A survey by the Digital Marketing Institute found that almost 50% of consumers depend on recommendations from influencers when deciding what to buy. It’s no wonder that more and more brands are jumping at the opportunity to work with content creators.

To lock down a lucrative influencer partnership, you’re going to need killer negotiation skills. Use these five practical tips shared by onsite negotiation training experts to kick the conversation off on the right note.

Determine your social media campaign goals

Before you begin, you want to identify your campaign goals. Influencer marketing has many benefits. For example, boosting brand awareness, growing new audiences, generating sales, among others. However, if you don’t have solid social media campaign goals, the collaboration is likely to fall flat.

That’s because your goals will determine your strategy, which in turn defines how much time, money, and energy you’ll need to dedicate. Also, what type of influencer is best suited for which project.

Do a deep dive into the influencer

Negotiations can eat up a chunk of your time and other vital resources. So, whom you choose to talk to matters. The last thing you want is to get tied up with someone who doesn’t fit the bill.

Therefore, before you put any wheels in motion, do a deep dive into the influencer.

• Check the person’s follower count and engagement rate. Those details can help you gauge how much conversion power they have.
• Find out who’s the creator’s target audience. You want to work with someone relevant to your brand, audience, or industry.
• Look at what type of content they produce. Their work should be authentic, high-quality, and reflect their expertise or authority in their niche.
• Review their sponsored content to see the quality of work they’ve done for other companies. There is a high chance that they’ll bring the same level of detail to your project.

Determine compensation ahead of time

According to Intellifluence’s “2021 Influencer Compensation Report”, 41% of influencers say brands aren’t offering adequate compensation in their pitches. So, if you want to land the best content creators, think about what you’re offering them.

The best time to mull over what to pay a creator is before you meet them. Negotiation trainers say if you wait until you’re onsite or face-to-face, you may not have enough time to put together an attractive package.

Start by looking at the influencer’s rate card to get an idea of what they expect. Then factor in whether you’re running a once-off or ongoing promotion. Prices may also vary based on the type of content you want (images, videos, podcast episodes, etc.).

Feel free to sweeten your offer with perks (subscriptions, products, etc.,) but make sure they make sense to the creator.

Don’t curtail their creativity

Influencers are a brand in and of themselves. Staying true to that brand is what has allowed them to build the valuable digital real estate you’d like to tap into. So, be careful not to stifle their creativity. According to Takumi’s recent whitepaper, creative control is the main priority for 83% of UK influencers.

Sharing a detailed brief is the best way for a brand to preserve its control while allowing the creator to maintain their creativity. An effective brief should include the following:

• campaign goals, expected results, and how they’ll be measured;
• a detailed scope of work. Include the type of content, social media platform, taglines, captions, call to action, posting schedule;
• campaign start and stop dates;
• specify what not to do, for example, unacceptable imagery and language;
• visual style references or mood boards;
• legal (FTC -Federal Trade Commission, Competition Act, ASA – Advertising Standards Authority, etc.,) and payment terms.

In closing

In today’s uber-competitive business environment, knowing how to connect with customers could be the deciding factor that makes or breaks a potential sale. Influencers have a unique ability to achieve high organic reach, which is why they are in such high demand. Hopefully, the sales negotiation training tips shared above can help you set the groundwork for a long and fruitful alliance.