Creators, let’s make you more money from your partnerships

Navigating the world of brand deals can be bloody tricky, so I’m going to go over the foundation with you so you’re one step ahead.

The big thing to take away from this though - please, please, please don’t accept a low fee for your work! Any brand who wants to pay creators £50 for a post is not worth your time - instead, we want to focus on the brands who DO appreciate creators and see your work as more like a partnership, rather than daylight stinkin’ robbery.

(And trust me, there are some amazing brands out there and with this guide, you’ll know how to get the most out of your future brand deals!)

Let’s catch up - I’ll be sharing the easiest and best ways to increase your fees and make more money from brand partnerships

First step: look for the fine print

Brands will often sneak in little extras to their influencer contracts. This is great for them, it helps them get more value for their money (one example - they might have the rights to use your content within an Instagram ad), but it sucks for you!

Part of the trick of increasing your brand fees is knowing what terms to look for in your contract - so here are eight easy ways to get more money from your brand partnerships, regardless of how many followers you have.

1) Usage rights

The most common way that creators get their brand partnership fees up is by charging for usage rights.

Usage rights are basically your way of granting the brand access to your content for a certain amount of time, in a certain location (say - them creating an Instagram ad from your post and running it for three months in the UK).

Here are some examples of the different types of usage rights you can charge for:

• If they want to create an ad on any platform - Instagram, TikTok, digital ads (PPC), on their app, anywhere - charge for it! Your content is SO valuable for brands. To see if a brand is looking for extensive paid usage rights in an influencer contract, scan through it and look for the term “paid usage rights”.

• If a brand is asking to use your content outside of Instagram or TikTok on an organic basis, charge for it! Example: if they want to put your post up on their website, they’re using your influence and content to sell products - they shouldn’t be getting that for free.

• If they want to use your content organically, I usually say to give the brand one month of posting for free on social media channels only (if it’s a brand you love and want to work with again) but if they want long term organic rights, charge for it.

Not sure what to charge when it comes to usage rights?

There isn’t an exact formula you can follow when it comes to usage fees, it depends on your engagement, follower size, niche and the country you’re from.

We can figure out your fees together on one of my strategy calls, where we’ll look at all the stats we need to get a fair number for you. If you want to find out more, the link is just here - I’d love to chat to you about it!

2) Sound ads

This has gone pretty under the radar in general, but music labels are paying creators to use certain sounds in their reels for exposure.

Where they used to pay radio stations for exposure… this is the new version!)

Both music labels and agencies are organising these partnerships, so keep your eyes peeled.

3) Quick turnaround time for a campaign?

If the brand want you to turn your content around really quickly - you should be charging for it.

If the brand are giving you as the creator 4+ days to turn around the content, it’s cheeky but not unreasonable. Anything less than that I’d call a “rush campaign” and I’d be adding an extra fee on to the brand. Example: if a brand asked an agency to turn around a campaign that quickly, they charge rush fees for that too!

4) Exclusivity with the brand

In general, creators don’t charge for exclusivity when they work with brands, BUT you do need to know *when* to charge.

If the brand are 1) asking for you not to work with a lot of brands that are not direct competitors and 2) for a longer period of time, don’t sell yourself short, I’d be charging for either of these things. A short exclusivity list is very fair, but anything that feels like a “wider” competitor isn’t (ie - if you’re a fizzy drink brand and they ask you not to work with a coffee company, fruit juices, dairy products and more - I’d call that an extensive list).

If it’s a brand you really want to work with, you could either negotiate these terms to reduce the brand list or charge the brand for an extensive competitor clause. (More often than not they’ll reduce the brand’s list but it’s a good option, as some brands will pay to keep you all to themselves!)

5) Whitelisting

One of those weird influencer marketing terms, whitelisting is when a brand uses your content to create an ad which doesn’t appear on your feed at all, it just runs as an ad behind the scenes.

6) Multi-channel posting

If the brand want to post your content across two channels, charge for it. Don’t bundle the same post on TikTok and Instagram into one fee, make sure you’re charging the brand by channel, by month too. (It’s becoming more and more common for brands to want posts across Instagram and TikTok, sometimes Shorts - so don’t miss this!)

This is a really easy way to increase your fee too so don’t be afraid to negotiate that into the offer, even if they haven’t asked you directly for it.

7) They want to edit your video themselves

Last but not least, if they want a copy of your raw footage with the ability to edit it to their liking, charge extra for that too. I’d be wary about this though, I’d always ask for final approval to keep you safe (as sadly, you just never know what a brand might add to your video, but I do hear brands asking for this from time to time)

8) And think about what else you could upsell too

This is something I talk about a lot on my strategy calls - I’d think about what else you could offer brands outside of what they’ve asked for. I have a whole of things which I often suggest for creators to do here, so if that’d be helpful we can create a brand strategy just for you!

Hopefully this has shown you just how many ways there are that you can upsell your content as a creator to get an extra fee. Remember Black Friday and Christmas are the peak seasons for brand partnerships, but it’s worth pitching to brands all year round to network and get your name out there!

You can find out more about my 1-2-1 strategy calls just here - I’m a social media strategist and content creator consultant with 13 years experience, so I’m happy to help. Feel free to bookmark this page for whenever you might need it too!