Compensating Social Media Influencers

The growing trend of using influencer marketing campaigns has become immensely popular in the past few years and brands invest a lot of their time and effort into planning these campaigns. From details like the influencers you’ll be hiring for your brands to the events that will be a part of your campaign, you need to put a lot of thought and consideration to ensure that everything is perfect.

Influencers work relentlessly to connect with their followers and are essentially providing a valuable service to brands when hired by them. Like any other service, influencers should be adequately compensated for all the hard work that they do to promote a brand. Compensation for influencers isn’t thought about thoroughly enough by many of us, however, it is one of the most important aspects for brands while planning for their influencer marketing campaigns. Here are a few tips that you should keep in mind while compensating social media influencers.

Social media influencers SHOULD be compensated

A lot of the time, brands assume that influencers will accept compensation in the form of free products, invitations to events or other attractive deals. Now this may be true for some cases, but a lot of influencers prefer financial compensation over non-monetary compensation. Influencers also have to face real-world problems like the rest of us, which includes paying bills and managing finances. This is why the question of whether influencers should be paid for the effort they put into promoting your brand shouldn’t even be asked. In fact, the focus should be on how to adequately pay influencers for the services that they are providing to you.

Do not agree to more than you can give

While compensating influencers should be an essential part of your contract, always be careful not to promise anything that may put you out of budget. Brands put a lot of thinking into designing an influencer marketing campaign and this planning is based on a set budget. Exceeding this targeted budget can lead to many problems for the brand which is why it is important to make deals with influencers cautiously. Promising influencers more than you can offer can not only create problems for your company, but can also tarnish your relationship with the influencers you're working with.

Make sure the terms and conditions are clear

It is important to ensure that your brand and the influencers you hire are absolutely clear about all the legal obligations that are a part of your contract. The brand and the influencers should always be on the same page and there shouldn't be any room for misinterpretation. Both the parties should understand and oblige to all the clauses mentioned in the contract, especially the ones related to compensation. The contract should clearly state how much the compensation will be and how it will be paid. Just make sure there are no loopholes in the contract whatsoever.

The compensation should be paid timely

As we already know that influencers have their own bills to pay, it is important to make sure that you give them their compensation on time. Paying late creates a bad impression of the brand and might even damage the brand's relationship with the influencers. Sometimes, unexpected circumstances can create financial problems for your brand due to which payments may be delayed. In most of such cases, influencers are pretty understanding of the brand’s position. However, be mindful that this does not become a habit because if you want to establish long term relationships with the influencers you hire, you should pay them on time for all the hard work they do to promote your brand.

Stay true to your words

Once you’ve made a deal with an influencer, you should make sure to fulfill all the responsibilities that are a part of your deal. Do not try to back out of a promise that you’ve made as this can create massive problems in your brand’s relationship with the influencer. Influencers have a large number of followers who look up to them and if you try to wrong them, you may have to face tons of backlash from their followers, which is definitely not good for your brand’s reputation. Whether you’ve said something about paying a specific amount as compensation or you’ve promised to pay for every post the influencers tag you in, always stay true to your words.

Remember to keep these tips in mind while collaborating with social media influencers. Become a part of Influencer Hub to make the most out of influencer marketing. We make the process incredibly simple and cost-effective for brands. The best part? Brands pay influencers only; you don’t have to pay a dime in subscription fee or upfront fees. We also make sure the process of compensating influencers becomes hassle-free for you. So, what are you waiting for? Sign up for free today and work with your desired influencers for your influencer marketing campaigns!