This is a guest post by Fab Giovanetti.
I am a pixie red-head with a passion for mobility, kettlebells, heavy weights and food. I am a PT specialising in Strength and Conditioning, founder of the Health Bloggers Community, and overall doofie who happens love food – wait, have I already mentioned that? You can find more info about me on my website fabgiovanetti.com on Twitter @fabgiovanetti and Instagram @fabgiovanetti. As the director of the Health Bloggers Community – and its sub branch Health Blogger Talent – I learnt a thing or two about collaborations.
I an industry where boundaries are blurred and rules are not set in place, it’s hard to know what’s right and what is wrong. There is not such a thing as etiquette when it comes to influencer campaigns. Not yet, at the very least. If we were to go down that rabbit hole, we’d surely need more than one article. However, If you are just getting started in this field, there are already a few things that can truly help you getting your ducks in the proverbial row:
- Mix it up: I find that as people we tend to be very black and white about a lot of things. This is very true when it comes to brand/blogger collaborations. I personally do not believe you should be always paid to collaborate with brands. Depending on the company, the task and whether it can benefit your roster, brand and blogger campaigns can be used as portfolio building, or a great way to cement a relationship with a big company. On the other side, brands should accept that if they ask a blogger to spend two days in the kitchen creating recipes, they may expect remuneration.
- Treat yourself as a brand: if you really want to make it in this industry, either find the support of an influencer network, or really think about the red tape you need to have in place (I am talking about terms, written agreements, payment terms). The more professional you are in your endeavours, the more brands will trust your work. Plus, you are essentially setting boundaries of what people can expect from you – which helps you avoid being stuck in something you did not really agree on.
- Add more value: the time of ‘pay bloggers per Instagram post’ is slowly coming to an end. Brands want more for their bucks, and rightfully so. When presenting what you can do for them, what else can you add to what you are offering them that does not require costing you loads of time?
- Prove you are worth it: as an influencer talent agency ourselves, we are very strong on giving our brands reports and case studies of your work. You should be the same. Every single social network provides you with in depth analytics for specific posts as well as your overall levels of reach and engagement. Proving how strong your channels are and success of previous campaigns demonstrates you really care about the work you do.
I mentioned there is no etiquette about this as per today. However, we are consciously working on creating some guidelines to set some meaningful rules. As this side of the industry is quickly growing and shaping up, you need to be really clear on which role you want to play in it. Good luck!
