What is a brand deal?
A brand deal is a paid agreement between a creator and a brand. The creator makes content, posts it, or lets the brand use it, and the brand pays a fee. A gifted product with no fee is not a brand deal.
Track the dealWhat is a brand deal?
A brand deal is a paid agreement between a creator and a brand. The creator makes content, posts it, or lets the brand use it, and the brand pays a fee. A gifted product with no fee is not a brand deal.
That is the whole definition. The rest is what kind of work the fee is for, when the money moves, and which permissions you did not mean to include.
People also say "brand deals", "a sponsorship", or "an influencer deal". In everyday use, influencer deal usually means you post on your own channels. Brand deal is the wider word: it covers that post, and it covers other paid work such as UGC, where the brand publishes the content. The difference between those two jobs is its own page: UGC vs brand deals.
How a brand deal works
A brand deal runs in the same order almost every time. The names on the emails change. The sequence does not.
- Someone starts it. The brand writes to you, or you pitch them. A reply is not a deal yet.
- You agree the work and the fee before you produce it. Deliverables, dates, revision rounds, how and where they can use the content, and what they will pay. If it is not written down, it is not agreed.
- You deliver. You make the content, post it, or send the files, whichever the agreement says.
- They approve. The brand accepts the work, or asks for changes inside the rounds you already capped. Approval is what "done" means. A quiet inbox is not approval.
- You invoice. The invoice restates the deliverables and, on its own line, any usage they bought.
- You get paid on the timing you agreed: a deposit, the balance on approval, or a set number of days after the invoice.
Nothing in that list is a software stage. It is the job. Skip the written fee and you are hoping. Skip the usage line and you may have licensed the work without charging for it.
Types of brand deals
These are the types creators are usually offered. The fee, and the things you must agree before you start, are different on each row.
| Type | Who publishes | What you are paid for | What to agree up front |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsored post | You, on your channels | A fee for the post in front of your audience | Format, date, how many revisions, and any use beyond that organic post |
| UGC | The brand, on the brand's channels or in ads | A fee for the files, plus a licence to use them | Usage window, channels, paid or organic, and that posting on your account is not included unless priced |
| Affiliate | Usually you | A commission when someone buys through your link or code, sometimes plus a fee for the post | The commission, what counts as a sale, and how long the link stays up |
| Ambassador | You, across a stretch of time | A retainer or a monthly fee for an agreed bundle of work | What you deliver each month, any exclusivity, and how either side ends it |
| Gifted | Often you, if you choose to post | Nothing. The product is the only thing on offer | That it is not a brand deal. If they still want a post or the files, that is a new conversation, and a fee |
Gifted sits outside the list on purpose. A product can be welcome. It is not payment for the work. If a fee is added, the paid part is the brand deal, and the product is just a product. The long version of sponsored post versus UGC is UGC vs brand deals. Do not price them as if they were the same row.
How creators get paid
Four structures cover almost every brief. None of them has a standard amount. Anyone who quotes you an average is guessing.
Flat fee. One amount for a named set of deliverables. Best when the brief is finite: one Reel, three TikToks, a YouTube integration. Say what the amount includes, especially revision rounds.
Flat fee plus usage. The flat fee covers making or posting the content. A second amount covers the licence: where the brand may use it, whether they can run ads, and for how long. This is the structure that stops a "quick boost" becoming free advertising. The terms are in usage rights explained.
Affiliate or commission. You earn when a sale is attributed to you, usually through a code or a link. Sometimes there is a fee for the post as well, sometimes there is not. Agree what counts as a sale and how long you are expected to leave the content up. You still have to disclose the relationship. The platform's affiliate rules are the brand's to explain. Do not sign a commission you cannot check.
Monthly retainer. A set amount each month for a set amount of work, common in ambassador deals. Agree what a quiet month looks like, whether unused deliverables roll over, and how much notice ends it. A retainer with no scope is a flat fee that never finishes.
Payment timing is separate from which structure you picked. Agree it before you deliver. The patterns to name are: part of the fee before work starts and the rest on approval, the full fee when the work is approved, or the full fee a set number of days after the invoice. Thirty days is often called net 30. That is a concept, not legal or tax advice. Put the pattern in the agreement before you deliver, then repeat it on the invoice. How to invoice a brand is the practical version.
How you arrive at the number is a different guide. How to price a brand deal and influencer rates cover the factors. A rate card is the menu you reuse. The deal in front of you still gets its own quote, because this brand's usage is not last brand's usage.
A worked example
Everything in this section is fiction, including the money. Priya Raman is not a real creator. Lark Picnic Co. is not a real brand. The figures show how to split a fee. They are not a going rate, a benchmark, or a quote you should send.
Lark wants one Instagram Reel on Priya's account: a weeknight recipe using their picnic set. They also want to run that Reel as a paid ad on Lark's own Instagram and Facebook, in Australia, for three months from the day the ad goes live. They do not want ads from Priya's handle.
Priya prices two lines:
- Reel on her account, filmed and edited, one round of revisions: $1,000 in this example
- Paid usage, Lark's ad accounts only, Australia, 3 months: $350 in this example
She does not post until the usage line is in the email as well as the fee. She delivers the Reel, Lark asks for one change inside the round she included, and Lark approves it. She invoices both lines, worded the way they were agreed, due 14 days after the invoice date. When the money lands, the deal is paid. The three-month clock on the ads starts when the ad goes live, not when she filmed it.
If Lark later wants the same clip from Priya's own handle, or for a fourth month, that is a new line. It is not covered by the $1,000 or the $350.
What to track
Write down the deliverables, the deadline, the fee, the usage window, the invoice, and whether it has been paid. The usage window can live in the deal notes if that is the only field you have for it. A brand deal tracker keeps the deal, the fee and the invoice together.
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FAQ
Keep the deal, the fee and the invoice together
A brand deal tracker keeps the deal, the fee and the invoice together.