Partnering and Negotiating with Brands as a Content Creator

The Business of Creating blog series

Brought to you by TrovaTrip and Creative Juice.

As a Content Creator, partnering with the right brands will become increasingly important to your growth and reputation. But not every brand is right for every Creator. Is your niche around awesome, wanderlust hiking content? That crypto company that keeps DMing you probably isn’t the vibe. The company promising free $3 hair ties in exchange for product promotion? Kindly kick rocks. Focus on fit and finding a brand whose values, products, or services feel authentic to you and the reputation you’ve worked so hard to create. 

But saying “no” to business, especially when just getting started can feel scary. So we’ve teamed up with our friends at Creative Juice to guide you in deciding which collabs are good collabs, and how to know your worth when stepping into negotiations. This key information is just a piece of our collaborative blog series, "The Business of Creating," designed to make running your business as a Creator a bit easier. Be sure to check out our other helpful resources for deciding on the best business entity for your brand and navigating your taxes and cash flow as a Creator.

What do brand partnerships look like?

A brand partnership between a Content Creator and a business can take many shapes, each designed to leverage the Creator's influence and audience to promote the brand's products or services. 

A classic example is an Instagram Influencer collaborating with a fashion brand to launch a limited-edition clothing line. Or a popular YouTuber teaming up with a tech company to produce exclusive content showcasing its latest gadgets. The common goal is to create engaging and authentic content that resonates with both parties' audiences.

Here are additional examples that illustrate how these collaborations can be structured:

• Brand ambassadors: A fitness YouTuber becomes a long-term ambassador for a health supplements brand, regularly featuring their products in videos and social media posts.
• Sponsored content: A popular Instagram Influencer creates a series of posts featuring a skincare brand's new product line. These posts are tagged with #sponsored or #ad, ensuring transparency with their audience.
• Influencer gifting: An outdoor brand sends its latest camping equipment to a group of adventure vloggers, who then create unboxing and gear review videos.
• Product collaborations: A well-known beauty blogger collaborates with a cosmetics company to create a limited-edition makeup palette. The blogger is involved in the design and marketing of the product.
• Affiliate marketing: A fashion influencer shares a unique discount code for an online clothing store with their followers. Each time the code is used, they earn a commission.

The key to a successful partnership is finding a brand that aligns with the Creator's values and audience, ensuring that the collaboration feels authentic and is well-received by their followers.

What are the benefits of a brand partnership?

Now, let’s talk about the perks. Why should you, as a Creator, consider brand partnerships? Here are some of the top benefits:

• Expanded reach: By partnering with a brand with a similar target audience, you can tap into their followers and introduce yourself to a new group of potential fans. It’s like getting a VIP pass to a party where everyone is already interested in what you have to offer.
• Enhanced brand image: Collaborating with reputable brands can boost your own credibility and image. When your audience sees you working with well-known companies, it reinforces the idea that you’re a trusted and influential Creator.
• Monetization opportunities: Brand partnerships can provide a lucrative revenue stream for Creators. Whether it's through sponsored content, affiliate marketing, or product collaborations, these partnerships can help you monetize your influence and creativity.
• Access to resources: Partnering with brands often means gaining access to their resources, whether products, services, or even production facilities. These additional resources can help you create higher-quality content and offer exclusive experiences to your audience.
• Creative synergy: Working with another brand can spark new ideas and creative approaches. It’s a chance to brainstorm and come up with innovative ways to engage your audience.

Remember, the key to a successful brand partnership is alignment. Ensure your values, messaging, and goals are in sync with your partner. When both parties are on the same page, the collaboration feels authentic and resonates more with your audience. 

Partnering with the right brands

When assessing whether or not you want to partner with a brand, ask yourself these questions:

• Will my audience be a fan of the brand? 
• Does the brand fit my niche? 
• Do I believe in the brand's products and values?

Beyond these essential thought-starters, there’s way more to consider when establishing solid brand partnerships. Let’s dive deeper into what makes these connections truly click.

Shared values and goals toward the same objective

First and foremost, aligning values and goals is critical for a healthy partnership to ensure that you and the brand strive toward the same objectives. Whether promoting sustainability, encouraging body-acceptance, or inspiring creativity, having shared values makes the partnership feel authentic and cohesive. This alignment not only strengthens the collaboration but also resonates more deeply with your audience, who have robust BS detectors when a partnership is genuine or not.

Common target audience

Next up, consider the brand’s target audience. Are they the same people who are already engaging with your content? If your followers are all about health and wellness, partnering with a brand that sells organic snacks or workout gear makes perfect sense. On the other hand, a mismatch in target audiences can lead to a disjointed and ineffective partnership. The goal is to find a brand whose audience overlaps with yours so you can both benefit from the expanded reach and shared interest.

Brand’s reputation, social media following, and level of engagement

Lastly, carefully consider the brand’s reputation, social media following, and level of engagement with its audience. A brand with a strong, positive reputation and an active, engaged following can deliver higher ROI through boosted credibility and visibility. Check out their social media profiles—are their followers actively liking, commenting, and sharing their content? High engagement levels indicate a loyal and interested audience, precisely what you want in a partner. Plus, a brand that interacts well with its followers will likely be a more collaborative and communicative partner.

Once you’ve found the ideal brand you want to work with, it’s time to make your move. Take a tip from the person whose profile pic is a bad angle of a cat and, yes, slide into their DMs. Yep, we said it. We meant it. Sliding into a brand’s DMs is a great way to get on their radar. They can easily click on your profile to check out your awesome content and loyal following.

Knowing your worth, a.k.a. negotiating effectively

Just because you reached out to a brand, doesn’t mean you have to agree to their terms. Once you have their attention, it’s time to negotiate. Ask about their goals for the partnership, the content, and their budget to achieve them. Having a baseline for budget can help you adapt your negotiations or clue you in when it’s time to walk away.

As a helpful starting point when pricing your brand partnerships, Creators typically earn $100 per 10k followers (based on 2022 data). Use this cheat sheet to find where you might fit:

• Nano-influencers (1k - 10k followers): $10 - $100 per post
• Micro-influencers (10k - 50k followers): $100 - $500 per post
• Mid-tier influencers (50k - 500k followers): $500 - $5k per post
• Macro-influencers (500k - 1m followers): $5k - $10k per post
• Mega-influencers (1m+ followers): $10k+ per post

But don’t forget—your follower count isn’t the only thing that matters. You may have some extra bargaining power if your audience is highly engaged or if you can offer a unique perspective to the content that no other Creator can. You can also ask for a contingency plan on how incentives align if your post outperforms the goal or goes viral.

Bottom line: the most crucial part of negotiating with brands is to value yourself! And you’re worth every penny.

What if you believe in a brand, but they’re a startup with a lower budget, or you just really want to work with a company because it’s on your bucket list? You can always add or remove deliverables to reach an agreement that works for everyone. These partnerships are meant to be just that—partnerships. So know what levers you can pull to get closer to an agreement.

Better yet, partner with a brand you don’t have to negotiate with. With TrovaTrip, you get to set your own earnings by selling spots on a trip, then take your community traveling with you! We even provide you with a survey tool so you know how to price the trip within your audience’s budget while maximizing your earnings. Learn how to host your own trip here!

P.S. When working with brands, use Creative Juice’s seamless invoicing tool, so you can generate and schedule brand invoices. No more chasing down overdue brand payments!

Key contract components for Creators

When signing a creative contract, you should always carefully review the contract details. With brand-Creator partnerships, for example, keep an eye out for exclusivity and non-compete clauses that can prevent you from working with other brands in the same or similar industries. You can use exclusivity as leverage to negotiate your rate up, or ask that these clauses be removed to keep your options open.

When it comes to getting paid, many brands' standard payout terms hover around net 30 (30 days after the invoice arrives, after all the work is done) or up to net 90 which can feel like a long time before getting paid. To get paid faster, think about adding a service fee, up-front expenses, requesting payment per deliverable, or asking for incentives when reaching engagement milestones.

Want expert help on this one too? You can always ask Creative Juice to chase brands for you with their scheduled and detailed invoicing tool to help make sure you never miss a payment again. 

Get out there, collaborate, and negotiate!

Key learnings? When it comes to brand partnerships, trust your gut and focus on fit. If it doesn’t feel right to you, it’s not going to feel right to your audience. And when you’re talking to a brand you’ve always wanted to work with, know your worth and come prepared to #humblebrag about what you bring to the table. Remember that partnerships should always be mutually beneficial and that you and your dream brand should strive for something that feels good together.

Now, take these tools, make a target list for your top brands, and start reaching out. Once you sign that dream deal, the nerves you’re feeling now will be a distant memory.

Read more in the Business of Creating series:

• Choosing the Best Business Entity as a Content Creator
• Managing Income and Navigating Taxes as a Content Creator 

About Creative Juice

Creative Juice is funding, banking and automated business tools for Creators. Creative Juice's ambition is to make Juice banking and financing accessible for all monetizing Creators. Founded by fintech leader Sima Gandhi and Creator business vet Ezra Cooperstein, Juice creates financial opportunities for Creators to scale their businesses. The platform offers personalized funding to supercharge Creator growth, banking that manages Creator income, expenses, invoicing and bookkeeping and community to connect with fellow Creators. For more information, visit getjuice.com.