In the ever-evolving landscape of influencer marketing, TikTok has emerged as a powerful platform, offering unique opportunities for brands and creators to collaborate and connect with younger audiences in innovative ways. However, partnering with TikTok influencers demands effective communication and negotiation skills, especially in this competitive market.
Whether you have a marketing budget available for fixed payments or you are willing to organise an affiliate and gifting campaign, effective negotiation will impact on your campaign ROI from the beginning.
In this article, we'll explore essential negotiation strategies and you'll have access to free templates for crafting effective negotiation emails that can help you secure successful partnerships on TikTok.
TikTok's explosive growth has transformed it into a crucial platform for influencer marketing.
With over a billion active users worldwide, TikTok offers endless reach and visibility, making it an ideal channel for brands to amplify their message and connect with their target audiences in an authentic and impactful way.
By partnering with TikTok influencers, brands can leverage their creativity, authenticity, and influence to create compelling content that resonates with audiences and drives meaningful engagement.
Once an influencer responds to your initial outreach, negotiation plays a crucial role in onboarding them to work with you and in keeping your marketing costs as low as possible.
Influencers will most likely share rate cards and ask for higher fees, but by using effective negotiation strategies, you can secure partnerships at reduced costs, thereby improving your influencer marketing ROI. Therefore, we always suggest negotiating with influencers to maximize your marketing results.
Clear and persuasive communication is also essential in negotiation emails to ensure both parties are aligned on expectations and objectives.
In order to get a better understanding of how influencer negotiations fit into your overall influencer campaign we always refer to the 4 stages of your influencer marketing campaign. Starting from your initial influencer outreach after which you enter into the negotiation stage once your influencers reply to your outreach.
This is the first step prior to entering into the negotiation stage. It is the first contact to your prospective influencers and essential to craft your outreach to maximise reply rates. Access our influencer outreach templates and strategies here.
Once an influencer replies you will move to the negotiation stage where there can be two outcomes. 1. The influencer agrees to your proposal or 2. The influencer asks for more money.
This will be the stage which we will cover in this article.
Once you agree to the terms with the influencers you typically move into the awaiting post stage. The work isn’t over yet it is a crucial moment where you should follow up with the influencer to make sure that they will post. Read more about the right strategies and access our awaiting post templates here.
Once the influencer has completed the post you ideally want to build a long lasting relationship to continue to benefit from the partnership. You can read more about the right ways to build relationships and access the templates for this stage of your Tik Tok influencer campaign here.
Once the influencer replies to your initial outreach email there are typically two scenarios:
If the influencer already said yes, then there is no need to continue negotiating and you’re ready to move on!
We do suggest however confirming the terms of the collaboration one last time before sending the product or allocating any resources, just to make sure that you are both on the same page. Especially when working with gifting and affiliate partnerships, influencers receive so many emails that they may have accepted the product and shared their address details without acknowledging that a post is expected in return.
Therefore, sending one more email to clarify your expectations and getting the influencer’s written approval is highly recommended to help decrease your non-posting rate. Though this is not a legal contract, it will maximize your posting rate and avoid any misunderstandings when trying to collect the post.
If you are offering fixed payments, this is the stage where you can clarify the requested deliverables. You can also share an influencer campaign brief to indicate content guidelines and set up an influencer contract if desired.
It’s quite frequent that an influencer responds to your outreach asking for a budget or mentioning that they engage only in paid partnerships.
This is the moment when you enter the negotiation stage, and an effective negotiation strategy is crucial to determine your outcome.
In order to establish a performance-driven influencer program, we recommend an approach that involves initially testing influencers who are new to working with you, to identify those capable of driving sales.
We consistently emphasize the importance of the 80/20 Pareto principle in influencer marketing, where a smaller group of influencers generates the majority of the returns. That's why during the testing phase, we suggest keeping costs low by engaging influencers solely for affiliate partnerships and gifting.
Finally, as part of the negotiation strategy, request an initial post or video to get a better understanding of the match towards the brand.
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Define your goals for the collaboration upfront to guide your negotiation strategy.
Gain insights into the values, audience demographics, and previous collaborations of the influencer to tailor your approach accordingly.
Make your email stand out by personalizing it to the recipient, demonstrating genuine interest and understanding. Influencer Hero offers automatic AI-generated personalized sentences based on the latest social media posts to maximize your reply rates and also improve relationships.
Clearly articulate the unique value proposition you bring to the collaboration, highlighting your creativity, authenticity, and ability to engage audiences on TikTok.
Keep your email concise while conveying all necessary information, ensuring clarity and avoiding unnecessary clutter.
Clearly outline the desired next steps for the influencer, whether it's scheduling a call, or confirming agreement terms.
Sending follow-up emails in a strategic way and timing can also impact the negotiation result. For example, avoid sending emails during weekends or holidays when they are likely to be overlooked. If you don’t receive a response, a friendly follow-up after a few days is a good approach, as it shows your interest without being too intrusive.
Now you know what the different outcomes of the initial outreach to influencers are, and how to properly write a negotiation email. But no need to start from scratch: our A/B tested negotiation templates will help you onboard around 30% of the influencers who initially rejected gifting.
You can use the template below to outline the details of the collaboration before dispatching the product, once an influencer accepts your offer or responds to your outreach showing interest.
You can adjust the template accordingly for fixed payments or specific deliverables:
Hi {{firstname}},
Thank you so much for your response. We're glad you're interested in this collaboration.
For this first collaboration, you would receive an ENTER PRODUCT NAME to keep + ENTER % COMMISSION YOU OFFER commission and/or discount code in exchange for a Tiktok content.
If this trial video goes well, you can expect us to make an offer based on your video's performance which includes fixed payments or our brand ambassador program.
If this works for you, please provide your shipping details including your full name and contact number so I can send you our ENTER PRODUCT NAME.
Looking forward to your response :)
Best,
ENTER YOUR NAME
With the template below you can explain to influencers that you're seeking long-term partnerships, and that this initial post could open doors for future collaborations and alternative compensation models:
Hi {{firstname}},
Thank you for your reply.
We completely understand that you don’t work on an affiliate basis. However, we hope you understand that the first Tiktok video is only to get a better understanding of the match towards the brand.
We work with a wide variety of different compensation packages which include fixed payments and long-term brand ambassador programs. We have been collaborating with creators for a few years now and from our experience, we know that the performance varies widely which is why we work with an initial Tiktok video in order for us to make a fair offer.
Based on the results of this initial video we would be making you an offer that includes one or a combination of the before mentioned packages.
[IF INITIAL OFFER IS INCREASED]
Usually, we only send out the ENTER INITIAL PRODUCT OFFERED, however, because we value your work and accommodation, we'd love to offer ENTER UPDATED OFFER.
Please let me know if I can send you the ENTER UPDATED PRODUCT OFFER.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Best,
ENTER YOUR NAME
If the influencer doesn't accept your initial offer after trying to negotiate,you’ll need to increase the offer to reach a mutually beneficial agreement. Here are some tips to effectively increase your offer for an influencer negotiation:
Assess the influencer's request for a budget or their counteroffer carefully. Consider factors such as their audience reach, engagement rates, content quality, and overall value they bring to the collaboration, in order to decide if you wish to make an increased offer. If you wish to increase the offer, we suggest doing this gradually:
Sending additional products is always more cost-effective than offering fixed payments.
Increasing the affiliate commission will increase the value for the influencer and you will be able to get the initial post in order to unlock the data you are looking for. If they perform very well during testing which reduces your margin, you can always adjust the compensation structure later on when you invite them to seasonality campaigns.
It’s also important to understand that the industry average attribution rate for D2C brands with influencer marketing is around 70%. This means that you are actually paying less to your influencers than they really sold, as you are only paying the commission on attributed sales. For instance, if you offer an affiliate commission of 20% to an influencer, you would pay around 14% on actual sales (20% * 70%).
Start small and negotiate your way up. Influencers often share their rate cards which are extremely high. However, they may end accepting reduced payment than their original rates, which will keep your costs lower and maximise your ROI.
Never offer your maximum budget from the beginning, allowing some space to negotiate up. Additionally,as mentioned above, we suggest testing influencers first to get some data on how many sales you can expect from them before allocating larger budgets. Keep your cost low to test influencers and build long lasting relationships with your performing influencers.
Communication is key throughout the whole process to help build a good relationship with influencers. Engage in open and transparent communication with the influencer. Express appreciation for their interest and effort while discussing your budget limitations or concerns.
Strive to achieve a win-win outcome where both you and the influencer feel satisfied with the terms of the collaboration. Focus on creating value for both parties and fostering a positive working relationship that can lead to future opportunities.
If you don't receive a response, don´t give up! Follow up after 4 to 7 days, to express your continued interest in the collaboration and highlight once again your value proposition. Persistence in a good way can be effective so you can send up to 3 follow up emails spaced out in between.
Hi {{ firstname|default(influencer_handle) }},
How are you? I hope you’re having a great week!
I just want to make a quick follow-up on our offer. We would like to send you our ENTER PRODUCT NAME + RETAIL PRICE.
If you're still interested, please provide your shipping details including your full name and contact number so we can send you the product.
Also, please feel free to browse through the website if you want to know more about our brand: ENTER WEBSITE URL.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Best,
ENTER YOUR NAME
Hi {{ firstname|default(influencer_handle) }},
I hope you’re having a great week!
I just want to make a quick follow-up on our offer. I know our offer is below what you usually receive for this kind of collaboration. However, we are looking for longer term brand collaborations which is why we need this initial post to see the match towards the brand. If everything goes well with the initial Tiktok video post, you can expect us to make an offer based on the video's performance.
[IF INITIAL OFFER IS INCREASED]
Usually, we only send out the ENTER INITIAL PRODUCT OFFERED, however, because we value your work and accommodation, we'd love to offer ENTER UPDATED OFFER.
If you're interested, please provide your shipping details including your full name and contact number so I can send you the product.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Best,
ENTER YOUR NAME
Sending manual follow ups can be time-consuming. Alternatively, Influencer Hero streamlines the follow-up process by setting up an automated email flow system which sends automatic follow-up emails within your desired timeframe and which can potentially increase your reply rate by up to 40%. It’s super easy and it reduces manual mistakes!
If the influencer hasn’t responded to your initial email or stopped responding at any time during negotiation, set up a flow where you simply input your email body and subject, and set the delay time between each email.
Encountering rejection is a natural aspect of negotiation, presenting opportunities for growth and refinement in your approach. Here are some key strategies to effectively handle such situations:
You can use the template below to kindly request feedback and hopefully understand why the influencer declined:
Hi {{ firstname|default(influencer_handle) }},
Thank you for your honest response. We understand and respect your decision. For feedback purposes, would you mind letting me know your reason for declining?
Best,
ENTER YOUR NAME
In the dynamic world of influencer marketing, mastering the art of negotiation and persuasive communication is essential for fostering successful collaborations on TikTok. By implementing the strategies outlined in this article and utilizing the provided templates for affiliate and gifting partnerships, brands can navigate negotiations with confidence and clarity, creating successful collaborations while keeping their costs low.
From understanding the TikTok landscape to strategically handling budget requests and counteroffers, effective negotiation lays the groundwork for impactful collaborations that resonate with audiences and elevate brand presence on the platform. Additionally, using influencer marketing tools like Influencer Hero can streamline the process of managing influencer marketing campaigns and negotiating with influencers, empowering brands to optimize their strategies and maximize their impact on TikTok.
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