7 Ways To Make Your Influencer Marketing Pop This Holiday Season

It’s officially time to map out your influencer marketing for the holiday season and begin booking influencers. With talks of inflation, which is expected to top 6% by Christmas according to the Pew Research Center, consumers are expected to spend less this year and be more mindful of purchases in general, which means your marketing campaigns must be expertly crafted and launched with plenty of time in advance to catch the attention of holiday shoppers.

There’s never been a better moment to lean heavily on influencer marketing, partnering with personality-driven creators who can demonstrate your brand’s key products and benefits through engaging and relatable content.

Strengthen your holiday campaigns by:

Planning ahead and launching early.

Holiday shopping starts earlier each year, with 31% of consumers in 2021 starting their holiday shopping before Halloween and 55% before Thanksgiving, according to a survey done by Jungle Scout. Expect that number to rise this year as consumers seek to avoid supply chain delays and seek out the best deals. With this in mind, you should plan to begin promoting holiday offerings in early October and ramp up in November to capture holiday consumers before they’ve checked off their shopping lists for the year. Even date-specific sales like Black Friday and Cyber Monday should launch earlier than their traditional start so that you can advertise deals early.

Getting a head start on your holiday campaigns also means securing influencers before they become booked and locking them in before they charge a premium for last-minute holiday campaigns as well.

Partnering with strategically selected creators.

The creators you select for holiday influencer campaigns will be integral to the success of your marketing efforts, especially if you are seeking sales conversions. Creators who excel in short-form video content, have highly engaged audiences, and have a proven track record with sales conversions will be your key partners. Our extended network includes thousands of creators that we can match with your brand to ensure your goals are met.

Crafting creative that emphasizes value.

Consumers are inundated with a surplus of options these days, which is why emphasizing your brand’s benefits over the competition should be a focus of your campaign messaging. Provide influencer partners with unique discount codes to increase the campaign’s success and use influencer marketing to bring awareness to limited-time offers throughout the holiday season.

With consideration to the current economic landscape, consumers may be shopping for practical gifts, especially in the home and travel categories, while younger shoppers will likely still have trendy items on their wish lists. Take your brand’s target audiences into consideration when deciding what products to highlight for the holiday season and how influencers speak to your brand.

We can work with you to craft effective messaging that drives these points home and provide you with the right influencer partners to bring these messages to life through their content.

Activating Story content for limited-time offers and last-minute promotions.

Think of influencers as your valuable partners in informing consumers about important sales, back-in-stock items, and other informational content during the holiday season. Stories are a great way to highlight limited-time offers and time-sensitive information, like letting audiences know that a best-selling item is finally back in stock. This is why building up strong influencer relationships will give you a leg up during this busy season, as pre-existing business relationships will make it easier for you to add on last-minute campaign additions if needed.

Bringing company values to the forefront.

When faced with an overwhelming amount of choices on where to shop, consumers are mindful of supporting brands that have similar values. Showcase your charity partners and craft a campaign that features a charity component to bring your brand’s values to the forefront, using influencers with like-minded values to amplify your message.

Optimizing content.

Ad amplification is a necessary component of holiday marketing, but it is important to know that the digital ad space will become crowded as we near peak holiday shopping. Plan out your ad strategy in advance and monitor performance continually so you can make the best use of top-performing content and maximize your return on investment. Lytehouse’s team knows how to monitor and optimize ads across platforms, and can run your amplification program on your behalf.

Using the holiday season to jumpstart your 2023 ambassadorships.

Holiday is an important time for marketers, but don’t forget about a new year of marketing just beyond that! It is never too early to start thinking about your 2023 plans, and your holiday campaigns can be a great opportunity to test out influencer partners and assess potential 2023 ambassadors based on top-performing talent. With our team of influencer experts who can analyze campaign performance and provide key learnings for a new year of marketing, we can help you kick off your 2023 efforts on the best foot forward.

3 Tips To Maximizing Your Infleuncer Campaign’s Effectiveness

Just as we adjusted and adapted at the beginning of the pandemic to new normals in our strategies, we encourage you to adopt the key lessons learned in 2020 for your upcoming campaigns, considering a potential economic downturn in the latter half of the year: larger flexibility around posting, leveraging influencers to create content for brand usage, and leaning into the strengths of influencer partners for campaigns that will bring you the most bang for your buck.

Marketing budgets often see cuts in times of economic uncertainty, which means we will all need to adjust our strategies to accomplish more with fewer resources. To do so, we advise refining your campaigns in 3 major areas: influencer selection, content strategy, and campaign optimization.

Enhance Your Strategy Via:

1) Thoughtful Influencer Selection

Your influencer selection needs to be deliberate and planned out. The farther out you can lock in influencer partners, the better prepared you will be, with plenty of time to develop campaign content and the ability to book influencers at their standard rates. Contracting influencers for long-term partnerships can help ameliorate costs while also building the efficacy of your campaign. We also recommend working with influencers who have proven track records with sales conversions (either through Instagram Shop or another affiliate program) if your goal is to achieve high sales conversions through influencer content.

2) A Defined Content Strategy

Focus on content types that will maximize your campaign goals. For Instagram, Stories are typically slightly less expensive than in-feed posts and can feature clickable links, ideal for brands with sales conversions top of mind. Short-form video is also a priority on Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms, with the ability to run them as whitelisted ads, a simple way to maximize return. 

3) Campaign Optimization

Ad amplification and usage can run up influencer fees, which is why we recommend adding these on to influencer campaigns on an as-needed basis as a way to pay for only what you will use. Contracting for extensive usage upfront might seem easier, but for brands looking to cut costs, you may end up paying more for content that ends up going unused. Instead, assess organic content performance and select the optimal content pieces for ad placements and additional usage based on how well they do.

Monitoring KPIs and Determining Success in Gaming Influencer Campaigns

Now that you know why brands are getting into gaming-centric campaigns (more on that here) let’s discuss how you can track campaign performance and find success in the space.

Gaming influencer campaigns are often geared towards brand awareness and brand affinity among an increasingly valuable audience; however, they are now also being leveraged for product purchases, launches, and user acquisition.

The Key Performance Indicators to Track for Gaming Campaigns

• Average Concurrent Viewers (Avg. CCV): The average viewership at a given moment throughout the stream

• Peak Concurrent Viewers (Peak CCV): The highest level of concurrent viewership reached during the stream

• Unique Viewers: How many unique viewers engaged with the stream

• Views: Impressions of the stream

The best way to guarantee your influencer campaign in the gaming space is a success is by partnering with influencers who are passionate about the brand partnership and enthusiastic with their audience. That energy will translate to higher audience engagement.

How Brands Can Engage & Find Success

Brands have the opportunity to activate alongside creators in a depth of ways, including sponsored streams and live-streamed events, VODS and long-form series, and short-form videos on TikTok and Instagram. The brands prioritizing these areas are finding more ways to creatively own the gaming scene alongside creators. 

A big trend has been the creativity and ownership of esports content by the creators themselves. From creator tournaments like Ludwig’s Fortnite Mondays, live-streamed series like OTK’s series Schooled, and big stunts and challenge videos with influencers like Mr. Beast and PrestonPlayz, gaming creators are often at the heart of today’s innovations.

It’s worth noting that while production quality is an important factor to consider, the true keys to success in content include showcasing personalities, bringing creators together, and telling entertaining, organic-first stories.

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Have questions about launching a gaming campaign? We can walk you through the whole process. Get in touch. 

Why Did My Influencer Campaign Fail?

What happens when a campaign doesn’t meet expectations?

When a campaign fails to meet expected benchmarks, this is typically a result of one of a few things:

Poor Budgeting

The most common culprit of underperforming campaigns is a lack of budget necessary to book quality influencers at a large enough volume to achieve a high return on investment.

Lack of Strategy

We see plenty of people try a generic strategy or one-size-fits-all approach that doesn’t translate to the product being marketed. Planning and strategizing your influencer approach is essential to seeing results.

Too Much Client Control Over Creative

Overly-strict creative briefs and scripts may seem like good ways to ensure all brand talking points are hit, but they can easily hinder an influencer’s creativity and ability to make branded content come across naturally.

Unrealistic Benchmarks

Industry standards are always shifting, which is why we are constantly keeping a pulse on major changes and adjusting benchmarks accordingly, but it’s easy to measure against outdated or irrelevant benchmarks. We also see brands—especially those focused primarily on sales metrics—fail to consider variables like product pricing, influencer content messaging, website UX, and other factors that can have an impact on conversions.

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Work with an agency like Lytehouse and we’ll make sure you are setting yourself up for success, not failure. We can guide you through budgeting, strategy, benchmarks, and everything in between to make your influencer programs a hit.

What Goes Into Influencer Rates?

What is the monetary value of influencer marketing? It’s a question we get asked all the time, especially when it comes to allocating budgets toward influencer programs.

After all, influencer marketing has been heralded as a way to receive a strong return on investment for smaller budgets than traditional advertising requires. So why are influencer rates all over the place, and why can it seem so expensive to launch an influencer campaign? Let’s break it down:

Know what goes into influencer fees.

When you book an influencer, you are paying for:

• Photography/videography

• Model(s)

• Creative direction

• Location

• Photo/video editing

• Copywriting

• Agency fees (potentially)

• Usage rights (potentially)

• Exclusivity (potentially)

All within that one influencer fee, whereas those costs are spread over multiple departments, employees, and outside services for most companies. 

While many companies measure traditional marketing efforts in terms of CPM, that metric traditionally only accounts for media fees. When calculating influencer CPM, you must also account for influencer, agency, production, usage, and exclusivity fees in addition to media fees, so it’s a bit of an apples-to-oranges comparison.

Additional factors can also have an impact on what an influencer charges for a project:

• Scope of work

• Production costs

• Exclusivity and usage rights

• Brand affinity

• Influencer demand

• Caliber of influencer

• Engagement and conversion rates

• Niche

There is no formula for influencer rates.

Each influencer has the ability to set their own price for branded content, combining both quantitative (following, engagement metrics) and qualitative (demand, brand affinity) factors to determine what they charge. This is why you can speak to two influencers who on paper have near-identical profiles and present two varied fees for the same project.

Working with an agency such as Lyehouse will help you understand the larger landscape of influencer rates. While there isn’t one “industry standard” for determining rates, we continuously monitor project fees in this ever-changing industry and can help you separate the realistic numbers from the outrageous.

Provide clear and fair payment terms.

Paid partnerships are the main source of income for many influencers, so it is important to present clear and fair payment terms when partnering with influencers. For one-off partnerships, a net-30 payment is typical, but for larger programs, we suggest being flexible with payment terms to ensure creators are receiving compensation in a timely manner. This may come in the form of 50/50 payment terms so that influencers aren’t waiting until the program is complete to receive any payment.

Including payment terms that are fair and get influencers compensated in a timely manner will only improve your reputation amongst influencers and help keep the influencer marketing industry transparent and fair for all.

If you're ready to get started on your 2022 influencer marketing campaigns, don't be afraid to reach out.

What To Include (And What To Avoid) In Your Influencer Campaign Brief

Creative briefs should be less prescriptive & one-size-fits-all to allow influencers to do what they do best: creating content that tells a captivating and authentic story that speaks to their audience.

What creative briefs should include:

Scope of Work

The content requirements for the campaign, including platforms and post types. Consider a flexible scope that allows creators to choose content types they are best suited for based on social presence and consumer relationships across those channels.

Timeline Details

Set expectations for when drafts should be received, when content needs to go live, and how long amplified content will run (if part of the scope).

Do’s and Don’ts

What must creators absolutely include within their content? This could be brand tags or hashtags, photo requirements...on the other hand, is there anything that would trigger an immediate reshoot? Spell out any do’s and don’ts plainly so that there is no confusion on what the brand is looking for.

A Holistic Overview of Content Guidelines

Provide an overview of key talking points, visual requirements, and the overall storyline of the campaign. 

Examples of Content the Brand is Looking For

Examples of visual and caption content that the brand loves help illustrate exactly what the brand is seeking out of influencer content. While brands should not expect influencer partners to directly recreate example content, it helps give everyone a clear understanding of content expectations.

Want successful influencer content? Don’t do these things in your creative brief:

DON’T Provide a script or caption that influencers must read/post word-for-word.

Social media users are savvy to branded content and won’t be moved by generic, overly-branded messaging. Allow room for each influencer to tell a story through their content and make the campaign their own.

DON’T include frame-by-frame guidelines on what content needs to look like.

Likewise, a rigorous frame-by-frame outline of requirements will stifle an influencer’s creativity and prohibit them from making the content their own. Instead, provide a holistic overview of required talking points but allow flexibility for the creator to make their content unique.

DON’T require influencers to post on a platform or create a content type that they’ve never shared before.

Unless you’re activating an A-list celebrity to create their first post on a social media platform (think: Jennifer Aniston finally joining Instagram to promote the Friends reunion) we advise against requiring an influencer to post on a brand new platform or create a type of content they haven’t shared before. It’s why we recommend a flexible scope of work that allows the individual influencers to select the content types they are best at making. If your brand is insistent that every influencer partner post to a specific platform, do the research into suggested influencers ahead of time to ensure that each one has the ability to create that type of content.

Need help crafting your influencer campaigns? Lytehouse can help! Let’s work together.

Best Practices For Your Holiday 2021 Influencer Campaigns

The holiday season is quickly approaching, which means now is the perfect time to get on top of your end-of-year marketing strategy.

Here are our tips on how to make your influencer programs for the holiday 2021 season incredible:

Start booking influencers now.

The sooner you book your influencer partners for holiday marketing initiatives, the better. Influencer content calendars fill up quickly, as they can limit the number of partnerships they accept so they don’t overwhelm their audience with sponsored content. Booking influencers last-minute means you risk being unable to book your top choices. As we get closer to the holiday season, influencers can also charge a premium fee for booking during an in-demand time.

Consumers will be shopping earlier than in previous years as well. Last year, 38% of shoppers planned to start their holiday shopping in October, and 60% before December, and this trend is expected to continue this year. Start booking your influencers now so that you can secure your top choices for a reasonable rate and market to consumers ahead of the competition. 

Enter With A Game Plan.

Start with the “why” of your campaign and work backward: set your goals and key performance indicators (KPI) from the beginning, identify the metrics you’ll need to track, then select influencer partners and build out your content strategy with these end goals in mind. You should also plan go-live dates ahead of time to account for key shopping moments like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and holiday shipping deadlines to ensure viewers see holiday marketing content in time to complete and receive purchases in time.

For more tips on how to pick your KPIs and track campaign performance, click here.

Book Influencers As Ambassadors.

Consumers respond well to brand partnerships that are truly genuine. They’re also more likely to turn into customers the more they are exposed to your brand messaging from the same source. Consider seizing on an influencer’s organic affinity with your brand (i.e. an influencer that has already been using your product/service organically) or re-book well-performing talent from one of your previous campaigns.

Influencer marketing is all about relationship building, both between influencer and follower as well as influencer and brand partner. The best influencer partnerships understand this, working with influencers not as one-off contractors but as trusted brand ambassadors. Whether this means seizing on an influencer’s organic brand affinity (ex. a cooking influencer has been using a specific brand of cookware for years and now works with that brand to create sponsored content) or building audience trust through a yearlong partnership with several rounds of branded posts, viewers will respond well to brand partnerships that feel genuine. They’re also more likely to turn into customers the more they are exposed to a brand’s messaging.

Video Is The Way To Go.

Instagram has already announced that it is no longer simply a photo-sharing platform, shifting its focus to video content on Reels, Stories, and IGTV. TikTok and YouTube are video-focused by nature, and even Pinterest has prioritized short-form video content with its Idea Pins. The bulk of your influencer marketing for the holiday season—and in general moving forward—should be short-form video content.

Not only are social media platforms prioritizing video in their algorithms, but video tends to drive stronger consumer engagement for marketers. 60% of marketers found Facebook videos to earn more engagement than images, according to a Databox survey, as well as higher click-through rates, and according to a 2021 report by HubSpot and Mention, organic video content on Instagram receives 38% more engagement than photo posts. Video allows creators to showcase products in an engaging manner and lead with personality, and the visual cues demand users to pause their scrolling momentarily and engage with the content for a longer period of time than they would a static image.

Have A Clear Call-To-Action.

Each piece of influencer content you book should include a clear call-to-action (e.g. a swipe-up link for conversion) that directs viewers with what you would like them to do after seeing the content. Is your goal to encourage purchases? Ensure each influencer includes a swipe-up link in their Story content that brings viewers to a product page. Are you hoping to have viewers create organic content? Create a dedicated hashtag and use influencers to promote the hashtag and start the trend. Does your brand have a charitable tie-in for the holiday season? Include specific information on how audiences can get involved and support the charity. A clear and concise CTA will ensure that your campaign turns viewership into action.

Amplify Strategically.

During a competitive season, paid amplification is the best way to extend the reach of your holiday influencer marketing to a wide, yet highly targeted audience while guaranteeing a strong return on your investment. We recommend allocating at least 20% of your overall campaign budget towards ad amplification. With this amount set aside, along with day-to-day ad performance monitoring and adjusting, Lytehouse has seen brands achieve close to 100% return on investment. Facebook and Instagram ads are tried-and-true amplification methods, but we also recommend sharing sponsored content on TikTok and Pinterest to reach additional audiences.

Use Content To The Fullest.

You’ve worked hard to secure quality influencer content for the holiday season, now make sure you’re maximizing your campaign. Secure usage rights in the contracting phase so that your brand can utilize influencer-created content on brand-owned channels. (Do note that the more extensive the usage rights, the higher the rate can become.) Develop an amplification strategy to reach new potential customers beyond the influencer’s and brand’s existing audiences. Book evergreen content that can live beyond the holiday season so that you can run longer ads and get a head start on 2022 marketing.

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Let’s recap:

• Book Influencer partners ASAP for holiday campaigns

• Set campaign goals and KPIs first

• Schedule out posting dates to hit key holiday moments

• Cast influencers as ambassadors for larger programs

• Prioritize short-form video content

• Include a clear call to action with all campaign content

• Amplify strong-performing content to reach wider audiences

• Secure usage rights so you can use influencer-created content on brand channels

The Basics Of Influencer Campaign Contracting

Contracts: a time-consuming yet vitally important part of the influencer campaign process.

We know, contracts are no one’s favorite part of the campaign process, but they’re detailed and necessary for a reason. Contracts set expectations for all parties involved in the campaign, from what type of content is required to when and how an influencer will be paid for their services.

A contract that is too short or missing crucial information can lead to disappointment and frustration further down the road of the campaign process. A clear and detailed contract assumes nothing and outlines all expectations and processes so no one is left in the dark about a partnership’s requirements. 

Here are the basics:

Disclaimer: Nothing in this post is intended to be construed as legal advice. If you need assistance with any of the issues identified in this post, we recommend you consult with an attorney in your area.

Do influencer campaigns really need contracts?

Yes! Contracts protect the influencer, brand, and any other party involved in the campaign. Even if it’s just a one-off Instagram Story post, creating a contract with clear guidelines and legal verbiage protects all parties involved.

What should be included in a contract?

Scope of work: What is being asked of the influencer for this campaign? This should outline how many posts the influencer is expected to post over the course of the partnership, which platforms they need to post on, and so on.

Pro tip: if the campaign requires Instagram Story content, specify how many slides of Stories are required! We can’t tell you how many times we’ve had to clarify what counts as “1 Story” with clients.

Creative guidelines: This is where all the photo, caption, and/or video requirements are outlined. Include talking points, image requirements, required hashtags, example content, and do’s and don’ts of campaign content. Providing clear creative direction for influencers to refer to will minimize back and forth on approving content and give all parties involved a clear understanding of what the brand is looking for with influencer creative.

Approval process: How does the influencer go about submitting their content for approval? Is there a limit to how many times the influencer can be asked to reshoot content? 

Campaign timeline: This should include not only posting dates but also approval deadlines. 

Payment terms: How will the influencer be paid, how much will they receive for the project, and when will they receive payment? This section should clearly answer all 3 of these questions.

Content usage: If the brand would like to use the influencer’s content for brand-owned channels and materials, it is important to outline precisely where and for how long the brand will be utilizing the influencer’s content. An influencer should never be surprised to see their content on brand materials.

Note: usage may increase an influencer’s rate.

Exclusivity terms: It’s pretty understandable that a brand would not want an influencer talking about a direct brand competitor in close proximity to a campaign going live, so this section is a great place to outline any exclusivity details. It should be noted that the broader and longer an exclusivity term is, the more an influencer is likely to charge. When you can, get specific about your content category (for example, asking for exclusivity in the shampoo category as opposed to exclusivity in the beauty category). 

Indemnification and liability limitations: By working together and associating themselves with each other to the public, both the brand and influencer are taking on new legal risks. These types of provisions (which can get fairly technical) ensure that both parties are going to take responsibility for any issues they might have caused for the other party as part of the campaign, and also minimize the amount of legal exposure they might otherwise have.

Cancellation policy: Marketing plans can change for any number of reasons, and after 2020, we became especially aware of how important it is to keep in a cancellation policy should circumstances around the campaign change. 

FTC disclosure requirements: The Federal Trade Commission requires brand partnerships to be clearly and transparently disclosed, so it’s good to have a reminder of what you require influencers to include in their disclosures.

For more information on what does and what does not count as proper partnership disclosure according to the FTC, check out our article here.

Confidentiality: When working on a campaign, it’s possible that confidential information will be shared between the brand and influencer. A confidentiality paragraph will ensure that items like the influencer’s rates or the brand’s trade secrets are kept confidential.

What are the biggest mistakes when it comes to contracting?

Omitting details and requirements: Essentially, the more details the better when it comes to influencer contracts. The biggest issues with influencer campaigns often arise out of lack of communication or expecting influencers to just know things, even if they aren’t explicitly stated. 

Expecting exclusivity: While a lot of influencers will try to limit the partnerships they accept in certain categories, unless exclusivity terms are clearly outlined in a contract, you cannot expect an influencer to know that they aren’t “supposed” to be posting about other brands or competitors. 

What’s the biggest contract red flag?

Asking influencers to NOT disclose paid partnerships. This violates FTC guidelines and can lead to penalties and other legal actions. Not to mention, it just feels shady.

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For all the latest on influencer marketing, download Lytehouse’s State of Influencer Marketing 2021 report.

What Factors Go Into An Influencer’s Rate?

Influencer rates cannot be determined by formulas and quantitative factors alone. The truth is much more complicated.

Let’s discuss influencer rates. Within our industry, it’s one of the most widely debated topics, one that lacks transparency and standardization across the board. We’ve seen influencers undervalue their worth with low rates, and we’ve seen brands bristle at influencers asking for what the brands view as overinflated fees. It’s a fine line to walk; ask for too little and you’re setting up a standard of brands underpaying creators; ask for too much and run the risk of not meeting the brand’s ROI expectations, or turn them off influencer marketing altogether.

While it would be easy to have a set formula to determine what an influencer should be charging for a sponsored post, the truth is that influencer rates are not one-size-fits-all. Two influencers who on paper may appear similar in following and content may charge two vastly different rates. That doesn’t mean that one is overcharging or one is undercharging; it simply means that there are more factors to consider that have an impact on an influencer’s fee for sponsored content. 

Factors To Consider

Analytics: Quantitative numbers like following size and engagement rates are a great place to start, but they don’t tell the whole picture. An influencer could have a million followers but reach the same audience as an influencer with 50K followers. 

Demographics: Who is the influencer’s audience? Do they appeal to in-demand millennial and Gen Z users? Do they have a majority-US following? Strong demographics can raise an influencer’s fee.

Campaign scope: The scale of a campaign will have an impact on an influencer’s fee. One Instagram photo will cost less than a 5-minute professionally-filmed IGTV video, for example. Some influencers will charge for multiple posts a la carte, while others may offer “discounted” rates for comprehensive projects. 

Content Usage: Using an influencer’s content on brand-owned channels and materials can raise the price of a campaign. It’s important to outline exactly where and for how long your brand intends to use an influencer’s content so there is no confusion about usage.

Exclusivity: Exclusivity clauses are important for a lot of brands—you don’t want to have an influencer partner feature your competitor the next day!—but they do affect rates. Short time frames with specific category exclusivities (for example, a 1-week exclusivity in the shampoo category) will incur lower fees than broader exclusivity requirements (like a year-long exclusivity in the hair space). 

Expertise: The recommendations of industry experts are highly valued and thus can drive up the price of a sponsored post. A verified account with a blue check can also lend an air of credibility and likewise raise an influencer’s rate. 

Demand: It’s simple economics: in-demand influencers can charge more for partnerships. Influencers often limit the amount of partnerships they take on to avoid oversaturating their feeds with branded content, so highly sought after influencers may raise their rates. Influencers may also charge a premium during holidays when demand surges. 

Content quality: How does the influencer create content? Do they use their phone, or are they hiring photographers and videographers? Are their captions compelling and thought-out, or are they simple and to the point? 

Management: Yes, management means an influencer is giving a certain percentage to their agency, but it also establishes the influencer as having a proven track record. 

Past partnerships: Past partnerships can also showcase an influencer’s track record in the space. Working with prestigious brands and securing repeat partnerships can speak to an influencer’s success and ability to market effectively to audiences. 

Press appeal: Celebrities and public figures are so appealing for brands because they can garner press coverage, which is also why they can charge a premium for sponsored content compared to traditional influencers with similar following sizes.

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Have more questions about influencer rates? We can help!

4 Reasons Why Instagram Stories Are A Valuable Platform For Marketers

Social media is always evolving, and one trend we’ve certainly noticed in 2020 is that Instagram Stories are slowly overtaking Instagram Posts as the most popular post type for influencer campaigns.

From April to September, Instagram Stories accounted for almost half of all our campaign post types. Across that time period, we observed an 8% increase in Instagram Story campaigns from 2019 to 2020.

Why is it that Instagram Stories are on the rise? There are a few factors that make Instagram Stories so valuable for marketers. Let’s break them down:

1. Relatability Factor

If Instagram feed posts are a dreamy highlight reel, then Instagram Stories are where an influencer’s personality and real life can shine. There is less pressure to make every Instagram Story frame picture-perfect, making them feel much more relatable and off-the-cuff.

When it comes to brand partnerships, even Instagram Stories are often pre-recorded and approved by the brand before posting, but their reliance on selfie videos, iPhone photos, and behind-the-scenes sneak peeks make them relatable to viewers, much more so than the curated content that goes on an influencer’s feed. 

2. Demonstrations Made Easy

Instagram Stories make it incredibly easy to demonstrate how to use a featured product in short, concise clips. Whether an influencer is cooking a recipe, demoing a new technology, showing how to style a piece of clothing, or something else, Instagram Stories are the perfect platform for such demonstrations. With the ability to add text captions and GIF stickers too, there are plenty of tools to create engaging and informative tutorial-like content. 

3. Conversation Is Key

Instagram Stories are about community building, and the poll and question stickers, along with the ability for followers to direct message (aka DM) an influencer help cultivate conversation. Viewers can provide feedback, ask questions, and create a dialogue that can last far beyond the 24 hours that a Story is live.

Story interactions are beneficial for 2 main reasons: first, replies, poll votes, and other interactions help increase the Story’s engagement numbers and can in turn boost an influencer’s Story to the front of people’s Story feeds. Second, both your brand and the influencer can receive immediate feedback on the content, product, and partnership. Maybe a follower has a question about how to use a product or absolutely loves the content produced and DMs the influencer to say as much. This instant feedback can help both of you inform future content and strategies for future marketing efforts.

4. Ease Of Conversion

Last but certainly not least, the ability to add “swipe-up links” is perhaps the valuable benefit of Instagram Stories, particularly if you are deciding whether an in-feed Post or Story is more worth your time (and budget). Adding in swipe-up links allows influencers to turn their content into sales conversions and hopefully drive more sales to your brand.

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Now that you know why Instagram Stories are all the rage in influencer marketing, make sure you know the ins and outs of Instagram Story analytics so that you can track your campaign success.

5 Reasons Why Influencers Are Turning Down Your Campaign Offers

You are in the midst of planning an upcoming influencer campaign. You have developed creative briefs for the campaign. You have compiled a list of influencers you hope to work with and have sent initial offers out to said influencers, only for them to reject your offer.

Why do influencers turn down campaign opportunities? There are a number of factors that go into deciding if a campaign will work out, from budget to scheduling.

Here are the 5 top reasons why we see influencers turn down offers and how to receive as few campaign rejections as possible moving forward:

1. The Rate Is Too Low

One of the most common reasons why an influencer rejects a campaign offer is budget. Influencers are running businesses, and they need to make money for their work. If the rate is too low, the project is not worth it.

To ensure the budgets you present are aligned with what influencers are charging, familiarize yourself with industry standards. 

If the budget you present is close to the going rate for a particular influencer, keep things open for negotiation. If an influencer comes back saying that an offer is far below their typical rate, reconsider how you are allocating your influencer marketing budget and what influencers you are targeting. Not every campaign will be able to afford a celebrity influencer, so think critically about your campaign objectives to select the right influencers that also fit within your budget. 

2. The Usage And Exclusivities Are Extensive—And Not Properly Compensated For

Related to rate, influencers will charge more for extensive content usage. Reposting an influencer campaign photo on your brand’s Instagram feed is one thing; using influencer content to create a major television ad spot is quite another. The more usage rights you request, the more expensive the influencer’s fee will become. 

Your agreement with the influencer should list out specific usage rights, including both where you intend to use the content and for how long. Usage “in perpetuity” will be more expensive than one year of usage rights, so the more specific you can be about usage, the better. 

Similarly, wide-reaching campaign exclusivities (meaning, restricting the contracted influencer from posting about brand competitors) will also drive up rates. Say you represent a candy brand: requesting exclusivity for a year in the “food” category will cost exponentially more than requesting a week-long exclusivity period strictly in the smaller “candy” category. Additionally, asking an influencer to stay out of a broad category for a long time will also give them pause.

Define the exclusivity of your campaign to be specific enough that direct competitors are not talked about in close proximity to your campaign—you can even list out specific brand competitors—to avoid increased influencer rates or rejections on campaign offers. 

3. The Creative Brief Does Not Align With The Influencer’s Content

We have run across all types of creative briefs here at Lytehouse, from the extremely vague and open-ended to the deeply specific. The best creative briefs usually meet in the middle: specific enough that the influencer knows what your brand is looking for out of the content they deliver, but not so narrow that it removes all possibility for an influencer to create content that he or she feels is authentic. After all, you are hiring a content creator, so there should be a little flexibility within the creative brief to allow for original spins on the campaign.

Need more tips on developing a strong campaign creative brief? Check out our guide here.

4. The Turnaround Is Too Quick

It can be something as practical as scheduling; influencers are busy, and oftentimes a last minute campaign just will not fit into their schedule. When things come up last minute, it can be hard to avoid scrambling for influencers, so avoid this predicament by planning out your influencer campaigns well in advance and starting negotiations early. 

5. The Brand Is Not A Fit

At the end of the day, sometimes a brand is just not a fit for an influencer. For example, a budget fashion influencer may turn down an offer from a luxury brand because she knows her audience won’t respond to the campaign.

Influencers want the campaigns they participate in to succeed just as much as brands do, so if an influencer cites “brand alignment” as a reason for rejecting a campaign, it is because they do not see their audience resonating with the brand.

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As experts of influencer relations, Lytehouse can help you through every step of the influencer campaign process. Partner with an agency like Lytehouse to help negotiate and secure influencers for your next influencer campaign. 

When To Gift Influencers

Since influencer marketing has surged in popularity, there’s been a healthy debate about whether influencer gifting is valuable. Some argue that gifting is an important way to spread brand awareness, while others would rather spend their marketing budgets on guaranteeing influencer posts, but the truth is there is a time and place for gifting influencers.

Here are the benefits and setbacks to influencer gifting campaigns so you can determine if gifting is the right move for your brand:

Pros of Gifted Campaigns

Less costly than a paid campaign: This is the most obvious benefit to gifting influencers. If your brand does not have a lot of budget to devote to influencer marketing, shipping out press packages is a less expensive option. Even if you splurge on fancy packaging, the cost of shipping and materials will be far less than contracting influencers to post.

Builds organic relationships: When influencers received gifted products without any expectations of posting, they’ll oftentimes feel more comfortable posting about said product. More importantly, gifting is a great way to allow influencers to test out the product and determine on their own if they like what they’ve received. This is incredibly beneficial for new beauty brands or anything that an individual can test out firsthand, because it gets the product directly into the hands of the influencer.

Cons of Gifted Campaigns

No guarantees: When gifting influencers, you are leaving a lot up to fate. Gifting rarely includes contracting influencers, and without any formal agreements in place, there are no promises that the influencers you are gifting will post about—or even use—your product.

Can’t control the narrative: With that being said, you also cannot control how an influencer may speak about your product. Whether they use the wrong hashtag, create subpar content, or even speak negatively about your product, once the item is sent, you have zero control over how it is talked about as no contract is required without payment. This is a large obstacle for luxury brands, especially, who want maximum control over how their brand is represented.

Hard to work with bigger influencers: Gifting is most effective when targeted toward micro influencers, who will be more appreciative of a free gift and likely to post. Influencers with larger followings, however, likely have more paid partnerships under their belt and are savvier to the intentions behind gifting, so odds are they’ll hold out for paid deals and won’t give away valuable tagging for free. However, if your brand features high-value items like designer clothing or furniture, or if the influencer in question is a natural fan, bigger influencers may be willing to give a shoutout.

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The bottom line: gifting is a more cost-effective option and a great way to build natural relationships with nano and micro influencers, but there are no guarantees regarding the quality of the content created, or even that gifted influencers will post at all.