YouTube and influencer business trends newsletter September 17

Hi, this is Amanda Perelli and welcome back to Insider Influencers, our weekly rundown on the influencer and creator economy. Sign up for the newsletter here.

When an influencer becomes a “brand ambassador,” they are often signing up for a long-term partnership with several exclusive perks that can help their career.

But what exactly does a brand ambassador get and how can someone apply?

My colleague Sydney Bradley and I decided to look deeper into what some top fashion and beauty brands offer brand ambassadors and how to get into their programs. 

We found that while the terms of these programs vary widely, what usually separates a brand ambassador program from other brand sponsorships or affiliate programs is the length, as an ambassador program can often can last several months to over a year.

Some offer tropical beach vacations and access to other exclusive events, but usually the most valuable perks are the free products and inside access to the brand, industry insiders said.

Check out the top 9 fashion and beauty ambassador programs in 2020 and the perks they offer, here.

Influencers who create content for brands own the legal rights to that content. This means that without permission, brands cannot re-post or repurpose that influencer’s content elsewhere.

That’s what makes “usage rights” — which refers to the ways brands seek to re-use the influencer’s content — such a hot topic in influencer contracts.

Sydney spoke with with several influencers, managers, and lawyer Amanda Schreyer (who works closely with content creators), about what usage rights mean, what to look for in contracts, and how to negotiate extra fees.

Veronica Bonilla, a content creator on Instagram with around 50,000 followers, said a brand requested usage rights to her images for three years as part of a recent campaign and her management negotiated payment of over $20,000. The added usage rights for three years tripled her base rate for this partnership, she said.

But sometimes usage rights can be tricky to navigate, and influencers should always make sure they know what they are agreeing to before they sign a contract.

Read more about how “usage rights” work and what to look out for, here.

Instagram introduced its short-form video feature Reels on August 5, and although it looks at first glance like a TikTok copycat, influencers say Reels is already showing signs of being different in fundamental ways.

Sydney spoke with creators and industry professionals about why some think Instagram has an advantage over TikTok when it comes to brand partnerships with influencers, especially in the fashion, beauty, and luxury spaces.

Influencer Chriselle Lim, who has around 1 million followers on Instagram and 2 million on TikTok, said she sees more revenue potential in Reels, even though she’s built a wildly popular “Rich TikTok Mom” character on TikTok.

She said she thinks Reels will perform well for brands, especially those in fashion, as it’s a “great way to show collections in very short-form content, which they didn’t have before.”

Read more about how Reels compares to TikTok for brand deals, here.

More creator industry coverage from Business Insider:

YouTube 

@lizemopetey/TikTok

This week from Insider’s digital culture team: 

Industry updates: 

Here’s what else we’re reading: 

Thanks for reading! Send me your tips, comments, or questions: aperelli@businessinsider.com