How to Get Brand Deals as a Creator

Six Steps to Your First Brand Deal

Most creators land a first brand deal by working through the same six steps in order. Each step links to the guide that covers it in full.

1. Pick a niche a brand can match to a product. “Budget meal prep for students” sells better than “lifestyle”. Our guide to finding your niche helps you write that one line.
2. Post steadily for at least a month. Brands look at your last ten posts and their dates. If you are still growing, the influencer hub covers that stage.
3. Build a one-page media kit. Show median views, audience and three examples. See the influencer media kit guide.
4. Set your rates before anyone asks. Price from your median views and add fees for usage rights. See how much to charge for a sponsored post.
5. Pitch five to ten brands a week. Use one specific idea per brand and follow up twice. See how to pitch brands.
6. Sign, disclose, deliver and invoice. Get the terms in writing, label every paid post and send an invoice when it goes live.

Where Brand Deals Come From

Brand deals reach creators through four routes, and most creators use more than one. This table compares them.

Each app has its own tools. TikTok’s creator marketplace (TikTok One) and Spark Ads codes are covered in how to get brand deals on TikTok. Instagram’s creator marketplace, the Paid partnership label and collab posts are covered in how to get Instagram brand deals.

Treat inbound offers with care. Real brands send a contract and pay to a business account. Be wary of any brand that asks you to pay a fee, buy the product first or log in through a link it sends.

Build the Kit, Then Pitch

A brand decides on a pitch in about the time it takes to read one email. Your job is to make that decision easy. Lead with one content idea built around the brand’s product, prove you can make it with three links, and attach a media kit that shows your typical results.

Your kit should show the median views of your last 10 to 15 posts, not your best one. A brand that sees an average far above your profile’s normal views will assume the kit is inflated. Add a screenshot from each app’s analytics screen and the date you pulled the numbers. Our free media kit builder lays out each block, and the template in downloads follows the same order.

Then pitch. Find the person who runs creator partnerships, not a general inbox. Keep the email under 150 words and follow up after five to seven business days. The pitch guide has three example emails written out.

If you also make content for brands to post themselves, keep a separate user-generated content (UGC) portfolio. UGC buyers care about hooks and ad formats, and they look past follower counts.

Price Each Deal From Views Plus Add-Ons

A sponsored post price has two parts: a base fee for the post and add-ons for anything else the brand gets. A simple way to set the base fee is a cost per thousand views (CPM) you choose: median views ÷ 1,000 × CPM. With made-up inputs, 10,000 median views at a $25 CPM gives a $250 base fee.

Add-ons are priced separately:

• Usage rights: the brand runs your content as an ad, priced by duration (30, 60 or 90 days, or perpetual)
• Whitelisting: the brand runs ads from your handle, such as TikTok Spark Ads or Instagram partnership ads
• Exclusivity: you avoid competing brands for a set time
• Raw footage and extra hooks: extra files for the brand’s own edits

No independent survey sets a market rate for sponsored posts, so any single “creators charge $X” figure is one source’s estimate. For UGC work, one marketplace’s 2026 benchmark puts the average single UGC video around $150 to $212. Our page on how much UGC creators make explains that figure. For sponsored posts, the rates guide walks through CPM, engagement and per-deliverable pricing with an illustrative rate card.

FTC Disclosure Rules for Brand Deals

Every paid or gifted brand deal post must be disclosed clearly. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) revised its Endorsement Guides in 2023. They require you to disclose any material connection to a brand, which includes payment, free products, affiliate commission and family or employment ties.

The disclosure must be clear and conspicuous. In practice that means:

• Say it in the video or audio itself, not only in text.
• Put it at the start of the caption, where viewers see it without tapping “more”.
• Use plain words: “#ad”, “Sponsored” or “Paid partnership with [brand]”.
• Do not hide it in a pile of hashtags at the end.
• Turn on the app’s paid partnership setting, but do not rely on it alone, since the FTC says a platform toggle may not be enough.

The FTC’s Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule, in effect since October 21, 2024, also bans fake reviews (including AI-generated ones), buying reviews and buying or selling fake social media indicators such as followers and views. Buying followers to look bigger in a media kit breaks that rule, and brands that audit your account will spot sudden jumps.

Contracts, Payment and Taxes

Get every paid deal in writing before you film. The contract should list the deliverables, approval rounds, usage rights, exclusivity, payment terms and a kill fee if the brand cancels after you start. The pitch guide has a full contract checklist.

In the US, brand deal income is self-employment income. Self-employment tax is 15.3% (12.4% Social Security plus 2.9% Medicare) on net earnings once those earnings reach $400, and you may need quarterly estimated payments using Form 1040-ES. Free products you receive for promotion are generally taxable income too. The Modern Wallet explains how much to set aside from each deal. This is general information, so ask a tax professional about your own case.

Brand deals are a poor first goal if your account is only weeks old. You will have nothing for a brand to approve, so start with UGC work or with growing in one niche on the influencer hub. What would change that advice: if a brand messages you first, skip ahead to pricing and the contract.

Pick your niche line, pull your last 15 posts into a media kit and send your first five brand deal pitches this week.