Free Influencer Brief Template

Element #1: Brand Introduction

Take time to introduce creators to your brand, history and context for this specific campaign.

Element #2: Campaign Overview

This will give creators a good understanding of many key things, such as what the brand is all about, the product’s or service’s description, the target audience and what the brand wants to achieve. Include key products or services to feature and any other specific campaign features and details.

Element #3: Campaign Objectives

It’s good practice to dive deeper into your objectives in order for the content creators to understand the reasons behind your campaign, and how they can help you achieve them. You should also know what metrics you are tracking and how. If the creator needs to include a tracking code that needs to be made clear.

Element #4: Ideal Creator Type

By stating what types of creators you want to work with, you help foster the right fit from the start. This will save precious time from having to reject creators who are in a different niche than the one you’re looking for.

Element #5: Content Style and Channels

Deciding which social media platforms to go for will play a vital role in your campaign’s outcomes and the influencer content you leverage, no matter what content format you decide is suitable for your campaign.

Element #6: Key Campaign Messages

Clarify the 3-5 key messages you want your creators to get across to their audiences.

Element #7: Content Requirements

Technical, photo/video, and copy requirements are all about details that creators should be aware of when making a piece of content for a brand. We recommend specifying these requirements up front in an influencer brief to save time for both you and the creators from making content that doesn't work for you. Example: Within the first 10 seconds of a video  “Sponsored by” language must be included.

Element #8: Do’s and Don’ts

Expressing what your ideal campaign should look like is important for both you and the creators. You need to be details and specific when stating what creators should do and what they should avoid when creating content for you.

Element #9: Timeline and Process

Every brief should include a clear timeline. This means letting creators know about deadlines for the deliverables, so you can be proactive and have enough time to make any revisions, if needed. You should also define your processes for receiving and reviewing content, and any content expiration dates.

Element #10: Call-to-action

Including a CTA in your brief will not only drive better results for your campaign, but will also make your objectives more clear to creators.

Public Relations & Social Media Trends for 2023

While we should be in the continual practice of evaluating our process, perspective, and approach, there is nothing like entering a new year to inspire renewed thinking.

As we dive into 2023, the team at Cultivate sees these major trends in public relations and social media:

1. Earned media’s continued rise in importance vis-a-vis paid or sponsored media. Public trust in organizations has never been more critical. Earned media offers what paid cannot — the opportunity for a credible, external endorsement of a brand. Add to that smaller ad budgets and mounting challenges in the paid media world, and it’s never been a better time to reconsider your communications mix.

2. Expanding breadth of what public relations is. What excites us about public relations at this moment in time is its expansion. Yes, it’s traditional media relations — but it is so much more. It’s strategic partnerships; it’s collaborations with influencers and content creators; it’s community relations. We are truly embracing the “public” in public relations.

3. Growing importance of a crisis communications skillset. With what seems like increased frequency, there’s a new brand crisis every news cycle - and PR professionals at all levels need to be prepared to counsel their clients strategically. That means crisis scenario planning and media training as well as individual skills in decisiveness, adaptability, self-control, empathy, and perseverance.

4. Moving beyond “doing it for good PR.” Brands started facing a true reckoning at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic with massive calls for transparency, meaningful action, and a goodbye to corporate social responsibility as window dressing. The best PR pros know how to support clients in building and communicating impact programs with real-world benefit.

5. Navigating a social media upheaval. As Facebook and Twitter face big challenges, new social media channels are on the rise (TikTok, anyone?). Another trend? Brands choosing to be “anti-social” (See Lush). It’s time to evaluate your social media program, assess where your audience is, ask yourself why you are there, and adjust your strategy.

6. Providing IRL brand experiences. In 2022, we saw a big shift towards travel (coming out of the pandemic) and a consumer desire for real-life experiences. It’s not all digital! As PR and social media pros, we can creatively strategize how to use our digital channels to bring people to fantastic real-world experiences, then inspire them to share those experiences in turn as a means of brand ambassadorship, advocacy, or UGC.

7. Setting the stage for a meaningful metaverse. It may be years off, but the metaverse is taking shape. Now is the time to build it with communications ethics in mind. It’s also a time for brands to consider there own future role in the metaverse. The possibilities are provocative, the pitfalls could be many.

That’s what’s on our radar for 2023. What’s on yours? Do any of these trends resonate with you? We’d love to hear your perspective. Something that is always on trend is a good two-way conversation.