Tag: Funnel builder

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How to Create an Influencer Contract or Agreement

Developing your influencer contracts isn’t as hard as most people make it. The truth is that it’s always a good idea to get a lawyer to help you create your contracts but signing a document that you create is also acceptable in a court of law.

 

The following are the basic requirements for any social media influencer contract:

 

  • Parties To the Agreement – Include the legal names of the people subject to the contract terms, including their business name and entity type and address and contact information.

 

  • Terms Of the Agreement – One way to put all the terms you’ve agreed to in the contract is to just list out by number each person’s responsibilities in order of importance.

 

  • Timeline Of the Campaign – Dates and the timeline are imperative inclusions into any contract if you want it to be enforceable.

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  • Content Creation Expectations – Be very specific about what you’re expecting the influencer to create for your payment.

 

  • Compensation Amounts – Describe not only how much but what signals the payment to take place and how it’ll be done. For example, you might want to pay them half up front, half after the campaign, or some other schedule.

 

  • Advertiser Policies – Always include any policies that you want to have, such as not including bad language, grammar, and punctuation, as Facebook’s Advertising policy states.

 

  • Confidentiality Agreements – If you have one, put it in the contract and be very specific.

 

  • Non-Disclosure or Exclusivity Agreements – If there is something you don’t want to be disclosed, such as the private marketing stats you provided to them, make sure it’s in the contract. Likewise, if you don’t want the influencer recommending your competition, make sure to say so.

 

  • Breach of Contract Clause – What happens if either party breaches the contract? If you describe what should happen now, it’ll make it easier should something go wrong.

 

  • Governing Law – Always include which state, city, and county (or country) law’s will be the guiding force of this agreement should there be a disagreement.

 

  • Signatures of All Parties – Don’t forget to get it signed. It doesn’t have to be notarized, but this can help. Using software to sign is also helpful.

 

Lawyers aren’t required to make contract legal, but they are required to know what you are permitted to put in the contract as you cannot contract illegal things. If you write an agreement on a napkin and sign it, it’s legal as long as the items put in the contract are also permitted. A self-designed contract is better than no contract, but it is advisable to seek help from an attorney or paralegal to perfect your arrangements.

 

 

 

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Four Things You Should Always Provide the Influencer

When you start working with influencers, it can be tempting to keep it very informal, but the truth is, contracts and information help you avoid problems. This is good advice whether you’re working with influencers, service providers, or consultants. Contracts and clear information make all the difference.

 

Here are four things you should never neglect providing an influencer:

 

Contract or Agreement

 

Once you have hashed out all the responsibilities of each party to the contract, make sure to put it in writing. Don’t be scared of contracts. List each person’s information and list the responsibilities for each party to the agreement along with timelines, due dates, and any pertinent info needed to fulfill the contract accurately. Plus, describe exactly what you’ll want to do if there is a dispute to prevent any unforeseen problems.

 

Contracts need a starting and ending date, names of all parties involved, payment amounts and due dates, penalties, or changes if breaches, missed deadlines, or disagreements.

 

Clear Expectations

 

Before you even approach the influencer to work with you, develop your expectations to be clear to yourself. That way, it’ll be easier to communicate what you are expecting from them. Always ask them if they understand what you are saying and listen to them.

 

If you have formal meetings, record the information you gather at the meetings, and then agree to what has been recorded, it’s easier to make sure everyone is on the same page regarding expectations.

 

Compensation

 

Be very clear about how you’re going to compensate your influencers. Do what you say you will when you say you will. Don’t necessarily try to go for the cheapest deal when it comes to influencers. Instead, go for the best return on investment.

 

One way to ensure that you’ll receive a good ROI is to compensate influencers in multiple ways, from product sales, free products to a flat fee to commission as an affiliate.

 

Content and Other Supporting Materials

 

Once you’ve settled the contract and everyone is clear about what is expected, make sure you deliver the content and supporting material as soon as possible. Then, if you meet your deadlines, you will ensure that they meet theirs too.

 

Furnish your audience persona and other information you want to be provided to your audience through the influencer so that they can design the promotion based on the research you’ve already done.

Start with the Right Influencer and Target Audience

Influencer marketing is an effective way to get the word out about your products, services, and offers. But you must plan beforehand and do your due diligence to ensure that the people you work with are up for the task.

 

 

 

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Important Questions to Ask Before You Work with An Influencer

The following are important questions to ask your potential influencers and key information they should provide back to ensure you pick the right influencer for your campaign:

 

  • Who Is Your Target Audience? – Ask them if they have an audience persona created or if they can provide audience demographics so you can be sure their audience really will want what you have.

 

  • How Does Your Target Audience Algin with My Brand and Message? – You need your own brand message and reason for existing, and it should align in some way with the influencers you choose to work with. Let them explain how they align.

 

  • What Type of Content Do You Produce? – It will help you to know the type of content they can produce to start with. For example, some influencers do life-like vlogs and don’t do scripted commercials or advertorials. Work with influencers who give you what you need but be open to new ideas.

 

  • How Often Do You Publish Content? – Knowing their production schedule can help you ensure that your campaign is launched at the right time.

 

  • What Is Your Engagement Like? – They should tell you about some actual numbers regarding their engagement but understand if you choose to work with new influencers (which works great, by the way), they may not understand yet, but you can show them.

 

  • Have You Ever Worked with My Competitors Before? If so, Why and Why Do You Want to Work with Us Now? – This can help you ensure that they’re going to be upfront and honest with their audience about their recommendations.

 

  • Have You Worked with Similar Brands Before? How Successful Were You? – Getting these stats will really help you project the type of response they might get for your campaign.

 

  • How Often Do You Share Sponsored Content or Affiliate Links? – You want to ensure they have a good ratio of information and sponsored content or affiliate content. This will help you determine if they have staying power.

 

  • What Are Your Overall Expectations for Partnering with a Brand? – You want to know from them what they are expecting to gain from this too.

 

  • What Are Your Thoughts About Exclusive Brand Partnerships? – If you want them to work with you exclusively and not another brand that competes with you, this is good information to know.

 

  • What Is Your Content Creation Process? – Understanding their process can help you understand how you’ll work with them, including timelines and other info.

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  • Do You Want to Work with Us to Create the Content and Share Before Posting or Be on Your Own? – How autonomous will they want to be, and are you okay with this method? Of course, you can’t make them work how you want to work, but you can judge whether you can work together or not.

 

  • What Are Your Fees and Other Compensation Needs? – Try to get them to give you a fee schedule instead of telling them what you’ll pay. Not only will they feel more in control, but it’ll make working together easier.

 

  • What Sort of Timeline Do You Need to Get to Publishing? – Knowing the timeline will help you get your information to them promptly.

 

Use these questions to figure out whether you can work with the influencer in a seamless way that matches your own needs and includes their needs. You’ll be very glad you took the time.

 

 

 

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Influencer Marketing Vs. Brand Ambassadors

It can be easy to think influencers and brand ambassadors are the same thing. They promote your products and influence your audience in some way. However, influencer marketing and brand ambassadors are not interchangeable as they have many key differences.

 

Promote Vs. Example

 

Ambassadors promote your products and are seen as the experts on the product. This is made into a full-time position for larger brands where the company provides them the details they need to know to become a master. They are the ones consumers can go to and get almost any question answered.

 

While influencers show your audience by being the example and sharing how and why they use your products or services, they may love your products and understand them quite a bit. Still, for the most part, they don’t have the extensive knowledge brand ambassadors gain when working with one or a few brands.

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Influencers tend to work with many different brands and campaigns over the months and years, making it impossible for them to be a real expert on all the information your brand has to provide.

 

Long-term vs. Short-term

 

As stated above, influencers typically work with more than one brand or company. On the other hand, brand ambassadors only work with your company to master the knowledge and understand how your products and services work.

 

Influencers may recommend your business once or twice while brand ambassadors repeated it daily. They are your brand loyalists or journalists and will find them at the top of the pyramid of influence right above influencers.

 

Audience vs. Experience

 

Brand ambassadors are sought out due to experience and devotion to the product. They are committed to your brand and truly believe in the benefits. They are likely coming to you or directly applying. On the other hand, influencers are contracted due to their audience, engagement rate, or other important conversions you need for your business. They do not have to have tried your product or care too much about it. These conversions give you a clear insight into what kind of return on investment you can expect to see.

 

Their Similarities

 

Both brand ambassadors and influencers want to promote your product and see you succeed. Each can be added to your marketing campaign to drive more engagement, traffic, and brand awareness. However, they both need to sign agreements to protect their rights and promote your product authentically and enthusiastically through unique and creative content.

 

Overall, it is important to understand the difference to choose the right person for your campaign goals. Each offers many similar benefits, but the type of relationship, compensation, and metrics needed will determine who is right for the job.

 

 

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Why Influencer Marketing Works

In 2020, Influencer marketing was worth more than nine billion dollars. It is now expected to grow beyond thirteen billion dollars. Showing you that it is here to stay and only growing stronger. Influencer marketing is a form of worth-of-mouth or online marketing using social media platforms and influencers who share content to promote products or services for companies with similar target audiences.

 

The goal is to influence their audience to increase their conversions, usually in increased sales, traffic, or engagement. Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok are currently the top three social media platforms used by many influencers and companies worldwide to market their products, services, or ideas.

 

Here are the main reasons why influencer marketing works and why it is so beneficial to your brand:

 

Influencers Build Trust and Establish Creditability

 

Not only can influencers help you find your target audience more easily, but they can also help you connect and engage with them. An influencer has an audience because they have similar interests to them and appreciates their opinion.

 

Meaning the influencer already has established trust and credibility. When they partner with a company, that trust and credibility often transfer over. Without these two factors, you can’t expect to make a sale or increase your conversions. Customers need validity in exchange for their time and revenue.

 

Influencers Create Engagement and Long-Lasting Relationships

 

Along with trust comes needed engagement. What kind of engagement you need is up to you and your business goals? For many, that includes more likes, comments, shares, and clicks to their websites to make a sale and increase their revenue or exposure hopefully. Not only do they increase your engagement rate, the relationship is more personal too. Meaning they can form deeper and stronger relationships, further increasing the trust and loyalty to your brand.

 

Influencers Expose You to Larger and More Loyal Audiences

 

Establishing a relationship with several different influencers allows you to get in front of more people with the same target audience as yours, especially when comparing it to traditional online ads. In addition, your target audience is less likely to skip over it when an influencer is involved as it humanizes your brand.

 

As you can see, if you haven’t added influencers to your marketing strategy yet, then you are likely missing out. In fact, according to a Mediakix survey conducted in 2019, nearly 17% of companies use or will use half of their marketing budget on influencers alone. While that is a small percentage, many companies reported in the same year that they want to significantly increase their influencer budgets to keep up with the current demand for social media content. They believe influencer marketing is paramount to their success now and in the future.

 

 

 

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Influencer Marketing and the Pyramid of Influence

The pyramid of influence is a great model or image to categorize your different audiences and the influencers who represent them. It’s designed to quickly show you who and what makes up the most of your engagement to create the right content and materials to develop and run a successful campaign.

 

To put it simply, a pyramid of influence is designed to allow you to quickly understand who makes up your community and how they each influence your audience. This way, you can easily develop content and strategies to reach your target audience more efficiently and ensure you get the right influencer on board.

The pyramid of Influence is made of the following levels:

influencer Pyramid

First Level: Brand Content Creators

 

They are the brand experts and make up most of your content that your influencers can’t wait to use, share with their audience, or use inspiration to make new content. The content is produced by your company, by those you hired, or even mega-influencers.

 

Second Level: Influencers or Leaders

 

This is where digital influencers come in and make up the bulk of the content and engagement. They spark interest within those who want and must get your products. They inspire and influence transactions and engagement. They are the ones that will do anything to get their hands on your product and share it with their audience because they love your products or services. They are the leaders of your content and mission.

 

Third Level: Prosumers or Seed Planters

 

Prosumers are active in the community consistently, usually using third-party platforms such as Facebook or YouTube. They are the ones that build groups and posts questions or spark interest in topics supporting your niche or brand. In other words, they plant the seed of interest and increase engagement and interaction.

 

Quite a few people in this level of the pyramid will eventually move on to the second tier as low level, or nano influencers can also be found in this level as they often plant the seed. They look up to those above them in the tier to help them create content, answer any questions, or sound the alarm to a common problem within the industry.

 

Bottom Level: Consumers or Readers

They consume content but don’t generate it. They are known as consumers and will make up the bulk of your audience and are responsible for revenue. They are the ones that are influenced by the rest of the pyramid and make purchases or other actions that can positively affect your conversions.

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Understanding the pyramid of influence helps you see how your customers, influencers, and content writers can influence different types of people. The ones on the top have the most impact, while those on the bottom make purchases and increase your conversions.

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Set Up A Product Creation Schedule For Yourself And Your Team

Let’s talk about money. More importantly, let’s talk about how you profit from your online properties. You do it through ads, by making affiliate sales, or my personal favorite – by selling your own products. Those products are what we’ll be talking about today. More specifically, we’ll be discussing creating information products consistently. Why information products? Because you create them once and sell them again and again. No supply line, no storage, no overhead. When you make a sale, it’s almost pure profit.

 

I’m going to let you in on a secret it took me a while to discover when I first started out. It’s much easier to sell an existing customer a second product than it is to find a brand new customer. It’s even easier to sell them the third, fourth, fifth one. You get the idea. That’s because you’ve done all the hard work of earning this person’s trust already and if you’ve done your job right, the first thing they purchased from you is already helping them solve their problem. That’s what information products are all about. Solving a problem. To create that next product, look at where your customers are at and think about what they need to do next. What’s another problem they will face and how can you help them solve it.

 

For example, your first product may be an eBook or course on setting up a WordPress site. Next, your customers may need to learn about creating content that attracts the right type of reader. And then they need to learn about traffic, and list building, and effective social media strategies. Each one of these could be a new info product or new content for your paid membership site.

 

Once you have an idea of what types of products you want to create, it’s important to get them out consistently. You want to have a new product out there for your existing customers to buy. Of course, you’ll also attract new buyers along the way who will then not only buy the new thing you’ve come out with but hopefully also some of the other titles and courses you have out there.

 

Start with a list of products you want to create. Do your best to estimate how long it will take you to create the product and all the infrastructure that goes along with it like a sales page, a download page, autoresponders, and solo emails to promote it, a promotion schedule, etc. Make a list of everything you need to do before you can launch this new product. Then get to work. Chip away at it every day and continue to consistently work towards each of these new product launches, adjusting your timeframe as needed.

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In the beginning, it will probably be just you working on this product creation. Maybe you’re hiring out the graphics. Put that on the schedule and communicate with your graphic designer early to avoid bottlenecks. As time goes by, you may choose to outsource some of the product creation. Maybe you’re hiring an editor to proofread your work. Or a VA to help with the setup, infrastructure, and customer service. Eventually, you may even hire some writers to create these products for you. As your team expands, it’s even more important to have a schedule everyone works off to make sure these new products come out regularly.

 

 

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Work On Your Funnel Each Week And Continue To Branch Out

You should already have at least some very basic funnels set up for your online business. To make sure we are all on the same page, let’s quickly define what a funnel is when it comes to your website. It’s a way for people to work their way through what you have to offer. This could be going from the content of your blog, to signing up for your email list, receiving a series of emails and getting an offer for one of your products or services. That’s one simple funnel and I hope you already have that one set up.

 

While that’s a great start, it should be your only funnel. The goal for any business is to continue to find new ways to draw in more potential customers and engage them. That may mean setting up several new opt-in offers. It may mean sending out a monthly or weekly newsletter. It should always mean creating new products, or making offers for existing things. And of course it could mean presenting affiliate offers.

 

Funnels are great and they are never done. For starters, things change. Links break, you find better offers, and you learn more about your subject matter and have more or even better information to present to your audience. That’s why it’s a good idea to audit your existing funnels from time to time, updating, editing, and fixing them as needed.

 

It’s also a great idea to test and optimize your funnels. For example, you could split test two different lead magnets and see which one converts better. Test what product you present to your subscribers when. Tweak and test to improve your overall conversions, open crates, and click-through rates. Split test your sales pages … The sky’s the limit when it comes to testing and tracking your funnels. The goal will always be the same – try to do a little better than what you have been doing. Over time, you’ll make huge improvements that translate into a bigger bottom line.

 

In addition to improving your existing funnels, you also want to set aside some time each week to consistently work on expanding and adding new ones. This could mean adding a couple of new autoresponder emails to your first funnel this week. And it could mean creating a new lead magnet next week that attracts a slightly different audience into your circle of influence. The important part is that you work on your funnels every single week. Consistency here, like in so many other areas of your online business is key. Doing a little bit each week, will help you grow, expand, and improve your funnels.

HBA Funnel Builder…

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Struggling With Social Media? A Calendar And System Can Help

Do you have a hard time with social media? Either you aren’t finding the time to get around to posting regularly and getting discouraged by a lack of results you’re getting. You know what I’m talking about. You aren’t getting a lot of new followers on your page on Facebook for example and when you post something only a small fraction of those people see the post. It can be discouraging and feel like you have to pay to play by buying ads if you want your content to be seen. Thankfully that’s not true. What is true however is that consistency can help you grow your reach on any social media platform. It can help you with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and anywhere else where your ideal customers choose to hang out.

 

This brings up an important point. Before you dive in and invest a lot of time and effort on every single platform, take a look around. Where are your people hanging out? What media does your tribe prefer? For example, if you’re running a recipe blog, you have to be on Pinterest, and depending on your particular niche, you may also want a Facebook presence, including a group, and possibly a YouTube channel. If you’re into sourdough, you’ve got to be on Instagram… Do your research and do your best to determine where you want to be before you get started.

 

Once you have that figured it, it’s time to come up with a posting schedule. Remember, consistency is key. You’re better off doing fewer posts and shares more regularly than overdoing it and burning out. Start with a conservative number that you’re comfortable with across all platforms and write it down. For example, you may choose to do 5 tweets per week, 10 pins, 3 Facebook posts, one Facebook Live video, and a new YouTube video every other week.

 

Once you have your schedule, it’s time to schedule the actual content using a calendar. You can use Google Calendar or an old-fashioned paper one. The key is being able to stay organized and having your social media goals in writing to ensure it gets done and posted regularly. How far out should you schedule? That’s up to you. If you like to plan in big batches every few months, go for it. If you prefer to be more spontaneous, do it once a week. Play around with different time frames and see what works best for you. When you know what you’ll be posting about and have the text and images ready ahead of time, it’s quick and easy to keep up with social media.

 

To save even more time and make social media content more hands-off, take a look at some of the scheduling tools available. I like Hootsuite, MeetEdgar, PostPlanner, and Tailwind (for Pinterest). Use them to schedule and loop posts that will go out without you having to log into your social media profiles every single day.  Instead, you can set aside time once every couple of weeks to do the bulk of your work. Then check-in from your phone throughout the week to respond to comments etc. Getting organized and figuring out a system that works for you can be such a game-changer when it comes to being consistent on social media and growing an engaged following. When you have those main posts going out on schedule, you can then pop in and interact & post in real-time as and when time allows.

 

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