Getting brand deals works best as a pipeline you run on purpose: get your profile and proof ready, list brands that already pay creators, pitch each one with a specific idea, agree price and terms in writing, deliver with a clear ad label, then invoice, report and ask about a renewal. The tracker below gives every stage an entry test, an exit test and the asset you need, so you can see which deals are stuck and why.
Two doors into a brand deal
Brand deals arrive in two ways. Some come inbound: a brand finds you through a platform marketplace, a creator search tool or your profile, and sends an inquiry. Others come outbound: you research a brand, decide you can help it sell something, and pitch. Most working creators need both, because inbound volume depends on platform eligibility while outbound volume depends on how many good prospects you can find and approach.
YouTube's own tips for getting brand deals list both kinds of route side by side: filling in a brand's website contact form, looking up its marketing leads on LinkedIn, reaching out on X, and signing up for YouTube Creator Partnerships. TikTok One and Meta Creator Marketplace work the same way on their platforms, letting brands search for creators while creators browse open projects. Our comparison of influencer marketplaces for creators covers who can join each one. Streamers have a separate route through Twitch's sponsorship tools, explained in how to get sponsored as a streamer.
Whichever door a deal comes through, it then passes through the same stages. A marketplace inquiry still needs a price, a contract, a labelled post and an invoice. Treating every deal as a card that moves across one board stops promising conversations from quietly going cold.
The pipeline tracker
Copy this into a spreadsheet or task board with one row per brand. A deal only moves right when it passes the exit test for its current stage. If a deal has sat in one stage longer than you expected, the exit test tells you what is missing.
| Stage | Enter when | Leave when | Asset you need | Go deeper |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Readiness | You want paid work and post consistently in one niche | Your profile, contact route and recent proof would survive a brand checking them | A current media kit built from dated analytics | Media kit template |
| 2. Target list | You are ready to approach brands or be found by them | Each prospect has evidence it pays creators and a known contact route | A prospect sheet with a fit score per brand | Finding brands to work with |
| 3. Pitch | A prospect scores well on fit and has a current goal you can attach to | The brand replies with interest, a brief or a clear no | One tailored idea and a short email or message | Pitch strategy and email templates |
| 4. Negotiate | The brand asks for your price or sends a brief | Deliverables, usage, dates and fee are agreed in writing | A rate card that prices usage and exclusivity separately | Rate card worksheet |
| 5. Contract | Terms are agreed in principle by email or call | A signed agreement records every term you negotiated | The contract checklist below, plus legal review for large deals | Contract essentials section |
| 6. Deliver | The agreement is signed and any product has arrived | Approved content is live on the agreed date and labelled as an ad | A brief, a script or shot list, and screenshots of the label | YouTube sponsorship guide |
| 7. Invoice and collect | Content is live or a payment milestone in the contract is reached | The money has cleared in your account | An invoice that meets your country's requirements | Invoicing section |
| 8. Report and renew | Payment is in and the agreed measurement window has closed | The brand has a results recap and you have asked about next steps | Dated screenshots and a short written summary | Renewal email in the template guide |
Two stages get skipped more than any others. Creators often jump from pitch to delivery on a friendly email thread, then learn the brand assumed it could run the video as an ad indefinitely. And many never send a report, which is the cheapest way to turn one deal into a second.
Readiness and the target list
Readiness is less about audience size than about whether a brand can check you quickly. Before replying, a brand will look at your recent posts, who your audience is, how you have handled sponsored content before and whether there is a professional way to reach you. TikTok's guidance on being discovered for brand collaboration says advertisers filter creators by details such as region, language and follower count, then review performance, audience and recent organic and sponsored videos. Make each of those easy to find.
- A business email or contact form you actually check, kept apart from personal accounts.
- A media kit whose figures are dated and taken from each platform's own analytics.
- Several recent posts that show the kind of content you would make for a brand.
- A past post with a clear ad label, if you have already done paid or gifted work.
- A short written list of categories you will not promote, so declining is quick.
Small accounts still land deals, but the proof shifts from reach to audience fit and production quality; our guide to brand deals for small creators covers what to offer at each step.
The target list is where most of the pipeline's value is created. A brand that already pays creators has a budget line and someone whose job includes reading pitches. Meta's Ad Library help page says the library includes active, public branded content posted with the paid partnership label on Facebook and Instagram, which makes it one of the quickest ways to see who is spending in your niche. The full research method is in our guide to finding brands to work with.
Pitch, then negotiate
A pitch earns a reply when it reads like the opening of a brief. Name what the brand appears to be pushing right now, show why your audience matches its customer, propose one idea with a deliverable, and finish with a clear ask. The pitch strategy guide explains how to research the angle and score fit, and the email templates give you copyable versions of the cold pitch, follow-ups and the reply to a rates question.
Inbound offers deserve the same scrutiny. YouTube's Creator Partnerships page says the earnings figure on a campaign inquiry comes from the advertiser and should not be confused with a final offer, and that deals are negotiated and signed directly with the brand. TikTok's page on TikTok One payment models says base pay on some projects is negotiable and on others it is not. Read every inbound figure as an opening position unless the project says otherwise.
Your own price should come from a method rather than from what other creators claim to charge. Start with production cost and the time the job takes, then add separate lines for usage rights, permission to run your content as paid ads, exclusivity and rush delivery. The rate card worksheet walks through each line, and the same logic works for posts on your own channels.
Contract essentials before you film anything
A creator contract does not need to be long, but it does need to say what you agreed. YouTube's page on sharing brand partner access tells creators to discuss video usage rights with advertisers and get the agreements they need independently, because that access can let a brand see performance data and boost the video as an ad. Treat permissions like that as priced terms, not favours.
- Deliverables: platform, format, number of pieces, length, and any link or discount code.
- Dates: draft deadline, the brand's approval window, publish date, and what happens if the brand moves them.
- Approval: how many revision rounds are included and who has final sign-off.
- Usage: where the brand may reuse your content, for how long, and whether paid ads are included.
- Exclusivity: which competitors you must avoid, in which category, and until when.
- Payment: fee, currency, invoice timing, payment terms and the consequence of late payment.
- Disclosure: a clause confirming the content will be labelled as an ad on every platform used.
- Cancellation: what you are paid if the brand pulls out after work has started.
For anything with long usage periods, broad exclusivity or a fee that matters to your year, have a lawyer read the agreement before you sign. The checklist helps you spot what is missing; it does not replace advice on what the wording means.
Deliver with the ad label on
Regulators in the US, UK and Australia all treat hidden brand deals as a consumer protection problem. The Federal Trade Commission's Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers says a material connection includes free or discounted products, that the disclosure belongs with the endorsement rather than in a bio or behind a “more” link, and that you should not assume a platform's tool is enough on its own. The UK Competition and Markets Authority's guidance for content creators says incentivised content must be identifiable as an ad from the first moment someone engages with it. After its sweep of influencer posts, the ACCC warned that influencers and brands may break the law if they do not take reasonable steps to stop sponsored posts looking like genuine recommendations.
The approved wording is not identical everywhere, which matters when your audience spans countries. The table summarises the FTC page above, the CMA page above and Ad Standards' influencer disclosure guide for Australia.
| Country and body | Wording it treats as clear | Wording it warns against |
|---|---|---|
| US: FTC | “Ad”, “advertisement”, “sponsored”, or a plain thank-you to the brand for a free product, placed where it is hard to miss | Shorthand such as “sp”, “spon” or “collab”, and a lone “thanks” or “ambassador” |
| UK: CMA | “Ad”, “advert”, “advertising” or “advertisement”, shown upfront | “#sponsored”, “#gifted”, “#collab”, “in association with”, or simply naming the brand |
| Australia: Ad Standards | “#Ad”, “#sponsored” and similar hashtags, or a clear written or spoken statement of the partnership | Hashtags buried among others, and collab posts with no ad indicator at all |
The safest common denominator is “Ad” at the start for anything UK viewers might see, plus the platform's own tool: the paid partnership label on Instagram, TikTok's commercial content disclosure setting and YouTube's paid promotion box, which the YouTube sponsorship guide walks through.
Invoice, report and renew
Send the invoice on the day the contract allows, not when you happen to remember. What it must contain depends on where you trade. The ATO's tax invoices page says that if a customer asks for a tax invoice you must provide one within 28 days, and lists what it must show, including your ABN. GOV.UK sets out what UK invoices must include, with extra details for sole traders who use a business name. Ask before invoicing whether the brand needs a purchase order number or a supplier form, because missing paperwork is a common reason invoices sit unpaid.
Who pays you differs by deal type. On a direct deal it is the brand, and YouTube says the same for deals that begin in Creator Partnerships. TikTok's payment-models page describes TikTok paying TikTok One creators through flat fees, revenue share or both. Record which party owes you money on each tracker row so you know whom to chase.
Once the measurement window in the contract has closed, send a short report: what went live and when, screenshots of the agreed metrics, and anything the audience said about the product. Then ask whether the brand has another launch coming. The renewal email in the template guide gives you a structure for that message.
Limitations of this pipeline
This is a working method, not a promise that any brand will say yes. Some deals skip stages, some brands run creator work through agencies with their own process, and platform programmes open and close by country and change their eligibility rules. The disclosure and invoicing notes summarise regulator and government pages for general information; they are not legal or tax advice, and the requirements depend on where you and your audience are. Check the current guidance for your country and get a lawyer or registered tax adviser involved when the stakes justify it.