How to Do Brand Deals Work + Best Practices

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Consider you’ve just reached a milestone on YouTube. Your subscriber count is climbing, and your latest video is going viral. But now, you're faced with the pressure of meeting audience expectations. How do you keep the momentum going? Many creators turn to brand deals for help. Understanding how brand deals work can help you land a deal quickly and set your mind at ease. This article will show you how to get sponsored on Youtube and tackle your audience's goals for their new favorite creator.

At Aha Creator, we help influencers get sponsored on YouTube through brand partnership deals. These arrangements boost your income, help you create better content, and get your audience what they want, including new, exciting videos with their favorite YouTuber’s fresh take on a product or service.

How Do Brand Deals Work

Brand deals, often brand sponsorships or influencer collaborations, represent strategic partnerships between content creators and businesses. In these arrangements, the influencer promotes the company’s products or services. A prime example of a brand deal is when a well-known fitness influencer partners with a sportswear brand.

In this collaboration, the influencer may receive free products from the brand, and in return, they create branded content showcasing these products. This could be workout videos, where they are wearing the brand’s clothing and accessories, or product review videos, where they talk directly about the product’s quality, design, and performance. When you’ve built up your brand so people recognize and trust you, corporate brands will want to collaborate with you.

You might see this through social media posts, blog entries, or video endorsements. These deals can bring influencers a steady source of income while also allowing them to act as brand ambassadors and further their brands. There are different types of brand deals. In this dynamic space, knowing your options is crucial so you can choose what’s best for your growth.

Types of Brand Deals

We’ll discuss four basic types of brand deals, each with unique strengths and opportunities. These avenues could amplify your reach while monetizing your passion.

Product Placements

Product placements occur when a brand’s products or services are featured in movies, TV shows, videos, or other forms of media. The products are seamlessly integrated into the scene or narrative, allowing the brand to gain exposure in a non-intrusive way. Product placements aim to associate the brand with the context of the content, potentially reaching a large and engaged audience.

Ambassadorships

Ambassadorships involve a longer-term relationship between a brand and a content creator. In this type of brand deal, the creator becomes a brand ambassador and represents the brand over an extended period. Ambassadors often create content that regularly showcases the brand’s products or values. This type of partnership is built on a deeper connection and requires a strong alignment between the creators and the brand they represent.

Affiliate Partnerships

In affiliate partnerships, content creators promote a brand’s products or services and earn a commission for each sale through their unique affiliate link or code. This type of partnership incentivizes creators to actively promote the products, as their earnings are directly tied to the sales generated.

Affiliate partnerships are commonly used in blog posts, videos, and social media posts. Each brand deal offers unique advantages and considerations, and the choice depends on factors like the creator’s style, the marketing purpose, and the target audience. Regardless of the type chosen, transparency and authenticity are crucial to maintaining trust with the audience and delivering successful partnerships.

How Do Brand Deals Work?

1. Brands Reach Out

Once a brand, public relations firm, or influencer agency has identified its strategy, marketing, and business objectives and the content creators it wants to work with, it contacts those influencers. Typically, brands and their teams email the content creator to see if the influencer or creator is interested in partnering with the brand. Content creators: Remember to include your email address in your social media and website bio.

2. The Content Creator Or Influencer Responds With Interest, Or They Pass On The Opportunity.

A content creator or an influencer's management team may ask further questions to understand the complete statement of work. The significant things to look at when evaluating if a brand partnership will work for you as the creator are:

Deliverables: What are the deliverables for this campaign? The total number of Instagram posts, TikTok videos, YouTube videos, etc. Event component: Will the brand cover the hotel and flights, the length of the event (service hours), and food?

Timeline: What are the brand's expected campaign launch dates? When are concepts expected to be submitted? When are the drafts due for review? What are the dates scheduled for publishing content to platforms? Is the timeline rushed? Is there an additional budget to meet the quick campaign turnaround?

Usage: What are the usage terms? How else does the brand intend to use the content creator's content? Organic usage is all content that doesn't involve money. Brands can repost content on their pages without cash or paid ads. Creators may include organic usage in their standard rate, meaning they aren't charging extra for organic usage.

Paid usage

Use commercially: billboards, email marketing, banner ads, website.

Whitelisting: A piece of content is posted on the influencer page, and the brand boosts the post with paid media.

Dark posting: The creator doesn't post the video on their page but grants access to the brand. The video appears on a sponsored post but is not Notcoin -6.6% on the creator's page. Creators can increase their rates to include paid usage.

Exclusivity: What's the exclusivity period? Are the exclusivity clauses for the whole category? For example, if it's a beauty brand, it may request that creators not work with other beauty brands for a specific period (30 days, 60 days, one year, etc.)

Budget: What is the budget for this campaign? The content creator or management team may also share a proposed rate.

3. Negotiations Between The Content Creator And Brand

Negotiations begin after a brand shares the complete statement of work, including exclusivity, usage, budget, timeline, and exact deliverables. The influencer and the agency/the brand may discuss and negotiate:

The Timeline: The timeline can be adjusted depending on the length of negotiations and contracting. It can also be adjusted if there are delays in featuring the creator's product in the content.

The Exclusivity Period: Can be adjusted, reduced, or requested to be removed. Influencers and content creators can request a higher rate, especially if the brand asks for a long exclusivity period or requests exclusivity over an entire category. For example, an alcohol company may request that the content creator not work with any alcoholic brands for three months.

Usage: Organic and paid usage can be adjusted, reduced, or increased if an added budget is discussed or requested to be removed. For example, a content creator may request a higher rate if the brand plans to repurpose the influencer content for commercials, billboard ads, or social media ads.

Budget: This can be increased or decreased depending on the complete statement of work or may be accepted. I chatted with influencer manager Maria Chan from Influence with Impact about how to approach negotiations with a brand. [Maria] Negotiations from are always expected…. I would start at a higher point [rate] because we know the [rate] coming down is very likely. So, I would just consider all factors: exclusivity, usage, timelines, etc. Her advice to creators starting to work with brands: [Maria] Don't be afraid of increasing your rate. That is my number one advice. The second one is openness to negotiation because negotiations are always expected. Brands don't ever walk away from you because you quoted super high. They may tell you they don't have the budget, but you can adjust the scope of the campaign.

4. Contracting

After the statement of work and budget have been agreed upon, the brand partnership moves into the contracting stage. Public relations agencies like Edelman will include groups like their business affairs or client legal teams. The influencer and their manager or agency will review the contracts to ensure the agreed-upon deliverables are outlined and documented. For content creators negotiating their contracts, here are three things to look out for before you sign your contract:

Content Ownership: Read the contract regarding organic and paid usage and avoid giving out your content perpetually.

The Payment Period: After the brand partnership wraps up, a company or PR agency may pay the influencer or their management team anywhere from NET 30 (30 days) to NET 90 (90 days) after the campaign wraps up.

The Number Of Revisions After Content Is Submitted: Typically after a content creator submits their content drafts, there is a revision period. A brand or agency may request to adjust voiceovers and text overlays or remove content. There can be one or two rounds of revisions. Either way, make sure there is not an unlimited number of revisions laid out in the contract.

5. Production

Once contracts are signed, the brand campaign moves into production. Here is an outline of what happens when content is in production:

Concepts For Approval: Content creators may create and submit their ideas to PR agencies or brand teams before they film the content. Once approved, they can make their photos and videos, write the copy, etc.

Content Creation: Influencers will create short-form videos for TikTok or Instagram Reels, take photos, edit, write copy (captions for posts), film long-form videos for YouTube shorts, etc.

Submit Content To Brand Or Agency For Approval: After creating content, creators submit it to the brand for approval.

Revisions: After the brand or agency reviews the content and provides feedback, a creator may undergo 1-2 revisions.

6. Content Is Published

Once the content has been created, edited, and approved, the influencer is given the green light to publish the content on the platforms. Here is what a content creator may look out for as they get ready to publish their content:

Ensure They Have The Date The Brand Or Agency Wants Them To Post.

Ensure They Have The Appropriate Tags: #Ad Or #Sponsored And Other Desired Brand Tags. Influencers may also be requested to use Paid-in Partnership features.

Ensure They Have The Updated Caption Or Copy Associated With Their Post.

After The Piece Of Content Goes Live, A Content Creator Will Also Take The Time To Engage With It. Engaging With Their Community Can Mean Responding To All The Comments And Answering Questions That May Appear On The Posts.

7. Analytics

After the content is published, The Content Creator Typically Screenshots The Analytics Of Their TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Etc. published posts and sends them to the brand or agency. If the campaign is on a platform like LTK or Fohr, Screenshots Of Analytics Are Submitted To The Platform. If an agency is running the campaign, Analytics Are Typically Sent Via Google Drive, Dropbox, Or Email.

8. Close Out And Payment

Once The Analytics Are Submitted, it's Time To Close Out The Campaign. The Influencer Or the Content Creator's Management Company Will Send An Invoice Outlining The Deliverables And Payment Period. The Brand Or PR Agency Will Pay The Creator For Their Services.

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How Do Brand Deals Work

Monetization Opportunities: A Lifeline for Content Creators and Brands Alike

A brand deal is one of the best opportunities for monetizing your YouTube channel. By partnering with brands, creators can earn compensation in the form of monetary payment, free products, or a combination of both. This financial support enables creators to invest in higher-quality content production, equipment, and resources, thereby elevating the overall quality of their output. This is for many content creators, especially those in niches with engaged audiences.

Brand deals can become a primary or supplementary source of income, providing stability and encouraging them to continue producing valuable content. On the other side, brands benefit from a cost-effective means of promotion, as they gain access to the creator’s dedicated audience without bearing the overhead costs associated with traditional advertising methods. This win-win situation allows brands to allocate their marketing budget more efficiently and achieve measurable returns on investment.

Increased Exposure: Get Seen by New Audiences

Brand deals allow influencers to extend their reach and expose their content to new and potentially larger audiences. Collaborating with brands often involves cross-promotion, where the brand showcases the creator’s content to its audience. This exposure can lead to new followers, subscribers, and fans who resonate with the creator’s style and message.

Additionally, brands may have a broader online presence, enabling creators to tap into their customer base across various platforms and expand their online footprint. This increased exposure is invaluable for brands as they tap into the creator’s engaged and loyal community. These audiences pay attention to recommendations from creators they trust, thus enhancing the brand’s reach and visibility within a niche market.

Enhanced Credibility: A Boost for Creators and Brands

Brand deals can enhance the credibility of both creators and brands. When content creators are selected to collaborate with reputable brands, it’s an endorsement of their expertise and influence within their field. Their ability to effectively integrate brand messaging into their content while maintaining authenticity reflects their authoritative marketing and thought leadership.

This, in turn, can strengthen their relationship with their existing audience and attract new followers who value their recommendations. From a brand’s perspective, partnering with trusted content creators adds authenticity to their marketing efforts. Consumers are increasingly skeptical of traditional advertisements, but recommendations from relatable creators are perceived as more genuine and trustworthy. This enhances the brand’s credibility by associating it with voices that have earned the respect of their audience through consistent, compelling content.

Aha Creator streamlines brand partnerships for YouTube creators and businesses alike. We offer a done-for-you partnership service for brands to connect with the right creators. For content creators, we handle the heavy lifting of brand deal negotiations, ensuring you get fair value for your influence. Our matching system helps pair creators with relevant brands, maximizing the potential for successful collaborations. Sign up for our waitlist today, and we'll work to connect you with partnership opportunities that align with your content and values.

8 Best Practices for Efficient Brand Deals

How Do Brand Deals Work

1. Aha Creator - Your Partner in Brand Deals

Aha Creator simplifies sponsorships for YouTube creators and brands alike. For businesses, we connect you with the perfect creators for your goals. For content creators, we handle negotiations, ensuring you get fair value for your influence. Our matching system helps pair creators with relevant brands, maximizing the potential for successful collaborations. Sign up for our waitlist today, and we’ll work to connect you with partnership opportunities that align with your content and values.

2. Don’t Wait for Brands to Come to You

This is especially true if you’re in a niche space. Depending on the value of that audience, you may not even need a huge audience to be valuable to brand partners.

Creators might expect brands to reach out and flood their inboxes, and this happens. But you don’t need to wait. Many creators' go-to strategy is to approach the products and services they love using, which allows them to promote them enthusiastically and honestly.

3. Make Sure the Content Fits

The best brand deals will make sense to your audience, and creators looking for sustainable growth should be judicious about what kind of deals they take. Unrelated products or services might interest some of your viewers, like a cookware sponsorship on a travel channel. Still, these poorly targeted deals will likely pay less, clash with your content, and provide little value to your viewers.

Sponsorships that pair well with your content allow for better, more customized deals that pay better and can complement your content.

4. Don’t Roll Over to Creative Demands

The people buying sponsorships from creators are likely not creators themselves and don’t understand your audience as well as you do. These buyers sometimes make creative requests that directly conflict with a suitable viewer experience or your creator's integrity. Advertisers may ask that you functionally blur the line between your editorial content and the ad. In some niches, audiences are used to this. In others, viewers will revolt.

Other times, advertisers might ask for frequent mentions of a product that seems forced and unnatural. Your reputation and brand are at stake. Never be afraid to push back on deals that force you into making worse content, even if you may lose it.

“The best way to avoid conflicts before they happen is to be intentional about working with brands that you believe also will put the audience first, act in good faith, and are aligned the values and ethics shared by you and the audience,” creator coach Roberto Blake said via email.

5. Gather Your Data on Rates

That’s the advice of creator Katie Steckly, who advises creators to “start charging something” and experiment to determine the best rates. There may be resources that suggest certain costs of brand deals, but those may vary widely depending on your niche, audience, and the kind of integration. It won’t hurt to look at those resources, but they’re not the ultimate source of truth.

“You’re worth what someone says yes to,” says Colin Rosenblum on his podcast Creator Support. However, Roberto warns against a short-sighted approach to pricing brand deals.

“Too many creators price based on valuing their views or trying to use a CPM model, since that is what they are used to being paid via platform revenue sharing,” he said. “They don’t consider things like opportunity cost, production cost, licensing, the value of their time in meetings and revisions with the brands.”

6. Consider an Agency or Manager

Creator agencies and talent managers represent a roster of creators and pitch those creators to sponsors and ad agencies. There are pros and cons to working with one. The biggest con: they’ll take a cut of the deal. The biggest pro is that it will be someone else’s job to pitch your content all day and develop relationships with sponsors, leaving you to make the content you love.

“This is one of the reasons why I love having a management team so much because they do all the negotiating; they come to me with what a brand is willing to pay,” creator Cathrin Manning says about her brand deals.

“My advice to those looking to work with agencies is to do your research and to remember that standard industry practice is for the agency to take 20% of what they bring to the table,” Roberto says, “But they are not entitled to what you earn on your own.”

Agencies and managers can also orchestrate more significant deals with multiple creators, giving them more leverage at the negotiating table.

7. Don’t Ignore the Fine Print

There are many secondary items in a brand contract that every creator (or their manager) should review and negotiate. One is usage: can a sponsor take your branded video and run it as paid advertising on their channels? Can they broadcast portions of it on TV? You might be ok with all these scenarios, but if the sponsor requests it, it’s valuable, and you may want to negotiate extra fees.

Another issue is exclusivity. Some brands will try to limit your ability to work with their direct competitors. This is perfectly reasonable for long-term deals if the compensation reflects the ask. However, creators should be on the lookout for exclusivity clauses and try to negotiate for more money when appropriate.

8. Negotiate Package Deals

Many creator-sponsor relationships crumble because of one bad experience. Videos flop, the algorithm is fickle, and it’s hard to promise any advertiser a certain amount of views on a single video.

Creator Support co-host Samir Chaudry suggests doing deals in 3 to protect against the variability in video performance. These package deals let the advertiser benefit from the aggregate performance of several videos. Maybe there’s a flop, but maybe there’s a huge hit to balance it out.

Package deals and longer-term relationships also allow you to iterate and determine what works best for the audience and sponsor.

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How To Land Better Brand Deals In 6 Simple Steps

How Do Brand Deals Work

1. Get Your Online Presence Ready for Sponsorships

Sponsorships are business deals. Treat them that way. Brands look for certain qualities in the creators they want to partner with based on their values, target audience, and campaign goals. Before deciding which brands to work with and how to approach them, you want to boost your chances of success. It’s all about building a solid foundation and showing brands what you bring.

2. Be Consistent With Your Content Creation

Ensure you’re creating content consistently. Consistent posting grows your following and boosts engagement. It’s like sending a message to brands that say, “Hey, I’m serious about what I do!

It also helps you establish a solid personal brand by highlighting what makes you unique. This will attract brands that align with your style and audience. To post more regularly:

Create a content calendar to make delivering your promises to brands easy. A simple spreadsheet or project management app will work.

If you need somewhere to start, check out our guide on how to create an editorial calendar. Make a space to write down content ideas for brand partnerships and your general content. Then, you don’t rely on inspiration to strike and can hang on to all those genius ideas you think of in the shower.

Schedule content in advance using platforms such as Buffer and Hootsuite.

Batching your work lets you focus on other aspects of your business, such as researching and pitching brands! Simply create multiple pieces of content at a time and use scheduling tools to publish them later.

As you post, prioritize authenticity and transparency with your audience. You want your audience to trust you and your recommendations, ultimately making your future brand deals more successful.

3. Make Yourself Discoverable to Brands

According to research, only 5 percent of brands want to source and recruit the creators they want to work with. But it’s also essential to make it easy for brands to find you.

Use platform-specific SEO tactics to create more discoverable content. For example, put relevant keywords in your YouTube video or Pinterest pin title, hashtags on Instagram and TikTok, etc. Katie Steckly of the Creator Club podcast recommends adding the topics you care about to your social media profile description, too.

“You want to use keywords on your profiles that describe who you are and your audience is. A great way to do this is to say, “I help X people do X, Y, and Z.” And take advantage of trending topics in your niche. That will make you more discoverable to brands and audiences alike.

4. Research Brands To Work With

When it comes to working with brands, the possibilities are endless. So, get creative with how you approach brand deals. Kickstart your journey with these tried-and-true techniques:

Think about the brands you (and similar creators) already use

You probably already mention products in your content naturally. Compile a list of products you’d be excited to share with your audience.

83 percent of brands see a deep love and understanding of the brand as indicative of a successful partnership. So, landing a deal is easier when you go after a brand you’re already familiar with.

Also, look at content creators in your niche with a similar follower count. What brands do they use? What sponsorships do they have?

You could even ask for an introduction to their contact. Then, you don’t have to jump through hoops to find the right person.

5. Look For Smaller Brands With Less Competition

Focus on smaller brands to start landing deals more quickly. You’re less likely to get lost in a sea of influencers trying to get the attention of more prominent brands.

Don’t waste time on unpaid campaigns with brands with small followings and little engagement. Instead, prioritize collaborations that offer value and support your career growth.

6. Consider Brands Outside of Your Niche

You don’t have to stick to brands in your niche to stay on brand. You can also partner with brands with similar values to yours and your audience’s.

For example, thrift shopping creator Tyler Chanel partnered with How Life Unfolds, a sustainability campaign by the Paper & Packaging Board. While not related to thrifting, the campaign suits Tyler and her followers’ shared value of sustainability.

7. Network with Events and Online Communities

Form bonds with brands and fellow creators by joining online communities or attending industry events.

You can learn effective tactics for forging partnerships, better understand what brands look for, and discover new potential partners.

For example, Buffer’s Discord community has dedicated channels where social managers and creators can chat in more detail. Also, you can meet other content creators and brands at impact.com’s in-person events.

8. Be Proactive—Brands Want You To Pitch Them

Now that you have potential partners, it’s time to reach out.

9. Create a Media Kit That Emphasizes Your Strengths

Before you start, craft a killer media kit. This should be the brand’s one-stop shop for learning everything about you. Include info about your social media profiles, niche, audience, and the value you bring to the table.

If you don’t have other partnerships to reference, show how your audience engages when discussing products or topics related to the brand. You want to highlight how they can benefit from getting in front of your followers.

10. Build Rapport With Brands Before Reaching Out

Warm up the connection with brands before you reach out so it doesn’t feel like you came out of nowhere. There are a few ways to make an initial impression. Create voluntary user-generated content (UGC) featuring products you already use. Voluntary UGC is unpaid content the brand doesn’t request or pay for. If you share it on your socials, the brand will take notice.

UGC also shows brands that you can drive engagement and produce high-quality work. Another way to build rapport? Engage with brands to show you’re a fan. Follow their pages. Like and comment on their posts. Don’t spam, though. Let your engagement feel authentic.

Attend any brand events. For example, Outdoor Voices hosts pop-ups and workouts at its retail locations. Introduce yourself to the team and let them know you want to work with them.

11. Make The First Move With a Tailored Pitch Email

Now that you’ve planted the seeds for a successful partnership, you’re ready to pitch! Email is the preferred communication channel for over half of brands—even over DMs. Search for the correct contact on LinkedIn, then use Apollo.io and RocketReach to find email addresses.

While creating a pitch email template is helpful, you’ll want to customize it to each brand. Speak to how your audience matches the brand’s values and ideal demographics and how the products can work with your content style. Propose example campaign ideas so your potential partner can envision how you’ll work together.

12. Get Your Foot in The Door with These Alternative Brand Deals

If you reach out to a brand and discover they have a low budget or no influencer program, there are still ways to collaborate. It can be a great way to get your foot in the door and prove your value to the brand.

Consider gifting and seed campaigns. If you need help landing brand deals or want to collaborate with a high-profile brand with no budget, consider taking product gifts or unpaid campaigns. These can give you free products or other benefits, such as exposure or a known name for your media kit.

You could also strike a paid UGC deal. Paid UGC means you earn money by creating content for brands they can use on their marketing channels.

Offering paid UGC allows you to start working with brands that don’t have an influencer marketing program or only work with more prominent creators. It will enable you to build your experience and portfolio while building a relationship with a brand you love.

13. Negotiate Rates Carefully and Seal The Deal With a Contract

Make a rate card that you can send to brands interested in partnering. Review how much influencers charge as a starting point. Depending on what you want to offer (for example, dedicated photo posts, ad reads within a video, brand mentions, etc.), include different campaign types and social media platforms.

You don’t need to include everything—just enough to start the conversation. Suppose it helps a brand feel more comfortable initially. In that case, you can also negotiate other forms of compensation, such as commission- or performance-based fees (e.g., 10 percent on every order you refer or $100 for every 1000 impressions). These hybrid deals can help maximize your income.

No matter what kind of compensation you and the brand decide on, lock it in with a contract to keep everyone on the same page. Finding fair rates is an experimentation process, so don’t be hard on yourself if you under- or overshoot. If it feels like you put in more work than the compensation accounts for, you know it’s time to bump up your rates.

14. Keep Going After Rejections

Rejection is inevitable, but it doesn’t reflect your worth. Keep going! Re-frame rejections as a “maybe” for the future. A “no” can become a “yes” if the brand’s priorities change, they get more budget, or you grow your following. Track your pitches with a spreadsheet, and try to understand a brand’s hesitations so you can reach out again.