Let’s be real about influencer marketing for a minute: it’s not as easy as everyone makes it seem.
For brands new to the space, it can feel like there are a million and a half steps to getting an influencer marketing campaign off the ground and running.
First, you need to pick a campaign goal that is SMART.
Then set an influencer marketing strategy that aligns with your campaign goal.
And after that, you have to start researching and identifying the right influencers for this campaign.
Not to mention all of this has to be done before you even start talking to the actual influencers that you want to work with.
Which is probably why you are reading this article in the first place. You’ve passed those first steps mentioned and are finally ready to start reaching out to influencers. You’re eager to collaborate with them on this epic campaign except there’s one problem, you have no clue what to send to them.
Don't worry. Below, you can read about how to write an effective creative brief. However, if you'd prefer to download our influencer creative brief template, you can do so right here.
This is where the creative brief comes in.
The answer is simple: a creative brief.
We just so happen to be the experts at writing creative briefs for influencer marketing campaigns that shake the internet to its core.
So if you’re ready to make that happen, I’d suggest keeping your eyes moving down this page.
Here's where you get the stuff we don't put on the blog. Learn how to craft an entire TikTok marketing strategy from scratch, plus get access to our proprietary data on the top 100 creators and brands on TikTok by industry— and a lot more.
Why every influencer marketing campaign needs a creative brief
Every great influencer campaign needs a creative brief. Period.
If you’re going to be working with influencers a creative brief needs to be the first thing that you share with them. It contains all the information that they need to understand the complete scope of the campaign, the deliverables, timeline, and exchange that will be had between the brand and themselves.
This creative brief serves a multitude of purposes acting as a miniature proposal, campaign guidance, collaborative documentation, and oftentimes a committed contract. It’s used as a constant reference throughout the course of the campaign and keeps both respective parties aligned from start to finish.
To really drive home the importance of these creative briefs, we’ve identified three reasons that every single person who ever considers running any marketing campaign (including influencer-focused) should write a creative brief before reaching out to partners.
Creative briefs establish clarity.
How would you like to be tasked with a job but not know any of the requirements, needs, or background information? You might be able to get the work done, but it sure as hell isn’t going to be to the standard of your employer.
The same goes for working with influencers!
Clarity is key for these kinds of social media campaigns and in order to establish clarity there must be specific information shared with all participating parties, most important the influencer(s) you are trying to work with. A creative brief is the one critical component needed to have this clarity and keep as much confusion out of the equation as possible.
Creative briefs build a communicative and trusting relationship.
Influencer marketing is all about relationship building when you break it down to the bare bones.
Influencers have relationships with an audience. You want to have a relationship with that audience. Thus, you must first develop a relationship with the influencer in order to meet their audience.
Trust is not an easy thing to come by in the social media world these days. Between influencer marketing agencies botching projects and backing out of commitments, to the underpayment of influencers in the industry, it’s no surprise that many of them have sour tastes in their mouths.
Therefore, it makes complete sense that trust starts with communication.
What better way to create clear and concise communication than with a creative brief containing everything an influencer needs to know about the campaign and your brand?
Creative briefs set expectations.
Every brand strategist, marketing manager, and social media director has their own expectations. You are expecting specific deliverables at a specific time for a specific social media channel. You are expecting the influencer to create content that can be used in a specific marketing effort.
In the same vein, the influencer has expectations. They expect you to allow them the freedom to push their creative boundaries. They expect you to pay them fairly for the work that they’ve done. They expect you to honor your commitment and represent them and their brand in a good light.
Creative briefs set these expectations for all parties long before any task is assigned, content is developed, or check is stroked. Doing so, ensures that everyone involved is on the same page from the first draft to the final product.
How to write a creative brief for your influencer marketing campaign
Create a simple template that you can use repeatedly.
Chances are this is not going to be the only influencer marketing campaign that you run so make it easier on yourself.
Crafting a simple template that you can rely on to start every creative brief will make this process significantly easier. Instead of starting from scratch, you can simply adjust the details pertaining to that campaign's specifics and shoot it over to the influencer in a matter of minutes.
Note: keep this sucker to one page, otherwise you will lose the interest of the influencer. Less is more in this scenario.
Identify the influencer(s) and base rate.
If you want to catch the attention of influencers, be willing to state your terms quickly. Most of them have multiple brands reaching out to them every day so you have a better chance of stealing their attention by putting the rate at the top of your creative brief.
Establish deliverables and due dates.
This should be very straightforward and concise. Consider breaking these items down into simple bullet points, line by line so that it’s very clear what you want them to do in this collaboration.
One thing we like to do is insert a few “creative thought starters” that give the influencer an idea of what we think might be some unique opportunities for this campaign. This is also a great spot to include some things you might want in the content like text overlays or transitions.
Include expected due dates for each item as well, but be understanding that influencers are people too, and sometimes, they have to change up due dates and move back timelines to accomplish tasks.
Script the campaign terms.
These are the nitty-gritty details that outline the specific items that will be done and the actions that will be taken on behalf of the influencer.
Things like the number of content items (how many TikTok videos), influencer actions (liking and commenting), putting a link in their bio, and plugging an advertisement code into the content would be some of what can fall into this list.
Again, simplicity is key here, try to keep it less than 7 bullet points.
Add a signature line.
Some creative briefs stop at the terms we just talked about, but here at Ubiquitous, we like to add one final section to our briefs. This signature section acts as an opportunity for the influencer to commit on the spot and know that they have a set relationship with your brand.
This signature line also acts as a measure of good faith from the brand side showing that they are committed to working with this influencer for this specific campaign.
You are now ready to write your creative brief.
There you have it, the 5 basic steps to writing a creative brief for your influencer marketing campaign. Now, take the next 15 minutes to actually sit down and write this thing and you’ll be surprised how many influencers start responding back to your emails.
Or…
If reading this made you realize you need some assistance on doing the whole influencer marketing thing, we’ve got you covered. We’ve been working with influencers for quite some time and have a team of experts ready to help run a successful social media campaign from start to finish on your behalf. Click right here if you're interested.
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