Influencer Agreements: Clauses That Can Save Your Campaign

Influencer Agreements: Clauses That Can Save Your Campaign

Influencer collaborations have become a standard tool in brands’ marketing strategies. However, behind a post, video or seemingly simple campaign lies a contractual relationship that should be carefully defined. Agreeing on the number of posts and the fee is not enough: issues such as competing brands, advertising disclosure and the subsequent use of content can all lead to disputes if they are not addressed from the outset.

An influencer agreement should protect both the brand’s commercial interests and the creator’s rights. These are clauses that deserve particular attention before a campaign goes live.

Exclusivity clause

Exclusivity is one of the clauses that can most directly affect an influencer’s professional freedom while also protecting the commercial value of the brand’s collaboration. Its purpose is to prevent the creator from promoting competing products or services during a defined period.

For the clause to be effective, it should clearly define what constitutes a competitor. Prohibiting collaborations with a specific brand is not the same as preventing any collaboration within an entire industry. The agreement should also establish a specific duration and, where appropriate, limit the exclusivity to certain products, categories or channels.

A common drafting mistake is to use overly broad wording, such as prohibiting any collaboration with companies operating in the same sector for several months, without identifying the activities actually covered. A proportionate clause allows the brand to protect its investment without turning exclusivity into an indefinite or difficult-to-interpret restriction.

At a minimum, the clause should therefore specify the subject-matter of the exclusivity, the affected brands or categories, the period during which it applies and, where appropriate, the consequences of a breach.

Advertising disclosure

The commercial nature of the content should not be left to improvisation. The agreement should expressly require the influencer to identify posts, videos, stories and any other promotional content in accordance with applicable law and the rules of the relevant platform.

In Spain, the Code of Conduct on Advertising through Influencers, updated and effective since October 2025, reinforces the requirement that advertising content be readily identifiable. It recommends clear wording such as “advertising”, “paid partnership” or “in collaboration with”, while discouraging ambiguous expressions or disclosures that may go unnoticed by users.

The second key clause should therefore require the influencer to use the advertising disclosure tools made available by each platform and to follow the brand’s reasonable compliance instructions where these are consistent with applicable law. It is also advisable to establish whether the brand will be entitled to review content before publication when the campaign requires it.

This contractual provision does not remove the legal obligations applicable to either the brand or the creator. It does, however, allow the parties to allocate responsibilities clearly and establish a compliance standard from the outset.

Image and content rights

Publishing content does not mean that the brand can freely use it for any purpose. This is why this section should cover three separate contractual clauses: the licence to use the content, its temporal and territorial limits, and the rules governing approval and further use.

First, the agreement should determine which rights the brand receives over photographs, videos, text, stories and other materials created for the campaign. It is important to distinguish between publication on the influencer’s own profile and the brand’s right to reuse the material on its website, social media, newsletters, advertising campaigns or physical media. Each intended use should be covered by a sufficiently clear authorisation.

Second, the duration, territory and channels covered by the authorisation should be defined. A licence limited to the campaign does not have the same scope as an authorisation lasting several years and covering any medium. The agreement should also specify whether the brand may edit, adapt, subtitle, crop or combine the content with other materials. The broader the intended exploitation, the more important it is for the scope of the licence to be expressly agreed.

Finally, the agreement should regulate the approval and reuse process. It may establish who approves the material, how many rounds of amendments are permitted and what happens if the influencer uses third-party elements (such as music, photographs, locations, trademarks or individuals) without sufficient rights or permissions.

Ultimately, a well-structured influencer agreement should not simply state “one post for X euros”. Exclusivity, advertising disclosure and image and content rights determine a significant part of a campaign’s legal risk. Defining these matters before publication helps reduce disputes, protect the brand’s investment and give the creator clear rules on what can and cannot be done with the content.

Legal framework

Key legal framework: Spanish Law 13/2022 of 7 July on Audiovisual Communication; Royal Decree 444/2024 of 30 April; and the 2025 updated Code of Conduct on Advertising through Influencers issued by AUTOCONTROL, AEA and IAB Spain.