Ensuring Success: The Essentials of Influencer Marketing Due Diligence

Most marketers understand due diligence as a critical step in verifying facts before entering agreements or contracts. But how does this process apply to influencer marketing? It involves thoroughly vetting influencers to ensure alignment with brand values, audience fit, and credibility, minimizing risks while maximizing campaign success.

The power of influencer marketing lies in its authenticity. Like word-of-mouth advertising, social media creators earn the trust of their followers, giving them the potential to persuade their followers to support a brand, product, company, or organization. IZEA’s 2025 Trust of Influencer Marketing underscores this trust, finding that 79% of respondents say they have purchased a product after seeing it used by an influencer. A recent survey of U.S. social shoppers found that nearly half (49.5%) of respondents cited content created by influencers as the most effective at driving social purchases, according to eMarketer. 

However, to mitigate risks and maximize effectiveness, marketers must first ensure that their potential partners are legitimate and aligned with their brand’s values. This blog explores the due diligence necessary when launching an influencer marketing campaign.

The importance of due diligence

Thoroughly vetting your influencers has many benefits, including more robust audience engagement, which can lead to increased trust for your brand and confirmation that their values align with your brand’s. It will also allow you to review the creators’ past content to assess their skills, storytelling abilities, and humor. 

Consider the risks you’ll be taking regarding brand safety and reputation, legal and ethical issues, and the financial consequences of wasted campaign budgets, attorneys, and potential fines for non-compliance on disclosures. A full-service campaign management team can help you mitigate these risks,

Critical steps in influencer due diligence

As your team embarks on its due diligence, focus your attention on these key areas:

Audience analysis

Evaluate each influencer’s demographic alignment, engagement, and authenticity. Beyond follower count, you’re looking to assess the quality of their audience.

Content review

Check influencers’ past content for alignment with brand values, including humor, respect for diversity and human rights, and more specific criteria based on your products, such as sustainability. Reviewing previous content also provides an opportunity to evaluate their creativity, quality of content, and transparency regarding sponsorships. 

Engagement quality

Differentiate between genuine engagement and “botted” followers by looking for signs of purchased engagement or fake followers.

Reputation and credibility check

Use social listening and historical checks to look for any red flags. These might include controversies, legal issues, and failures to comply with FTC guidelines.

Legal and compliance aspects of influencer due diligence

While FTC compliance and disclosure requirements are essential for any influencers your team is considering, you must also ensure you correctly manage contracts, including rights agreements, to protect your brand. Here are seven touchpoints to include in your influencer contracts to help ensure they’re clear and comprehensive:

1. A detailed scope of work: This should outline deliverables, including the type, quantity, and quality of the content you expect.
2. Payment terms: Specify the payment schedule, compensation method, and any performance-based bonuses.
3. Content rights: Define who owns the rights to the content and how it can be used down the road.
4. Brand guidelines: To ensure consistency, detail your guidelines for brand messaging, tone, and visual style.
5. FTC compliance: Outline the influencers’ obligations to disclose sponsored content clearly.
6. Termination clause: Spell out the conditions for each party’s rights to terminate the agreement, including non-performance or breach of contract.
7. Dispute resolution: Detail the process (e.g., arbitration or mediation) for resolving disputes.

Establishing a due diligence workflow

As you scale your campaigns, you must conduct due diligence on new influencers. Take notes as you go through the process now to create a step-by-step guide for future reviews. Don’t forget to include the assignment of responsibilities, such as who will track influencer relationships once they’re vetted. 

Making informed influencer marketing decisions

Consider the time and tools needed to perform due diligence when selecting influencers as an investment in your brand. Responsible and thorough influencer selection can help save your reputation and keep you out of hot water legally and financially. 

Influencers:

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Marketers:

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