Latest / Influencer Confidential / The Ultimate Creator Guide to Usage Rights, Boosting, Whitelisting & More #278

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The Ultimate Creator Guide to Usage Rights, Boosting, Whitelisting & More #278 · Influencer Confidential

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Influencer Confidential by Sidewalker Daily. My name is
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  Speaker 1: Nina Zeta and I will be your host. I love
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  Speaker 1: working with brands and influencers on all things business strategy.
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  Speaker 1: Are you ready to learn what it takes to work
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  Speaker 1: in this influencer industry and see behind the curtain? Well,
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  Speaker 1: let's jump in. I have been working in this industry
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  Speaker 1: for over ten years and I think that when it
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  Speaker 1: comes to usage rights, whitelisting, boosting, no matter how many
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  Speaker 1: times I talk to creators about this, there's always confusion, fears,
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  Speaker 1: and just like this feeling in your stomach that you
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  Speaker 1: don't know what you're doing. So what I wanted to
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  Speaker 1: do is really create the ultimate guide to all things usage,
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  Speaker 1: white listening, boosting, etc. So that you, as a creator
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  Speaker 1: are in the know, because being in the know helps
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  Speaker 1: you position yourself to get paid and helps you advocate
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  Speaker 1: for yourself. So let's start off with usage. Usage rights
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  Speaker 1: in plain English, are the permission a brand gets to
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  Speaker 1: you use your content, how they're going to use it,
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  Speaker 1: where they're going to use it, and how long they're
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  Speaker 1: going to use it. So instead of you just posting
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  Speaker 1: it on your own page, usage rights basically decide how
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  Speaker 1: the brand can use it. Can they use it on
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  Speaker 1: their Amazon shop? Can they use it on their website?
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  Speaker 1: Can they run ads to it? Can they post it
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  Speaker 1: on a billboard? And? If yes, for how long can
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  Speaker 1: they run ads for it? If for how long can
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  Speaker 1: they use this content for? Sometimes we ask ourselves in
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  Speaker 1: which countries there's a geographic usage space? Right? For digital content,
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  Speaker 1: it's a little bit different because you're assuming it's online,
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  Speaker 1: But if it was print, those are things that you
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  Speaker 1: would want to know. If someone's printing your photo on
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  Speaker 1: a product, you know, you would want to know as
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  Speaker 1: is global, national, local, domestic. So that is helping you
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  Speaker 1: just understand how a brand is using your content. So
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  Speaker 1: a brand uses the video you made for them on
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  Speaker 1: a TikTok ad, usage rights are needed. A brand wants
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  Speaker 1: to use the video you made for them inside of
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  Speaker 1: their newsletter, usage rights are needed. The brand wants to
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  Speaker 1: show your video at a trade show that they're doing
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  Speaker 1: in New York City next month, usage rights are needed.
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  Speaker 1: You post the video on your own feed, there's no
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  Speaker 1: usage rights around that. So there are benefits, right, But
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  Speaker 1: the main point I'm trying to kind of get you
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  Speaker 1: guys to think about usage. Is it something that needs
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  Speaker 1: to be clearly defined in the contract process how the
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  Speaker 1: brand wants to use your content, Right, So let's just
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  Speaker 1: say they did want to use it in the trade show,
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  Speaker 1: that would just be something that was decided upon ahead
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  Speaker 1: of time. If they said in the contract it was
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  Speaker 1: only going to be for organic social which means they're
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  Speaker 1: only posting it on their page, you know, and not
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  Speaker 1: running any ads, that's a different story as well. So
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  Speaker 1: you have to understand how the brand is intending to
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  Speaker 1: use your content so that you can really put a
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  Speaker 1: price together that matches it. Now. I know you're probably
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  Speaker 1: thinking like, are there benefits for me and doing certain
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  Speaker 1: usage rights steal? Well, yes, because you can obviously charge
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  Speaker 1: more for it, and more is always good, so you're
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  Speaker 1: able to earn outside of that post. I have this
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  Speaker 1: creator who told me like a tourism board comes back
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  Speaker 1: to her every single year to relicnse a certain photo
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  Speaker 1: that they use for a trade show. So she's like
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  Speaker 1: every year on the dot they come back in relicnse
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  Speaker 1: it because the usage expired. It was for a year,
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  Speaker 1: and then after the year they could not use it anymore.
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  Speaker 1: And if you're easy to license from and easy to
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  Speaker 1: work with. This could be something that is just like
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  Speaker 1: a recurring revenue stream for you. Now when it comes
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  Speaker 1: to risks, of course, there's that scary word im perpetuity,
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  Speaker 1: right where the brand can use your content forever and
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  Speaker 1: ever and ever, even after you are no longer in
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  Speaker 1: this human world. Yes, that is right. There have been
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  Speaker 1: cases where there has been perpetuity clauses in the content.
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  Speaker 1: The creator has passed away and the brand can still
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  Speaker 1: use that content, which is so wild but true because
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  Speaker 1: that's what perpetuity means. Sometimes you'll see shady clauses that
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  Speaker 1: there's no really platform limits or they're just like we
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  Speaker 1: can use it, you know. I think sometimes there's just
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  Speaker 1: shadiness when the brand itself doesn't know how they want
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  Speaker 1: to use it. So obviously getting clarity around that is
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  Speaker 1: very important because it's very different if they wanted to
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  Speaker 1: use it on a billboard or in a trade show
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  Speaker 1: or print or online, right, and are they running ads
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  Speaker 1: to it? Like I would want to know that. I
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  Speaker 1: would want to know one's running ads to my face.
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  Speaker 1: So some things you guys need to just understand from
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  Speaker 1: the gut is that usage rights are not a default.
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  Speaker 1: It's not just like bundled in with your content just
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  Speaker 1: because it brand pays you, it doesn't mean automatically they
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  Speaker 1: can use it however they want, for however long they want.
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  Speaker 1: They're really only buying the right to post it organically,
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  Speaker 1: unless you guys, have a conversation that states otherwise. So
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  Speaker 1: there's different like levels of usage. Right, there's that organic
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  Speaker 1: social usage, which the brand is using your content and
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  Speaker 1: posting it on their organic social media, which is standard. However,
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  Speaker 1: even something to think about with that is like how
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  Speaker 1: many times can they repost that same video? Is it
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  Speaker 1: a one time you know? Or can they like literally
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  Speaker 1: post you multiple times on social you know? There's the
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  Speaker 1: things you want to think about. Then there's paid ads,
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  Speaker 1: so they're using your content to either run ads to
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  Speaker 1: or maybe they're boosting it so they're adding budget to
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  Speaker 1: a collaborative type of posts. Then there's obviously like website
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  Speaker 1: and marketing materials, print, magazine product and you may even
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  Speaker 1: see like retail or TV or commercials. Like what if
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  Speaker 1: your video is in the back of every airplane, you know,
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  Speaker 1: flying from Miami to Toronto or cross country. Again, you
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  Speaker 1: need to know how your content is being used. That
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  Speaker 1: is the most important part of the conversation. Now, usage
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  Speaker 1: is separate than copyright. You as the creators, still own
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  Speaker 1: the copyright. Okay, you still own the content unless they
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  Speaker 1: do a full buyout, and then that's another story. And
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  Speaker 1: like I said, time and territory. You know how long
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  Speaker 1: is it? One month, three months, six month, one year,
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  Speaker 1: three year. Time matters. You need to know how long
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  Speaker 1: they're using it for. And then also territory where us
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  Speaker 1: only global online only. You guys, it's your business. You
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  Speaker 1: need to ask these questions. You need to have a
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  Speaker 1: good understanding of this, okay. And the best part is
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  Speaker 1: everything is negotiable, but make sure you get everything in writing.
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  Speaker 1: I always tell creators, don't feel like you're locked into
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  Speaker 1: any sort of weird usage stuff. You can always speak up,
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  Speaker 1: advocate for yourself. It is a given. It's that thing
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  Speaker 1: that we always teach here at Sidewalker Daily, that powerful word.
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  Speaker 1: And if a brand wants content and you you better
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  Speaker 1: charge for that. They want a licensing add on, amazing,
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  Speaker 1: get it in writing, add it to the contract, make
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  Speaker 1: that amendment whatever. But writing and having these usage things
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  Speaker 1: in writing is very very important. So you guys can
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  Speaker 1: always refer to it and make sure, you're on the
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  Speaker 1: same page. Okay, let's move on to boosting. So we
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  Speaker 1: see a lot of brands wanting to boost the content. Oftentimes,
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  Speaker 1: boosting happens when you as the creator and the brand
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  Speaker 1: do like a collaborative post, and then the brand wants
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  Speaker 1: to boost it, oftentimes boosting it to your existing audience
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  Speaker 1: so more people that follow you can see it. It's
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  Speaker 1: still visible on your profile and it still will say
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  Speaker 1: sponsored content. It's coming from your profile, but the brand
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  Speaker 1: is boosting it. Sometimes creators like this, sometimes they don't.
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  Speaker 1: They like it because maybe they're getting more reach and
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  Speaker 1: getting more of their people to see their content. I've
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  Speaker 1: heard creators say that it's helped them grow their following,
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  Speaker 1: so that's the reason that they're open to boosting. And you,
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  Speaker 1: as a creator, still get to approve the caption. You
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  Speaker 1: get to approve everything because it's coming from your account.
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  Speaker 1: It's very different than whitelisting, which we will get into next.
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  Speaker 1: So look out for when it comes to boosting, like
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  Speaker 1: are you annoying your audience? Like is everything getting boosted
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  Speaker 1: and that leads to maybe unfollows. Does it hurt the
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  Speaker 1: algorithm and your organic reach? I don't know. I can't
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  Speaker 1: speak to that. I've had creators say yes. I've had
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  Speaker 1: creators say no. The ones that say yes, but they're like,
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  Speaker 1: I don't care because I'm getting paid anyways. Some people
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  Speaker 1: are like, I'd rather take the loss in my followers
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  Speaker 1: and my reach because I'm making money on it this way.
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  Speaker 1: Some people are like, no, I don't like my reach
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  Speaker 1: is so important to me. So again, I can't speak
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  Speaker 1: to whether or not it affects it. These are very
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  Speaker 1: like boogeyman stories, but it is something to consider sometimes though.
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  Speaker 1: When it does come to boosting, the technology is getting
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  Speaker 1: more advanced, so like maybe they boost it to the
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  Speaker 1: wrong gender or something and you feel like it messes
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  Speaker 1: up your audience insights. Again, something to think about. And
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: by the way, y'all, all of this is covered inside
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: of My Pitching a Brand's master Course as well as
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  Speaker 1: ways to price all of this because it is a science,
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  Speaker 1: there's a lot that goes into pricing. So again, if
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: you are a pitching student, you guys can go ahead
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: and dive into the rates module and you'll see all
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: about the pricing. And if you're not a pitching student
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: and want to learn more about our pitching, I have
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  Speaker 1: included it below with the code for y'all so you
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  Speaker 1: guys can access it, dive in and learn more about
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  Speaker 1: pricing for all of these different usage fees. Okay, so
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  Speaker 1: whitelisting is something that is rampant in our creator industry.
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  Speaker 1: So what does that mean? So whitelisting is basically when
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  Speaker 1: the brand can run and ad through your page, but
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  Speaker 1: it does not necessarily appear on your feed, so they
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  Speaker 1: are able to put all this ad spend, you know,
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  Speaker 1: decide the exact demographic they want to reach. They can
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  Speaker 1: target you know that ad you know, laser focus, but
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  Speaker 1: it's not on your page, but it's coming from you.
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  Speaker 1: So why do brands love this? Think about it. If
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  Speaker 1: there's an AD coming from like a mommy blogger or
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  Speaker 1: a mommy creator about like this amazing new sensory toy,
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  Speaker 1: people are going to react way better to it than
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  Speaker 1: if it's coming from the brand's page. Like, no one
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  Speaker 1: wants to buy from a product. People want to buy
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  Speaker 1: from people. So brands love this. They love whitelisting because
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  Speaker 1: it's obviously their benefit or the ad to come from
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  Speaker 1: your page. So it's literally coming from Sidewalker Daily, but
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  Speaker 1: it's not on my feed. So it's like in the
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  Speaker 1: ads world, they're using your name, your likeness, and putting
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  Speaker 1: whatever type of ad spend they want on it. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: so here's where it gets funky. The brand can control
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  Speaker 1: the caption. You may not get oversight of what that
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  Speaker 1: caption says. They are overseeing who it goes to. You're
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  Speaker 1: not involved in all of that back end process and knowing.
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  Speaker 1: But again you're hoping that the brand is running these
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  Speaker 1: ads in the right way so it drives exactly what
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  Speaker 1: they're looking for, which is most likely some sort of
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  Speaker 1: conversion or purchase and you know, potentially reaching you audiences
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  Speaker 1: for you. Right. So I've had creators tell me they
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  Speaker 1: have seen growth from whitelisting. But again it goes back
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  Speaker 1: to like will this affect your engagement rate? Will this
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  Speaker 1: affect your analytics? By doing whitelisting ads with a brand,
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  Speaker 1: And that's why it's so important. If you can get
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  Speaker 1: approval whites when you're doing ad listing, this is a
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  Speaker 1: major win for you as a creator because then you're
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  Speaker 1: able to approve the caption and the content before it's
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  Speaker 1: being run, and it really positions you as a part partner.
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  Speaker 1: So if a brand allows you to do that. I
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  Speaker 1: would absolutely do that. And again that's why timeframe is
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  Speaker 1: so important, because this is a thirty day, sixty day,
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  Speaker 1: ninety day, you know, six months a year. You want
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  Speaker 1: to be able to understand how these ads are being
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  Speaker 1: run through your account and how that's going to affect
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  Speaker 1: your business in the long run. So most whitelisting ads
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  Speaker 1: are what we consider dark ads because they don't appear
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  Speaker 1: on your profile and on your feed and they're like
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  Speaker 1: impossible to find. And again that's just something that you
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  Speaker 1: need to know from a terminology perspective, that's what it
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  Speaker 1: is that you guys are getting into. But ultimately, as
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  Speaker 1: a creator, you are going to have zero visibility unless
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  Speaker 1: you ask and you want to know more about like
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  Speaker 1: how the brand is using your content in the white
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  Speaker 1: listings feature. My whole thing is is like, as a
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  Speaker 1: business owner, these are decisions that you guys have to make,
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  Speaker 1: but ultimately, whitelisting is not default. It is something that
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  Speaker 1: you should be charging extra for now. Oftentimes, hidden within
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  Speaker 1: these deals are exclusivity clauses. So when a brand is
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  Speaker 1: talking about exclusivity, it's not a one size fits all.
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  Speaker 1: There's different types of exclusivity. But at the core of it,
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  Speaker 1: they don't want you working with certain competitors. Now this
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  Speaker 1: can vary, Okay, So the most common exculsivity is category.
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  Speaker 1: So let's just say you are working with Nike and
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  Speaker 1: they were going to specifically say, hey, you can't work
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  Speaker 1: with Adidas or Puma or New Balance. They are going
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  Speaker 1: to label the types of brands that are in the
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  Speaker 1: same category as you, or sometimes it will go even
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  Speaker 1: further and they will say, you know, the actual category
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  Speaker 1: the product is in. So for example, it can be
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  Speaker 1: general like you can't work with another skincare brand, or
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  Speaker 1: you can't work with another vitamin C serum company, but
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  Speaker 1: you could work with lip gloss, right, So it gets tricky.
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  Speaker 1: But they are adding these clauses and you know what
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to tell you you need to charge for that.
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  Speaker 1: There's brand specific exclusivity. So that's like when they are
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  Speaker 1: being very specific who you can and cannot work with,
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  Speaker 1: and they will list those out in your contract. Something
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  Speaker 1: that is important though and for you to like reflect on.
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  Speaker 1: It's like if you wouldn't work with those brands anyways,
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  Speaker 1: in the next couple of days or weeks or months,
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  Speaker 1: you have to ask yourself, like is this going to
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  Speaker 1: hurt your business or is this not I had a
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: creator the other day that was like, yeah, this is
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  Speaker 1: gonna hurt my business because it's literally like the entire
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  Speaker 1: category of what I work in they're asking me not to.
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  Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, well we're going to have to pass
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  Speaker 1: on that unless they're willing to pay enough to cover
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: future brand deals that you would be losing. Sometimes we've
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  Speaker 1: seen brands do exclusivity, you know, from a geographic perspective,
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  Speaker 1: like brands in a certain area or zip code, especially
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  Speaker 1: if it's like a local campaign. I've seen exclusivity across
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  Speaker 1: an entire vertical or industry. You can't work with any
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: other travel brands, right, These are pretty restrictive. Again, but
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  Speaker 1: if you're not a travel creator and you're a pet creator,
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  Speaker 1: maybe you're willing to take that. But if you're a
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  Speaker 1: travel creator and they're telling you can't work with any
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: other travel brands, that's pretty scary. Right. What it comes
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: down to is clarity with your partner, having these strong,
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: clear conversations, advocating for yourself to get paid more if
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: you feel that there's something in addition that they're asking for,
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: and remember you can always ask what does this mean?
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  Speaker 1: And you can always negotiate too. Don't feel like you
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: have to accept what is being given to you. So again,
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: as a business owner, as a creator, you know whether
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: it's usage rights or certain whitelisting or boosting it or exclusivity.
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  Speaker 1: I'm hoping that you guys now understand what this means
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  Speaker 1: how to affects your business, so that you have that
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: knowledge because knowledge is power. And again, if you ever
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: need my help or my support in your creator business,
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: I'm only a call away. You can click below to
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: learn about how you can work with me one on
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: one and I can support you in this entire space
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: in your creator biz. I hope you enjoyed today's episode.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: If you did, make sure to rate, review, and subscribe
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: to our show and visit Sidewalkerdaily dot com for more
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: resources on all things influencer marketing and social media. Until
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: next time,