Influencer marketing has become a serious business with an estimated market size of more than $8 billion. Celebrities, VIPs, macro- and micro-influencers are winning over the Internet these days, thus turning the process into a full-time industry with a strictly determined set of rules and regulations.
If you are an influencer yourself, you probably pitch to brands frequently. It’s a great strategy with a number of practical benefits:
- You get to choose who to work with.
- The strategy is proactive and there is no waiting for someone to contact you.
- You can form a long-term relationship with the brand.
- They could refer you to other brands or campaigns.
But in order to make pitching more successful, you need to understand how it works and get to know the basic rules. This post will present you 7 terms every influencer should know and use when pitching brands. Let’s take a look!
1- Press Kit
The first and by far the most important thing a social influencer need is a press kit. You should consider it to be a professional identity card which contains all of the information a brand might want to know about you.
It mostly comes as the PDF document and includes a brief overview of your statistics. We are talking about the following features:
- The list of communication channels
- The number of followers
- Followers’ demographic traits such as age, gender, and locations
- Average engagement rates
- Contact information
You can also personalize the press kit by adding a profile image and a few interesting facts about yourself.
2- Rate Sheet
If you want brands to treat you as a serious influencer marketing professional, you need to make a rate sheet with the prices of your services. After all, you are running a business here and you have to set the prices based on the quality of your work.
There are many different options to consider and you should add each one to the list. For example, the rate sheet can contain:
- Price per social post (Instagram, Facebook, etc.)
- Price per blog article
- Price per product review
The best paper writing services usually create package offers for sets of services, so we encourage you to do the same thing and add prices for different combinations such as social post + product review.
3- Scope of Work
When you finally meet a client and begin discussing the details of cooperation, you will probably mention a whole bunch of activities. However, you must not forget to precisely define the scope of work because it’s the only way to avoid confusion and misunderstandings. You don’t want to invest more time or energy than you are supposed to, so be ready to do the homework on time and let the client know what to expect in the days to come.
4- Budget
For you as a social influencer, the most important thing is to earn money. Keep in mind, however, that entrepreneurs and marketers tend to call it “the budget”. You should embrace the same vocabulary and discuss the budget as soon as you define the scope of work.
Don’t be shy to bring it up as it’s a natural part of the negotiation process. From assignment help services to engineers, everybody’s doing their job to get paid. Therefore, you should strictly determine the budget based on the number of activities and key performance indicators.
5- Payment Terms
Don’t think that the job is done when you determine the budget. There is another very important detail to think about here and it comes in the form of the payment terms. How and when do you expect to be paid?
`Keep in mind that most influencers don’t get the money upfront. On the contrary, they have to wait for the brand to confirm the end of the influencer marketing campaign before releasing the payment` – says Lora Audley from the HR management software. Our suggestion is to go for the net 30 option and demand the payment within one month.
6- Contract
You’ve seen five major features of influencer marketing, but we need to discuss another segment that sums up all of the above mentioned information. We are talking about the contract, which is the official document that seals the deal and states campaign details and deliverables. It also includes the budget, payment terms, scope of work, and all other information you and your client might consider relevant. Of course, the contract is not binding until both parties sign it.
7- Idea
We saved the best for last. When you pitch a brand, don’t expect them to get creative and propose campaigns. It is exactly the opposite – influencers are those who need to come up with good ideas, make business proposals, and present the plan to the brand. Analyze potential clients and give them the reason to hire you – it will prove that you are the right person for the job.
Conclusion
Digital influencers are getting increasingly popular because they help brands to get in touch with their target audiences. The whole thing turned into a full-time business, which is why it is necessary to understand the basic principles of social influencing.
In this article, we analyzed seven terms every influencer should know and use when pitching brands. Were you aware of these rules before? Do know other pitching principles? Let us know in comments – we would love to hear about your experiences.
Author’s Bio:
Kurt Walker is a digital marketer and an essay reviewer at Rush Essay and Easy Essay. Besides that, Kurt is an assignment help professional who creates online reviews such as Edu Birdie and aussiessay. His favorite topics are social media and influencer marketing. Kurt is a father of two girls and a passionate New York Knicks fan.
This is a great article, 7 tips, but they are very valuable that anybody can benefit from it. Great share…
Invest time to be an expert knowledgeable about market like Kris Thorkelson. Attend trade shows in addition to events that your customers consider important.