November 4, 2021 · 6 min read
What key points should be included in an advertising services agreement with a blogger
49% of internet users claim they are more likely to buy brands they see advertised. It's effective, it's popular. But how to achieve the desired results? And how to avoid encountering a dishonest blogger?
If you want to advertise on Instagram to promote your own brand, in addition to the question “How much does Instagram advertising cost?” you should also consider the question “How to get the desired result and avoid misunderstandings in cooperation with a blogger?”.
Therefore, if you decide to order advertising from a blogger, it is important to remember the necessity of concluding an agreement with them. This refers to concluding a written agreement, which should include all important nuances to prevent unpleasant situations and problems in the future. The existence of an agreement will help stipulate all important nuances and protect your interests in case of misunderstandings at any stage of service provision/receipt.
How to correctly define the subject of an advertising agreement
Clearly define the subject of the agreement, specifying:- what these services are – advertising/marketing services and others
- what product is being created – a video publication, a so-called "Instagram Post" or stories - "Instagram Stories"
- where it is placed – Instagram, Meta (Facebook) or another internet resource
- what number of video publications or stories should be published by the blogger
- what is the duration of video publications – as a rule: 30 seconds for stories, 60 seconds for a video publication
- what information about the product should be voiced by the blogger – for example: primarily focused attention on the quality characteristics of the advertised goods/services, their convenience in daily use, or the necessity of choosing your specific services that will be advertised by the blogger.
What rights and obligations of the parties should be specified in the advertising services agreement
It is important to note that this section of the agreement specifies the concrete actions that the customer and the blogger must take or refrain from taking. It is precisely the rights and obligations that reveal the subject of the agreement and the specifics of its execution.
You can watch a video about the aspects of concluding an advertising agreement with a blogger on our channel
How to correctly specify the price in an advertising agreement with a blogger
This is an equally important section, as some bloggers work on partial prepayment terms, while others require full payment for services. Therefore, it is important to specify a clear contract price and a transparent invoicing procedure with payment deadlines in the agreement. We do not recommend paying large advances to the blogger, let alone paying the entire amount upfront. This section can also regulate expenses that may be paid by the Customer. These include, for example: studio rental for advertising, additional props, special costumes, etc.
What needs to be specified in the agreement regarding performance deadlines
The specific date and time of publication release should be determined, as the effectiveness of advertising largely depends on audience activity during a certain period of the day or day of the week. It is also worth establishing the period during which the post will remain in the feed. It is important that the blogger does not have the ability to delete it immediately after payment for the services rendered.
How to protect your intellectual property rights
The agreement must specify who will own the exclusive property rights to the materials created by the blogger. This is so that you can use the created materials outside the blogger's profile in the future. Therefore, take care of this in advance. For this purpose, the agreement should include a clause regarding the full or partial transfer of intellectual rights. And it is absolutely necessary to provide for the distribution of responsibility for the use of third-party intellectual property (musical accompaniment, copyrighted images, or film fragments that will be used in the post).
Is it necessary to add a section on information confidentiality
We strongly recommend including confidentiality clauses in agreements with bloggers, as the blogger must accept that the information defined in this section is not subject to disclosure, is confidential, and must also accept the sanctions that may be imposed on them for violating this section.
Is it necessary to define the parties' liability and the amount of penalties in the agreement
To save your nerves and money, it is necessary to define the level of responsibility of each party for non-compliance with the terms of the agreement. What amount of penalties is provided for evasion of obligations, violation of deadlines, poor quality content, etc. Force majeure circumstances also exist, so it is worth immediately defining which phenomena and situations fall into this category and how they affect the blogger's responsibility.
Is it important to document the result of providing and receiving advertising services from a blogger
An important aspect of such agreements is the documentary confirmation of the result of providing and receiving services from the blogger. This will reflect marketing expenses in the company's accounting records, which is of particular interest to tax authorities during audits. The agreement should state that the result of the services rendered is formalized by an act of acceptance and transfer of services and a written report from the blogger.
Is there any court practice regarding a blogger's liability for non-performance of the terms of an advertising services agreement
We would like to mention a recent court case that gained significant publicity on the Internet, particularly because one of the parties was Ukrainian Instagram blogger Alevtina Cherkashina, better known by the pseudonym "diva_olivka".
According to the terms of the agreement, the blogger was supposed to increase the customer's number of followers by 50,000 after conducting an Instagram giveaway, but failed to fulfill her obligations. Instead of the promised 50,000 new followers, only 22.8 thousand pages registered on the social network participated in the blogger's promotion.
Thus, the court concluded that the blogger violated the terms of the agreement and must compensate the customer 250,000 hryvnias in penalties for non-performance of the agreement terms and 3,750 hryvnias in court fees.
This decision clearly demonstrates that concluding an agreement with a blogger is very important from the perspective of protecting your interests. Therefore, our sincere recommendation is to use the advice provided in this article to avoid similar situations.
Lawyers of Olga Petrukhina's Law Office will provide the necessary consultation and qualified assistance in preparing an agreement according to your wishes for cooperation with a blogger.
