THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO INFLUENCER MARKETING

How do I ensure that an influencer I'm partnered with doesn't post something inappropriate?

As a brand, you must monitor your influencer relationships to ensure the content your influencer posts is aligned to your brand, campaign and the law. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is getting more involved in influencer marketing. Partnering with an influencer means the onus is on the brand to ensure full compliance with FTC Endorsement guidelines. Additionally, it helps to have an agreement in place that defines each party’s responsibilities relative to the campaign.

Should influencers disclose their sponsored posts or campaigns?

Yes, according to FTC guidelines, influencers must disclose when they have been compensated for a post, whether it be monetary, gifted product or services or some other exchange of value. Disclosures let consumers know that the influencer post was sponsored, meaning they received some form of compensation in exchange for the post, review or claim. A disclosure statement should be prominent and easily visible. It must include font large enough to be read and stand out from the background. The post should contain proper presentation, using language that is understandable and not vague. The statement should be placed where consumers will see it and be listed right alongside the product or service using simple hashtags or statements including the words, “Ad,” “Advertisement,” and “Sponsored Advertising”.

Where should influencers place disclosures?

If influencers bury #ad in the middle of the post, they are not in compliance with FTC guidelines. The disclosure must be easy to see. A good practice is to place the disclosure statement at the beginning of the post or use a hashtag, so the reader sees the disclosure first. The disclosure must be above the "More" button.

How Should You Talk To Influencers?

Get Personable

The goal of any influencer program is to build a long-standing relationship where Influencers are encouraged to promote the brand organically, even when a collaboration isn’t it place. You should know the birthdays of your Influencers, where they went to school, if they are a Mom or Dad. 

An accessories brand on Pepperjam gifted all influencers a product from their latest holiday collection, and included a personalized note thanking them for their efforts throughout the year. No additional budget was given to support the initiative, outside of the product and the increased commission rate. By letting the influencers know that the brand was thinking of them, the brand was able to drive over 19K in engagements ranging from likes, to comments, to shares.

Getting into the weeds with your influencers will ultimately help make it more of a partnership – which is exactly what it is. 

Sharing is Caring

 Don’t leave your influencers hanging! Let them know about that cool product you are launching. Give them tips and tricks that will benefit your goals as well as theirs. Do they want to increase their blog readership? Share ways they can improve their SEO rankings. Do they want to increase their Instagram following? Repost some of their content. Whether its communicating by email or by phone, engage with your influencers frequently so they think of you when they have their next big idea.

Recognize and Reward

For many influencers, this is their business and their passion. Because of this, not only is it important to recognize them on your site and social platforms, it is also important to reward them with something monetary or with a product or service. This is when the influencers can benefit from an affiliate marketing relationship. Increase their commission rate during a certain period to let them know their efforts aren’t going unwarranted and that you value their contribution to the program.

Pepperjam is working to bridge the gap between affiliate and influencer marketing to ensure the two can go hand-in-hand, as they should. Through strategy and innovation, influencers can now be credited for sales they touch at any time during a transaction with Pepperjam’s In-Cart Attribution tool. If you have a big campaign coming up and want to ensure your influencer gets the credit, no matter where they fall in the purchase path, the Preferred Publisher Tool will allow you to prioritize them over any other partner.

A big area of concern when speaking to influencers about affiliate marketing, is that with the last-click model, they aren’t always rewarded for their efforts. At Pepperjam, we hear you! And it’s why we have invested in our technology, through the launch of In-Cart Attribution and Preferred Publisher, to ensure those concerns are mitigated, making it easier to consider both channels as one.

 To read the full Adobe Summit survey report, please click here.

What types of disclosure terms should influencers avoid?

Influencers should use language that is clear to everyone and avoid using confusing terms like #SP, #Brand, and #Partner.

Contact us today to learn more about influencer marketing and how you can harness the power of an affiliate marketing platform built with the needs of today’s marketer in mind.