Let’s set the scene: Your horse pulls up to town, your boots hit the dirt, you look around and put your hand on the holster. Except you’re not in a Wild West film—you’re sitting at your desk, talking to a TikTok influencer, trying to negotiate a brand deal.
The great unknown of what will unfold feels eerily reminiscent of a cowboy arriving in a new town, not knowing if they’ll be met favorably or get run out. Welcome to 2022, where creators and their teams have no idea what to charge, and brands have no idea what to pay.
While people around the world were stuck at home during the pandemic, consumers flocked to TikTok for their short-form video binges of dogs, babies and viral dances while lying on a couch, dodging Covid-19. It’s no surprise that TikTok rose to be the most visited site in 2021 and explains why brands and advertisers are flocking to the platform with a blank checkbook. Here are a few things to keep in mind for all parties involved.
A platform of discovery
The majority of TikTok users watch content based on their For You page rather than on people they follow. What that means is, if you create content, your videos are being surfaced to people who may have an affinity for them.
It’s great for anyone trying to build awareness about something; however, it’s created a situation where influencers are a dime a dozen. With content creators becoming “famous” so much quicker than in the past, it’s fairly common to connect with a creator who has no business acumen, doesn’t understand pricing for advertising and is purely focused on getting the most amount of money with the biggest number of brands possible.
Unlike Instagram, where each post you publish is being delivered to a percentage of your audience and thus can compete for engagement, TikTok allows for content to be posted more frequently due to its discovery foundations.
A partnership of trust
With influencers having the ability to post more often, consumer trust ratings are tanking. A creator can effectively post multiple brand promotions daily, even if those brands are competitors (assuming there was no exclusivity in either agreement).
Product placement fatigue not only kills engagement of posts but stops consumers from trusting the influencer’s recommendations, effectively killing any chance of conversions from the post. As Reddit’s Timo Pelz so elegantly put it, “The more an influencer stands for everything, the less they can credibly advocate for anything.”
Brands and influencers (or their teams) need to come together to focus on win-win relationships. Upfront discussions need to include exclusivities, usage rights, deliverables, timeline, price and general expectations.
An influencer should also make sure that alongside all of the above pieces aligning, they have an affinity to the product, service or overall company. If a creator is truly serious about this being a long-term career, building longevity and trust with both consumers and companies alike are paramount.
A campaign deal with mutual wins
The pricing scale is the most alarming part of the entire creator economy. It’s not uncommon to see influencers in the same niche, with similar followings and engagement, having discrepancies of upwards of thousands of dollars between their campaign deals. This is due to two critical mistakes in the journey to campaign completion.
First, brands or their hired agency counterparts have no idea what to pay (or don’t have time to negotiate), resulting in offers far above “market rate.” The inflated rate crisis creates a lasting issue, as influencers often believe it’s now their going rate, turning down campaigns that check off all of the boxes and are priced correctly. Regularly, we see creators with a correctly priced $2-3K price tag getting $10-20K offers.
Second, quotes are built on short-term money over long-term partnerships. Ad fatigue is rampant, and creators should focus less on overcharging transactional relationships and more on growing and building with companies they truly back. This synergistic relationship is key for consistent revenue you can rely on and extracurricular partnership opportunities beyond just a pay-and-post affiliation.
If everyone in this space bands together and focuses on creating mutual wins rather than one-sided opportunities, this industry will continue to thrive and grow. Influencer marketing is still in its nascency in comparison to other forms of advertising. Let’s nurture it, rather than let greed destroy it.
You’ve had your time at the saloon, cowboy. Now get back out there and go catch some bandits.