How Lead Time to Posting Varies by Industry When Working with Influencers
This article was automatically translated from the Japanese original. Read the original in Japanese
Lead time to posting grows longer in industries where more claims and permissions need to be reviewed. Beauty and food tend to take longer because of claim reviews, while fashion and lifestyle goods tend to move relatively quickly. Even in the faster industries, though, approval from an overseas headquarters can extend the timeline. The table below summarizes the steps that tend to take the most time in each industry.
| Industry | Steps that tend to take time | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Beauty | Claim review, product arrangements | Restrictions on how effects can be described lead to layered reviews |
| Food & Beverage | Claim review, tasting arrangements | Health-related claims require review, and schedules are limited |
| Fashion | Product loans, shoot coordination | Fewer claim reviews; arranging loans is the main task |
| Lifestyle & Goods | Product preparation | Few steps, so work moves quickly once products are ready |
| Overseas brands | Headquarters approval | More approval stages make schedules hard to predict |
Why Does Lead Time Vary by Industry?
It varies because the number of reviews required before posting differs. The more reviews there are, the more waiting time accumulates. In beauty and food, claims about effects and benefits are easily subject to laws and regulations, so the brand's responsible department needs to review them. In fashion and lifestyle goods, there are fewer claim reviews, but time goes into arranging product loans and coordinating shoots.
For example, with a new skincare product, the brand's responsible department checks the text of the impressions the influencer will share. The review may not be finished in one round, and the wording may be adjusted several times. This is why, even with the same time frame, the point at which you need to start differs by industry.
Where Do Beauty and Food Projects Lose Time?
The time goes to claim reviews and product arrangements. The length of a claim review depends on whether the brand's responsible department has sorted out, in advance, what can be said and what should be avoided in the request. If you send a request without doing this, the review begins only after a draft post exists, and many revisions follow.
For food, tasting dates and the product's release date also come into play. A embargo date must be set so that no information is released before launch. If you start late, the post may not be ready by the release date. For how to approach disclosure, see The Basics of PR Disclosure and Stealth Marketing Regulations.
Can Fashion and Lifestyle Goods Move Faster?
Even in industries that move easily, starting early is worthwhile. What takes time is not review but product loans and shoot coordination. When the number of items is limited, or the same item is passed among several people, the date the product arrives determines the entire schedule.
For example, when lending a new seasonal item to several people in turn, the item is sent to the next person only after the previous person has finished shooting, so the last person's post takes longer than expected. For how to plan timing in fashion more broadly, see the Fashion & Apparel genre page.
Why Are Overseas Brands' Schedules Hard to Predict?
Because approval from headquarters is involved. Even after the Japan-based contact finishes their review, work cannot proceed while waiting for headquarters' approval. The more approval stages there are, the harder the schedule is to predict.
For example, if headquarters is in a different time zone, a single exchange of confirmations can take a full day. The Japan-based contact should identify the items requiring approval at the outset and confirm the order and deadlines of headquarters' approvals in advance.
What Can You Do Before Making a Request to Shorten Reviews?
Most review delays stem from not having sorted out what can be said and what should be avoided at the time of the request. If you decide the scope of expression with the brand's responsible department before the request and write it into the request, you will reduce revisions after the draft post comes in.
For example, for a skincare request, give the influencer in advance a list of wording about the feel of use that is fine to share as an impression, and wording that should not be stated definitively. The influencer also knows what to watch for, so drafting moves faster. When multiple departments are involved in reviews, deciding who makes the final call avoids circulating the same content repeatedly.
What to Decide First When Planning Lead Time
Before building the schedule, sort out the following five points.
- The date you want the post to go live (a release date or event date)
- The items that require claim review, and the department that reviews them
- The time needed to arrange delivery of products
- Whether external approval, such as from headquarters, is required
- Buffer days in case reviews lead to revisions
Count backward from the desired posting date and lay out the schedule in the order of review, arrangements, shooting, and posting. Because durations by industry vary from project to project, use the table above as a guideline and adjust it against records from your company's past projects.
Scope of This Article
This article organizes the steps that take time in each industry. It does not include specific numbers of days or judgments on whether the claims for an individual product comply with laws and regulations. Please confirm the number of days for each project.
Conclusion
Lead time depends less on the industry itself than on the number of reviews a project must pass through. By identifying the items that need review at the start and deciding when to begin by working backward from the posting date, you can proceed without rushing.