Advertising partnerships on the Internet

The rise of social media has led to the explosion of influencers, i.e. people who maintain profiles with high traffic and followers on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Youtube, etc. The advantage they offer is that they have the ability to reach a wide range of audiences by shaping buying trends and promoting products to targeted segments, providing a new and fresh way to grow the business and acquire new customers.

It is therefore observed that online marketing with “Influencers” is constantly on the rise and tends to become the dominant method of advertising for many businesses, regardless of whether they are active online or not, whether they are “small” businesses or have high capital, etc. Thus, more and more companies are turning through social media networks to “Influencers”, who, depending on the number of their followers and their general impact, charge for the advertising services they provide.

However, as this sector is rapidly growing and evolving, it is important in order to avoid unpleasant future surprises that advertisers and influencers target a lawyer to obtain appropriate legal advice to draw up the agreement and to ensure that it is in their best interests to have it in writing. In this way, the contractual obligations of each party (e.g. number of posts, intellectual property issues, clauses, etc.) will be explicitly and in detail. This private agreement safeguards both parties and sets out clearly the process of the advertising campaign, the payments to be made and the forms of assurance.

What may be included in an advertising services agreement?

• The key elements of the advertising campaign
• The obligations of the advertiser and the forms of securing them
• The cost and method of payment
• Timetable for implementation
• Declarations of liability
• Intellectual property issues
• Clauses and penalties
• Privacy issues

Why is caution needed when entering into advertising agreements on social media?

It should be noted that on the one hand, influencers may be “forced” to sign pre-written contracts drafted by the company’s legal department and therefore overlook crucial aspects of the agreement, such as assigning copyrights or assuming abusive obligations, and on the other hand, the companies themselves may end up providing fees without any legal guarantee that the advertising campaign will be implemented in a way that is appropriate for them.