Social media influencer marketing only started 14 years ago, so you’d be forgiven for not knowing exactly what it is or if it is something that could help your company. Influencer marketing is a form of advertising that has grown enormously over the past few years so let’s take a look at what’s going on here—and if it’s the right fit for you.
What is an influencer anyhow?
Broadly speaking, an influencer is someone with a large social media following who can be hired to promote your service or goods in exchange for money or products, sometimes both.
And while you may know many of the celebrity influencers, like the Kardashians (Kylie has 212 million followers and can earn $1 million+ per post) and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who earns similar dollars per post, there are many other lesser-known stars of social media who are expert marketers and are sought after because their endorsement sells stuff, plain and simple.
Does this kind of marketing work?
Influencer marketing absolutely works… if you find the right influencer, with the right audience, for your product or service. The reason why both are important is that you may want a very popular chef to promote your organic flour but her 1 million followers are mostly pre-teens in Croatia and they are not likely purchasers of your flour.
There are lots of apps and analytics to help you assess a person’s influence, including the number of followers, reaches, likes, comments, impressions and clicks, and there are reports that can be generated to give even more information about the influencer account you’re interested in. Any influencer used to conduct business with brands will provide you with whatever information you are looking for.
OK, I believe you. Now what?
You can hire a digital agency or a specialist to find the very best influencers for your product or you can do a bit of online research on your own. If you have organic flour that is mostly sold in Ontario and Quebec, you can search for the top influencer chefs or food writers in those regions and see which one fits your needs at first glance. Author and Iron Chef judge Tara O’Brady has almost 90,000 followers on Instagram, for example, so she may be someone you’d like to approach about promoting and reviewing your flour.
How much does it cost?
The cost of this kind of marketing depends on a lot of factors. How popular the influencer is online and off, how many followers and all the other metrics mentioned above, how many posts you want your product to appear in, how long the post will be up for (before being pushed down by newer posts), and so on.
The by-the-book pricing is roughly $10 per 1,000 followers the person has on Instagram (less on Facebook) but the reality is much different, which is why it is always advisable to give us a call before signing a contract with an influencer.
The takeaway
Negotiating with influencers can be complicated, as are the laws to follow to avoid hefty misleading advertising fines. We can help you on both counts—give you the information you need to negotiate with influencers and their agents, and we can then draft the contract between you and provide guidance on how to stay on the right side of the law when it comes to sponsored content. Reach out. We’re here for you.
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