Influencer Briefing For Instagram: How To Get Better Influencer Reels, Stories & Posts
December 17, 2024
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12 min
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Every successful Instagram influencer campaign starts with a watertight brief. To help you get it right, I spoke to three influencer marketing pros with a combined 20+ years of Instagram influencer marketing experience:
👉 Julianne Kiider, Influencer, Affiliate & Partnerships Consultant, (prev. Under Armour, Made In Cookware)
👉 Marit Tiesema, Sr. KOL & Ambassador Specialist at Loop Earplugs
👉 Anna Klappenbach, Community & Brand Marketing Lead at Aumio
Read on for everything you need to know about Instagram influencer briefing, including:
✅ Considerations for briefing on Instagram vs other platforms
✅ Differences between briefing Reels and Stories
✅ Common briefing pitfalls to avoid with Reels, Stories, and in-feed posts
✅ Examples of real-world Instagram briefs and resulting deliverables
(Looking for more general best practices? Check out our guide to influencer briefing.)
How to brief influencer Instagram Reels
Let's start with what not to do.
Common mistakes to avoid
Forgetting your campaign goal
It’s easy to think of Reels as purely an opportunity to generate impressions and engagement by hopping on trends or sharing something funny. But Marit warned that high views don’t always equal high conversions 🙅
Do funny Reels work? Absolutely — if you’re aiming for awareness or brand building. However, if your aim is conversion, you may need to choose a more informative problem vs. solution concept.
Not including a strong hook
Don't neglect the hook. Align with the influencer on their hook before signing off the content idea — especially if you're a social media pro who has experience in that area.
With most reels only having less than 3 seconds to grab the viewers attention, a strong hook can make or break the performance of a reel.
Not providing a clear CTA
Always providing a clear CTA in your brief so the influencer can include it in their integration.
Choosing poor caption formats
Reels are designed for visual storytelling, with most viewers only reading the first part of the caption after watching the video. So make sure key information (like your brand and useful insights/context) appears at the start of the caption — otherwise it’ll get lost.
Giving influencers a script
Scripting is rarely a good idea when it comes to influencer collaborations, and Reels are no different.
When a brand provides a script for the influencer to read word-for-word in a Reel, it’s likely going to come across as an ad and perform poorly compared to the influencer’s more organic-feeling content.
Focusing too heavily on the product
Don’t make the brief all about your product unless you’re specifically looking for the influencer to share a review. After all, the audience you’re targeting might only just have realized they have a need for a product like yours. Unless they’re actively searching for a solution, they don’t want to hear a ton of product information — it’s boring.
🤓 Pro tip: Encourage influencers to naturally incorporate your product in their Reel by including it as one of several tips on a common theme (like “five hacks I use to get my baby to sleep”), or making it part of a daily vlog.
Tips for briefing better Reels
Ask for an outline first
Everyone hates reshoots. Make sure you're on the same page before shooting begins. Anna recommends explicitly mentioning this:
Ask for a script first, so you can give feedback at an early stage. Negotiate that into the approval process!
Learn from previous Reels
Previous Reels are a valuable source of inspiration and insights to guide future campaigns. For example, you can:
👉 Read comments on previous Reels to see if there are any questions the influencer can answer in future content.
👉 Review the influencer’s best-performing posts — both sponsored and unsponsored — to identify concepts that resonate with their audience.
👉 Suggest a follow-up to a previously successful Reel.
Also, if you’re going to be working with an influencer long-term on multiple rounds of Reels, be sure to request post-campaign metrics to inform your next brief.
Drive engagement with in-visual copy
One of the most effective ways to make Reels more engaging is to add strong in-visual copy, Marit explained.
Adding bold statements or subtitles to Reels can capture attention and make the content more accessible, helping to engage a wider audience.
Make sure your brief aligns with the influencer’s style
(Most) engaging influencer Reels have:
✅ A strong content focus
✅ A similar style to the influencer’s regular content
If your brief doesn’t tick those boxes, the resulting content probably isn’t going to achieve the desired results.
Examples of briefs & live content for influencer Instagram Reels
Example brief: Aumio
Aumio shares the following details in Instagram Reels briefs:
👉 Background information about the app
👉 App features and benefits
👉 General best practices (like adding captions to all Reels)
👉 Example content themes and hooks
👉 CTA copy, UTM link, and tagging instructions
👉 Follow-up instructions (including reposting the Reel as a Story)
Here’s a quick look at the key sections…
…or you can check out the full brief here.
Live content examples: Aumio
You’ve seen the brief ☝️ Now let’s dive into some of the live content examples it produced 👇
First up, @mama_nurse_tina presented five tips for setting up a sleep routine for a new baby (three of which are directly related to Aumio’s Happy Baby app):
@nurse.carly took a similar approach by offering three quick hacks for better baby sleep — including a recommendation to track sleep using an app like Happy Baby:
Adison Kehl (@adigracee), meanwhile, focused on the struggles of being a first-time mom and how Happy Baby helped improve her little one’s sleep schedule:
Three different Reels from three different influencers — but all feature the “must-haves” outlined by Anna in her brief.
(More) live content examples: Loop Earplugs
Loop’s influencer briefs provide clear instructions on how to pitch the product — such as sharing common use cases and highlighting 2+ product benefits.
Let’s see how that guidance translates when handed over to an influencer.
Marathon runner and coach Philippa Bowden created a Reel about her struggles with focusing and being productive — and how Loop Earplugs have helped:
While metalhead Matt Bevan (sorry, I mean 𝕸𝖆𝖙𝖙 𝕭𝖊𝖛𝖆𝖓 🤘) honed in on the benefits of wearing Loop Earplugs to rock concerts:
That’s two very different angles and audiences, but the clear brief keeps them focused on achieving Loop’s primary goal of generating sales.
How to brief Instagram Stories
Common mistakes to avoid
Requesting too much detail
Remember, Stories are usually 30 – 60 seconds long (sometimes shorter). The viewer can only take in so much information in that time. Ask your influencer to cram too much into their Stories and parts of your messaging will get lost.
If you're not sure how clear your messaging is, Anna recommended an exercise to test it with the help of a co-worker. You can try:
👉 Reading your brief aloud to them and see what they remember. In this scenario, they’re the influencer, and you get to find out how much of your briefing sticks.
👉 Telling them to read the brief as if they were an influencer and ask what they’d say to their audience. This way, you see how clear your instructions are and if you’d get the right message across.
Paying to reshare a Reel as a Story
Bundling Reels and Stories is a common Instagram influencer pricing tactic to help brands negotiate a better deal.
If you’re doing that, and paying extra for the Story, make sure your influencer partner doesn’t simply reshare the Reels as Story frames. As Marit explains, it wastes an opportunity.
Resharing a Reel as a paid story frame lacks creativity and misses an opportunity for additional storytelling. Instead, use this space to enhance the narrative and engage viewers more meaningfully.
If the Story reshare is a free add-on, then you can simply view a reshare as a bonus — but if you're paying, use it wisely!
Being overly prescriptive
Naturally, you want the influencer’s Stories to be perfect for your brand. But fight the temptation to be too controlling with your brief — it’ll just lead to inauthentic content.
Stories feel more casual and behind-the-scenes than Reels. So brief influencers on the specific talking points you want them to include, but leave them the space to get creative with bringing it all to life.
🤓 Pro tip: Giving influencers too many instructions can lead to overthinking (and unengaging content), Marit warned.
Instead of dictating every detail, offer flexible guidance — like ‘mention at least one product benefit per frame’ — and provide a slide with product insights for reference.
Burying key information
As well as generally keeping your briefs as short as possible, try using intelligent formatting to communicate key points. For example, Anna suggested creating descriptive titles for each Story frame, such as:
👉 1st frame: The problem
👉 2nd frame: The solution
Bullet points also make your briefs more scannable, helping influencers pick out important details fast.
Not asking for a CTA
Chances are, you want viewers to take some sort of action after watching the influencer’s Story. So make sure you request a strong verbal CTA (plus a separate link CTA) in your brief.
🤓 Pro tip: CTA placement is a key factor, too. Marit explained that you shouldn’t add a CTA link in the first frame of a Story, as viewers might click away without watching the context in the following frames. She recommends reserving links for when the Story has built sufficient interest.
Forgetting accessibility
Make sure to request captions or text overlays on Stories for accessibility purposes. It’s easy to do — but also easy to forget.
Tips for briefing better Stories
Clearly state your campaign goal
You need the influencer to understand your campaign goal(s) if their Stories are going to generate the desired results. So make sure they know whether you’re aiming to build awareness, drive sales, or something else.
🤓 Pro tip: Julianne recommended sharing examples of effective CTA copy, plus clear instructions on where links should appear in specific frames (e.g. homepage link in first frame, product link in second frame).
🤓 (Another) pro tip: Marit suggested asking influencers to combine videos with a static photo in Stories to drive results.
To maximize impact, consider using a photo as a third frame to summarize insights and include a product link, effectively boosting conversions while complementing the video narrative.
Be clear and concise
Sure, you want to give influencers creative freedom to engage their audience. But, at the same time, you should definitely outline the key messages you want them to get across.
Anna explained that she is clear about dos & don'ts for Story briefs.
Be clear in what they MUST and MUST NOT do so there’s no conflict later. I specify that we don’t want screen recordings longer than 5 seconds, for example. Or that they MUST add the tag or code / link, etc., or a specific CTA.
Similarly, you should reiterate the Story length and number of frames as a reminder to the influencer before they start filming.
Share examples
Providing real-world examples is one of the best ways to inspire your influencer partners. This could include:
👉 Hooks
👉 Specific wording
👉 Full Story frames (either from the influencer you’re working with, or from a different influencer)
This provides a valuable starting point and sparks ideas, while leaving influencers room to put their own spin on your brief.
Leverage interactive stickers
Interactive stickers are one of the key features of Instagram Stories — so give influencers the freedom to use them. Julianne shared a couple examples of how to leverage stickers:
🤔 Get the influencer to run a pre-campaign Story poll asking followers to vote on their favorite outfit, then talk about each piece of the outfit in the sponsored Story.
⏱️ Ask the influencer to add a countdown sticker to promote a sale or product launch — remember to include helpful messaging in the brief so they don’t leak embargoed information.
Allow plenty of hands-on time with your product
Obviously, you always want influencers to know their way around your product before shooting content. But this is especially important with Stories.
Since Stories are about casually talking to the camera, it’s obvious if the influencer isn’t familiar with the product (vs if they’ve been using and loving it for weeks, give examples of how they’ve used it, etc).
Remind influencers about FTC compliance
If the influencer isn’t using the Paid Partnership Disclosure tag, they must include the words “Ad” or “Sponsored” clearly on every sponsored frame.
Viewers might not watch all frames, so placing the disclosure on only one frame could fail to meet the requirement of clarity and transparency.
👉 For more on FTC compliance, check out our guide to influencer ad disclosure.
Examples briefs for influencer Instagram Stories
Example brief: Aumio
Sleep and meditation app Aumio includes the following information in influencer briefs for Instagram Stories:
👉 Background information about the app
👉 App features and benefits
👉 Frame-by-frame instructions (including examples)
👉 CTA copy, UTM link, and tagging instructions
👉 Themes and timings for follow-up Stories
Here’s a snapshot of the key sections…
…or you can click here to view the full brief as a pdf 👀
How to brief Instagram in-feed posts
Do in-feed posts have a place in Instagram influencer strategies?
Sure, Reels and Stories are the most popular Instagram influencer deliverables — but in-feed posts (AKA carousels and static images) still have a place:
👉 Carousel posts are highly effective for educational content, tutorials, and product roundups such as gift guides. They allow influencers to showcase a product's value or demonstrate its use step-by-step — plus they often drive saves and shares.
👉 Static posts are commonly used for things like product teasers, abstract details to build curiosity, and close-up product shots. Influencers can help build buzz with posts that contribute to a larger narrative or a series leading up to a product launch.
🤓 Pro tip: Broadly speaking, Marit recommended prioritizing carousels over single-image posts, as they tend to deliver higher reach and engagement by encouraging more interaction.
Common mistakes to avoid
Specify non-competes for gift guide carousels
If you’re sponsoring a multi-brand gift guide carousel post, be sure to include any competing brands you want the influencer to avoid promoting alongside your own product.
Lacking clarity around textual elements
Make sure to include details about text overlays on frames and in captions, as these are crucial for communicating your messaging — especially since there are no verbal elements.
The brief should include clear, concise messaging for what influencers need to include in the text, along with a strong CTA.
Trying to cram too much into a carousel slide
It’s tempting to jam a ton of information into each carousel slide, but that can overwhelm your target audience and dilute your messaging. Avoid this by:
👉 Keeping text minimal and impactful
👉 Supporting textual elements with engaging graphics or imagery
🤓 Pro tip: Providing well-designed visuals (such as high-res product imagery for a gift guide) can help influencers deliver your message more effectively.
Not explaining KPI expectations
Be clear about your KPI expectations during the briefing stage, as these can drastically change the messaging and output of in-feed posts.
Failing to align influencer selection with campaign goals
Similarly, when you’re finding Instagram influencers, be sure to select influencers who are a good fit for your campaign goal(s). For example, Marit said you shouldn’t choose an influencer who specializes in short, generic captions — like “morning coffee strolls” or “Sunday mood” — for a campaign geared toward telling a detailed story about your brand or product.
Expecting these influencers to write lengthy, detailed captions won’t resonate with their audience, as they follow them for simple, inspiring looks — not in-depth storytelling.
Forcing your brand aesthetic
You can’t expect every influencer to perfectly blend into your brand feed — so don’t force them. Sure, you have clear brand guidelines. But you choose influencers for their vibe, not to project your brand onto them.
Tips for briefing better in-feed posts
Share your favorite posts from the influencer
Juilianne recommends taking the time to scroll through the influencer’s feed and pick out previous posts that you love.
Provide examples of previous posts you loved from the influencer. The influencer might have a template or standard design for their carousels that their audience would recognize and feel more authentic.
While you’re at it, look out for comments on previous posts:
👉 What questions did they ask?
👉 What did they love most about the post?
Use this to guide the influencer on content and captions for your campaign.
Share contextual style guidance for static posts
For static image posts, give the influencer contextual styling guidance or share scenarios in which the photo should be taken to best showcase your product and communicate your messaging.
Also, with static images, a strong caption becomes even more important. Make sure the influencer:
👉 Includes your key message
👉 Tags your brand high up in the caption
👉 Adds an actionable prompt for the CTA
Create an inspiring moodboard
Spend a little more time on curating examples for a moodboard.
Inspire, inspire, inspire. The moodboard is one of the most important parts of your brief. Use it to spark creativity and provide a clear vision for the campaign, showcasing examples of the style, tone, and storytelling you’re aiming for.
Instagram in-feed post example: Loop Earplugs
Loop teamed up with skincare and lifestyle influencer Aaron De Groeve for a brand trip to a music festival to promote their earplugs. The campaign included a bunch of deliverables, incorporating TikToks, Reels, and Stories alongside this carousel post:
Once again, we can see how Loop’s briefing instructions translate to a clear use case, plus relatable features and benefits. All of which makes the content more engaging and actionable.
How to keep track of influencer content
You’ve sent your briefs, and content starts to go live. Great! What’s next?
Depending on how many influencers you’re working with, keeping track of live content could quickly become a major headache, leaving you constantly checking up on:
🤔 Who has posted? How many times?
🤔 Were their posts on-brand?
🤔 Did they include the right hashtags and ad disclosures?
🤔 How much reach and engagement did each influencer or post get?
Answering these questions manually is time consuming and painful. Screenshot-ing Stories every day before they disappear? No thanks.
Fortunately, Modash has an influencer content monitoring tool that automates this process 🥳
Simply tell the tool which influencers are in your campaign and which hashtags to track. After that, you’ll automatically save all campaign posts in one place.
See for yourself by creating your free Modash account — no credit card required!
