Working with influencers to promote your business is an exciting step in your business’ journey. However, a solid influencer agreement is crucial when collaborating with influencers, or else you could have conflicts with the influencer or even accidentally breach Australian Consumer Law! In this article, we will talk about using influencer agreements to avoid breaching the Australian Consumer Law, protect your business, and make collaborating with influencers as straightforward as possible.
What do I include in an influencer agreement?
There are many clauses that you need in an influencer agreement to ensure transparency and to keep conditions fair for both your business and the influencer. Basic clauses include:
Term and termination
This is essential to your influencer agreement. Here, you detail:
- When your contract starts and ends
- What are possible reasons to terminate the contract
- What happens and what the parties need to do after the end of the contract
One key consideration is: What happens if the influencer gets “cancelled” by the general public? It is best to include a broad clause that allows you to terminate for any actions of the influencer that might cause reputation damage to your brand. You don’t want to be stuck with an association to an influencer that doesn’t share the same brand values as you. You may also want the ability to request them to remove content associated with your brand, and consider what remedies you want if this occurs (e.g. refund of fees paid).
Services
A services clause can vary based on your business and the kind of posts you want the influencer to upload. Think about:
- What kind of posts do you want the influencer to publish?
- Where do you want the influencer to publish the posts?
- On what schedule do you want the influencer to upload?
Payment terms
Influencers will want to know how much and when they will get paid. Setting out clear payment terms also helps you keep organised and understand the influencer’s expectations.
Confidentiality
When working with an influencer, you might find that you have to share confidential information with them. This could include new upcoming services or products, style guides, or how you price your goods or services. A good confidentiality clause ensures that your information stays with you!
Exclusivity
An exclusivity clause outlines who the influencer can work with during the term of the contract. This can help prevent an influencer working with both you and a close competitor, which would make your advertising not as effective as possible!
Intellectual property
Photos, videos and text will be created as part of your agreement. An intellectual property clause makes clear who has the rights to use and publish that content, and on what basis.
Legal obligations
This is where you outline the legal expectations for both you and your influencer. There are some key parts to include to keep your influencer advertising legal:
- Make sponsorship disclosure accessible and explicit! This means that the influencer should state in their posts that those are paid advertisements. It should also be clear—don’t keep disclosure until the end of a video or bury it under a lengthy caption and tags.
- No false or inaccurate statements! This isn’t limited to false claims about products or services’ quality. It also includes how the influencer came to use the product or service, how often or how long they have been using it, or even listing it as a ‘favourite’ among other non-sponsored products, creating the impression that it wasn’t received as part of a brand deal.
This is not everything that your influencer agreement should include. Your business will need additional and tailored protections and guidelines to make sure your work with an influencer is as conflict-free as possible.
What next?
Social media and influencers are a great way to promote your business, and influencer agreements help protect your business from the legal issues that might arise from them. However, they can be lengthy and confusing. For help with your influencer agreements, contact us for a free, no-obligation chat.
