:your remuneration from any sales results.
Speaker:They might want X number of signups,
Speaker:so sending your audience over to
Speaker:a link and that they're getting X
Speaker:number of EDM subscribers or some sort
Speaker:of download, ebook or download X.
Speaker:So they might want a
Speaker:conversion tactic in place.
Speaker:They might simply want traffic.
Speaker:Traffic to a URL or another destination,
Speaker:they might want follower growth.
Speaker:So it's really important to consider
Speaker:what is the objective of the campaign
Speaker:and is your remuneration for your
Speaker:time and effort and expertise as a
Speaker:creator, sufficiently being paid
Speaker:and separate to any remuneration that
Speaker:you might get from sales results.
Speaker:And finally to point number 15.
Speaker:At the end of the campaign, will you
Speaker:be expected to provide any reporting
Speaker:on the success of the campaign?
Speaker:So is there an expectation from the
Speaker:brand that you're going to provide
Speaker:screenshots, , to your analytics or even.
Speaker:Further a report on the
Speaker:outcome of the campaign.
Speaker:Now, often brands will use the
Speaker:platforms or third party tools
Speaker:and analytics to have insights
Speaker:to the campaign success, but.
Speaker:Also, some brands will want to
Speaker:have screenshots, , provided
Speaker:by you to the, results you've
Speaker:achieved from your campaign.
Speaker:And once again, this is
Speaker:a time consideration.
Speaker:By the time you take all those
Speaker:screenshots, you share them
Speaker:across to the brand, potentially
Speaker:have to write a report.
Speaker:This is something you need to
Speaker:factor in when reviewing the brief.
Speaker:So there we have it.
Speaker:We've covered off 15 points that
Speaker:you might need to consider when
Speaker:reviewing a brief from a brand.
Speaker:You're not going to
Speaker:need to consider those.
Speaker:Every time because every single
Speaker:brief you receive will be different.
Speaker:I've had thousands of
Speaker:briefs come across my desk.
Speaker:Some of them never get past the
Speaker:initial review stage, but many, many
Speaker:hundreds, probably thousands, have
Speaker:been negotiated through to campaigns.
Speaker:So you need to be aware of each
Speaker:of these things and work through
Speaker:your brief methodically, because
Speaker:that's going to set you up really,
Speaker:really well for the next step.
Speaker:And that's pricing your campaign.
Speaker:And that's what we're gonna cover
Speaker:off in our very next step episode.
Speaker:So I do hope today has been helpful
Speaker:for you and that you'll join me for the
Speaker:next episode in pricing your campaign.
