Working with brands

Lesson 5 identified brand deals as the largest source of income for most earning creators and showed how to estimate a fee. This lesson looks at the whole process of working with brands, from the creator's side: deciding which brands to work with, preparing a media kit, finding and pitching partners, scoping and pricing deliverables, negotiating, understanding the key terms of a contract, disclosing partnerships properly, making sponsored content that works for the audience and the brand, and reporting results. Done well, brand work funds better content and serves audiences with relevant products; done badly, it erodes the trust that makes a creator valuable in the first place. CRE-320 and CRE-330 cover the legal and business aspects in more depth.

Why brands pay creators

Brands spend on creators because creator recommendations reach specific audiences, carry the trust built through parasocial relationships (Lesson 2), and produce content that looks native to the platform rather than like an advertisement. Brands use creators for several goals, which affect what they will pay and how they measure success:

• Awareness: getting a product in front of a new audience, measured by reach and impressions.
• Consideration and engagement: persuading people to learn more, measured by clicks, comments and saves.
• Conversion: driving sign-ups or sales, measured by tracked links, promo codes and attributed revenue.
• Content: obtaining authentic photos and videos the brand can use in its own advertising (usage rights).

Industry estimates put global spending on influencer marketing in the tens of billions of dollars a year, and many companies now treat creators as a regular part of their marketing budgets rather than experiments.

Choosing the right partners

The most important decision is which brands to accept. A creator's value rests on audience trust; promoting products that are poor, irrelevant or harmful to viewers spends that trust quickly. Questions to ask before accepting:

• Would I use or recommend this product without being paid? Have I tested it?
• Does it fit my audience's needs, interests and budget?
• Does the company's reputation and conduct align with my values?
• Are there regulatory concerns, such as health claims, financial products, gambling, alcohol, cannabis or products aimed at children, which have extra rules?
• Would exclusivity with this brand block better opportunities?

Many creators publish a list of categories they will not promote, and some audiences reward this openly. Turning down poorly matched offers is part of building a durable business.

The media kit

A media kit (or one-sheet) is a short document, often one or two pages or a web page, that tells brands who the creator is and what they offer. A good media kit includes:

• A short description of the creator, the content and the audience's interests.
• Audience data: platforms, followers, average views or reach per piece, engagement rate, and audience demographics (age, gender, location), taken from platform analytics and dated.
• Examples of past partnerships, with results where they can be shared.
• Services offered, such as integrations, dedicated videos, short-form posts, newsletter placements, usage rights and events, with starting rates or "rates on request".
• Contact details and response expectations.

Brands increasingly verify claims through platform tools, screenshots of analytics or third-party data, so figures must be accurate and current. Inflating numbers or buying followers is discovered easily and ends relationships (Lesson 4).

Finding and pitching partners

Small creators usually have to pitch brands rather than wait to be approached. Effective pitches are short and specific: who you are, why your audience fits this brand, a concrete idea for how you would feature the product, a link to your media kit, and a clear request. Researching the brand first, for example noticing which creators it already works with and which products it is launching, makes a pitch stand out. Other routes include creator marketplaces run by platforms (such as YouTube BrandConnect and TikTok One), influencer agencies and networks, affiliate programs that can lead to paid deals (Lesson 5), and building relationships with smaller local or niche brands that larger creators ignore.

Scoping and pricing deliverables

Before discussing price, both sides should agree precisely what will be delivered. A scope typically covers:

• Deliverables: the number and type of pieces (for example one 60-second integration in a long-form video, three short clips and one story), their length, and the platforms.
• Creative requirements: key messages, things to show or avoid, and how much creative control the creator keeps.
• Approval: whether the brand reviews a script or draft, how many revision rounds are included, and turnaround times.
• Timing: posting dates and how long the content must stay up.
• Links and tracking: affiliate links, promo codes and tracking requirements.
• Usage rights: whether the brand can reuse the content in its own channels or paid ads, for how long and where.
• Exclusivity: whether the creator may work with competitors, for which categories and for how long.

Price should reflect all of these. Lesson 5 introduced CPM-based pricing on expected views. Usage rights, exclusivity, extra revisions, tight deadlines and complex production increase the price; long-term partnerships may justify a discount per piece in exchange for guaranteed income.

Negotiation

Negotiation is normal in brand work, and brands often expect it. Useful principles:

• Know your minimum price in advance, based on the time required and the value of what you offer, and be prepared to walk away.
• Negotiate on scope as well as price: if a brand cannot meet the fee, reduce the deliverables, shorten usage rights or remove exclusivity rather than simply cutting the rate.
• Ask questions about the brand's goals and budget; a brand seeking conversions may accept a lower fee plus a commission on sales.
• Get everything agreed in writing before starting work.
• Be professional and responsive: reliability and good communication lead to repeat work, which is worth more than squeezing one deal.

Key contract terms

Even small deals should have a written agreement, which may be a brand's standard contract, an agency agreement or a creator's own template. Creators should read and understand, and negotiate where necessary:

Agencies and managers can help with negotiation and contracts in exchange for a commission, commonly 10 to 20% of deal value; creators should understand those agreements too. For larger or unusual deals, a lawyer familiar with media and advertising contracts is worth the cost.

Disclosure in practice

Audiences have a right to know when content is paid for or otherwise influenced by a brand. Lesson 5 summarized the rules; in practice, good disclosure is:

• Clear: plain words such as "ad", "sponsored", "paid partnership with [brand]", or "I received this product free", not vague tags like "#sp" or "thanks to [brand]" alone.
• Prominent: placed where viewers will see it before engaging with the content, such as at the start of a video segment, in the first line of a caption and on-screen, not buried among hashtags or in a description below a "more" link.
• In the content itself: a spoken disclosure in a video or podcast, plus platform paid-partnership labels where available.
• Applied to all material connections: payment, free products, affiliate commissions, discounts, gifts, family or business relationships.

In the US, the FTC Act prohibits deceptive practices, and the FTC's Endorsement Guides, revised in 2023, require clear and conspicuous disclosure of material connections by both brands and creators. The FTC's 2024 rule on fake reviews and testimonials allows civil penalties for fake or undisclosed endorsements, and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act and the Children's Advertising Review Unit guidelines apply to content aimed at children.

Making sponsored content that works

The best sponsored content serves the audience first. It explains why the creator chose the product, shows it in genuine use, includes honest limitations, and fits the creator's usual style and format rather than reading a brand's script word for word. Audiences generally accept sponsorships that fund content they enjoy, provided they are transparent and relevant. Brands benefit too: authentic, creator-led content usually outperforms heavily controlled messaging. When a brand's requirements would mislead viewers, such as asking the creator to claim personal use they have not had or to make unsupported health claims, the creator should push back or decline.

Measuring and reporting results

After a campaign, sending the brand a short report with results builds credibility and repeat business. Typical metrics include views and reach, engagement, click-throughs on tracked links, promo code uses and, where available, sales or sign-ups. Comparing results with the brand's goals, and noting audience feedback, helps both sides judge whether to continue.