Influencer Marketing Purchase Order Templates
You visit a supermarket, buy groceries, and pay the bill. Now you receive a bill (invoice) for the purchase made.
Consider running a departmental store, and you’re ordering a few groceries and kitchen supplies in bulk. You send them a list of products needed, and the seller delivers them.
Considering both situations, first is the seller confirming the Purchase made by the buyer (YOU.)
In the latter, the buyer(YOU) sends a request to the seller for the supply required. Now the seller ought to fulfill the demand, which comes down to our topic, Purchase Order.
What is a Purchase Order?
A purchase order serves as a formal agreement between the brand and the third-party vendor, outlining the terms of the influencer marketing campaign.
Tracking helps optimize the budget, improve influencer selection, monitor brand reputation, and enhance overall results.
You can call it the Buyer-Seller agreement, Purchase Authorization document, or Legal Binding Contract.
A purchase order consists of the buyer-seller information, payment terms, Purchase order number, delivery due, quantity of items, and buyer signature.
When to Use a Purchase Order?
Let’s map out the same for the influencer marketing process when outsourced:
- The vendor is responsible for identifying and vetting potential influencers, managing influencer relationships, and creating and managing content.
- The campaign timeline includes the start and end dates of the campaign and any specific deadlines for deliverables such as content or reports.
- The campaign budget includes the fees paid to the vendors and the influencers.
- The payment terms include the payment schedule and any additional expenses incurred by the third-party vendor.
Who Should Use a Purchase Order?
There’s no restriction as such on who can use a purchase order. This seems like extra work on the task list, but a purchase order is beneficial.
For instance, you’re a small business brand and deal with very few sets of influencers by yourself. Though the number of influencers is limited, and you’re confident to handle them at once, a purchase order is required.
Purchase order ensures any stakeholder involved in the campaign is accounted for and completes their task for the campaign without delay or un-informed changes.
On the other hand, an enterprise brand has so many on its plate and the best way to keep track of every influencer campaign.
When to Share a PO?
After the briefing call and the influencer list are ready, the brand can share a PO with the agency - including every detail about the campaign.
Sharing a PO serves as a confirmation of the brand-vendor collaboration.
Here, the vendor means the agency or influencer marketing platforms brands decide to work with to execute influencer campaigns.
On the contrary, doing an in-house influencer marketing campaign and when the brand shares the details of the campaign deliverables with an influencer, this becomes a Brand-influencer contract or agreement.
Why use a Purchase Order?
Bragging so much about Purchase orders and putting up-front that creating them will be an extra task on your to-do list, what are the benefits you’ll receive?
Plan Ahead
Purchase order helps to plan better. By creating a purchase order before the campaign begins, the brand/agency and the influencer can clearly understand what is expected from them.
This can include details such as the scope of the campaign, the deliverables required, and the payment terms.
With a purchase order, both parties can avoid misunderstandings or miscommunications that could lead to disagreements and potential legal issues.
For instance, a third-party vendor cannot fulfill the brand’s requirements.
This is a once-in-a-while scenario, and brands don’t need to speculate what difference it makes having a PO on board if the vendor cannot fulfill it.
Consider your campaign requires nano and micro-influencers, and the vendor agreed. During the execution phase, if the vendor cannot onboard nano and micro-influencers, you (brand) can find alternatives like collaborating with a different vendor or working with different sets of influencers.
The Purchase order, a legal document, should help negotiate better with the vendor regarding deliverables, influencers, timeline, and even the campaign cost.
Confirmation of the Campaign
It’s not just the campaign confirmation; if the brand fails to pay for the campaign executed or if there are any other discrepancies to occur during the execution part of the campaign, the PO will serve as an assurance to get the campaign executed.
When a brand issues a purchase order and the vendor accepts it, it means the campaign is confirmed, and the next step of the campaign is going to kickstart.
A purchase order will continue with the following information:
- Deliverables: Specifies the deliverables that the influencer is expected to provide, such as social media posts, blog articles, or product reviews.
- Timelines: Includes a timeline for the campaign, specifying when each deliverable is due and when the campaign is expected to launch and conclude.
- Payment Terms: Outlines the payment terms for the campaign, including the total amount to be paid, the payment schedule, and any other financial details.
Stay Within the Budget
Using a purchase order can help brands, and third-party vendors avoid overspending by establishing a clear budget for the campaign.
When creating a purchase order, the brand can outline the budget for the campaign and communicate it to the influencer. This can help ensure that the influencer knows the budget and works within the agreed-upon parameters.
The purchase order can also outline any additional costs that may arise during the campaign.
For instance, if the influencer requests additional services or materials, these costs can be added to the purchase order and agreed upon by both parties. This can help prevent unexpected costs from cropping up and catching the brand or agency off-guard.
When the campaign is complete, the influencer can submit an invoice based on the terms outlined in the purchase order.
The brand or agency can then review the invoice against the purchase order to ensure all costs are accounted for, and the budget is not exceeded.
Types of Purchase Orders
Several different types of purchase orders can be used in influencer marketing campaigns, each with its advantages and best use cases.
Here are three common types of purchase orders and how they might be used in influencer marketing:
Standard Purchase Order
It’s the primary purchase order type to request goods or services from a supplier or vendor.
In influencer marketing, a standard purchase order may request a specific number of social media posts, blog articles, or other deliverables from an influencer.
Best suits brand when: A standard purchase order may be sufficient for a small campaign with a fixed budget and clear deliverables.
Blanket Purchase Order
A blanket purchase order establishes a long-term relationship with a supplier or vendor, usually to order multiple items or services over a specified period.
Considering influencer marketing, a blanket purchase order establishes an ongoing relationship with an influencer or orders many deliverables over an extended period.
Best suits brands when: Brands or agencies want to save time and money by consolidating their orders and establishing a single point of contact for all purchases.
Contract Purchase Order
The Contract purchase order is a legally binding agreement between a supplier or vendor and a buyer.
Contract purchase orders issue terms and conditions and provide additional legal protections for brands, third-party vendors, and influencers.
Best suits brands when: It's a good option for brands working with high-profile influencers or running campaigns with significant financial or reputational risks.
Purchase Order Template
When creating a purchase order document for your campaign, several key elements should be included to ensure that the document is clear, accurate, and complete.
The elements include:
- Brand information: Include the name and contact information of the brand and the vendor and any relevant account numbers or Purchase order references/numbers.
- Campaign deliverable details: Add the number and type of posts agreed upon for the campaign to ensure the deliverables are met.
- Timeline agreed: Specify the due date by which the deliverables are expected to be submitted or gone live, as well as any relevant content instructions or requirements.
- Payment terms: Mention if the payment terms are pay-per-post or performance-based models the brand and the vendor agreed upon.
- Signatures: The signature in the document authorized representatives indicates that both parties have agreed to the terms of the campaign deliverables.
You can either go with an electronic PO system or a Paper-based PO system. The name speaks for itself. Here’s a different table between both systems:
| Electronic PO System | Paper Based PO system |
| Reduced to no errors | Prone to errors |
| Access controls to team members from multiple locations | Document in a single place difficult for other members of the team to access and refer |
| Sensitive information can be accessed only within the team | Chances of paper being misplaced or an external member accessing the sensitive information |
| Easy to track and manage | Difficult to track and manage |
Here’s a template for Purchase Order:
Conclusion
A purchase order in influencer marketing campaigns can provide a range of benefits for the brand and the vendors or influencers. The ultimate goal is to ensure the purchase order process is efficient, effective, and transparent.
A purchase order can provide structure and organization to the influencer marketing process, making it easier to manage campaigns & influencer relationships and achieve success.