Anatomy of an Influencer Endorsement Contract

If you have a dedicated following in your niche market, you might have dipped your toe in the affiliate pond, creating sponsored content with brands that you adore or just plain believe in. Or, you’ve found the perfect ambassador for your brand. Someone with a decent sized following that is (more importantly) very engaged. You know your sales will take off after affiliating with this influencer.

Sound familiar? Then this post is for you. It dissects some important provisions that a brand owner and influencer are likely to hash out when entering into an Influencer Endorsement Contract. Remember, contracts are you friend! (Or they should be.) A good contract makes sure both parties are on the same page so there is no ambiguity. It eliminates the need to comb back through texts, emails, or DMs to figure out what you agreed upon.

Disclaimer: Of course, this doesn’t cover each and every provision you’ll find in an Influencer Endorsement Contract. It does go through some important provisions that a good Influencer Endorsement Contract should cover. When in doubt, please contact a lawyer.

The Sponsored Content & Platforms.

A good Influencer Endorsement Contract will get very specific on the deliverables. And “deliverables” means whatever the Influencer is providing or “delivering.” What type of content are we talking about — a photo + caption? Photo or video-only media (like Instagram Stories or Snapchat)? A blog post? A blog post and a photo + caption? There shouldn’t be any question as to what’s covered, here.

Frequency.

Is the Influencer expected to post daily? Weekly? Monthly? Or maybe this is a one-off, one-time thing? Either way, a good Influencer Endorsement Contract will spell it out.

Exclusivity in Brand's Field.

Many times, an Influencer will be expected to say “sorry, no” to brands competitive with the brand that’s hiring them for a specific endorsement campaign, at least for a certain amount of time during and/or after the term of the relationship with this brand. If that’s the case, the Influencer Endorsement contract should say so. It should also specify the exclusivity period that applies after the contract ends. One month? Three? A year? 

IP Ownership.

It’s common for IP ownership to go to the Brand, since the brand is paying the Influencer to post (and, sometimes, create) content in support of the Brand. Still, depending on the reach and “muscle” of the particular Influencer, ownership could go the other way. Either way, remember that copyright ownership usually goes to the creator by default. If Brand and Influencer agree otherwise (or even if they don’t), it behooves them to put that understanding in writing.

Compensation.

Compensation can come in the form of free goods provided to the Influencer, a lump sum payment, a percentage of sales, or some creative combination of these options. A sound Influencer Endorsement Contract will make the form of compensation, and other payment dates and details, clear.

Approvals and Brand Guidelines.

Approvals often come down to who has more bargaining power, although again, because the Brand is paying for an endorsement, a favorable Influencer Endorsement Contract should give some level of approval rights to the Brand. Many times a Brand will make Brand Guidelines part of the agreement. Brand Guidelines consist of text and image guidelines. For example, no swearing, no cigarettes, no religious references, no references to Brand’s competition by name, etc. An alternative to a Brand’s unfettered approval rights is to allow objection/rejection of content solely as it doesn’t comply with the Brand Guidelines. (After all, the Brand is likely familiar with the Influecer’s voice and style, or the Brand wouldn’t have the desire to enter into this agreement in the first place.)

Compliance with Laws.

Remember that FTC crackdown we’ve talked about? (Thanks, Fyre Festival.) The Influencer Endorsement Contract should make clear that whoever is responsible for the copy — whether that’s Influencer or the Brand — is responsible for complying with the FTC’s guidelines on disclosing that promotional connection between Brand and Influencer. 

So what's a guy or gal to do when it comes time to enter into an influencer-brand sponsorship arrangement? You have options. For a bespoke contract that speaks to your each and every need, you can (and should) contact a lawyer. But for the DIY-ers out there, Spear IP is officially releasing an Influencer Endorsement Contract Template as part of its contract template arsenal!

Click here to check it out.