Guide
Pricing & Negotiation
Brands
An unknown brand cannot compete on prestige, so it has to compete on terms and on how little of the creator's risk it asks them to carry. The levers that work and cost almost nothing are a generous commission rate, a long attribution window, transparent reporting, light deliverables, creative freedom, and a credible statement of what performance leads to. The things that quietly kill an offer are exclusivity clauses, long usage rights, heavy approval processes and product-as-payment — all of which are expensive for the creator and free-feeling to the brand.
A creator receiving an offer from a brand they have never heard of is doing a risk assessment. Will this brand pay on time? Is the product any good? Will their audience react badly? Is the product going to convert, given that they will carry part of that risk?
A large brand answers most of those questions by existing. A small one has to answer them explicitly. The good news is that the most effective answers cost very little.
| Their question | What a big brand relies on | What you can do instead |
|---|---|---|
| Will I get paid? | Reputation | Clear terms, short payment windows, pay early once |
| Is the product good? | Recognition | Send it before asking for commitment; show reviews |
| Will my audience react badly? | Familiarity | Creative freedom, and no pressure to oversell |
| Will it convert? | Known conversion | Be honest about what you know; offer a guarantee |
| Is this worth my time? | Prestige value | Better commercial terms |
The bottom row is the one small brands can genuinely win. A creator will not take an unknown brand for the portfolio value, so the terms have to do the work — and terms are within your control in a way that reputation is not.
A generous commission rate. The single most effective lever available to a small brand. Commission only costs you alongside revenue, so you can be genuinely competitive here without cash risk. Work out your ceiling and offer near it, and say that you have done so.
A long attribution window. Costs almost nothing and materially increases what the creator earns. A short window is a quiet pay cut, and experienced creators check — see attribution windows.
Both a link and a code. Each catches sales the other misses, so the creator is paid for more of what they actually drove. See discount codes vs tracking links.
Transparent reporting. Let them see their numbers whenever they want. For a creator who has been asked to trust an unknown brand's arithmetic before, this is worth a great deal.
Fast payment. Thirty days is normal. Fourteen is memorable. Paying early once buys more goodwill than a slightly higher fee.
Light deliverables. One post you actually need beats three you asked for out of habit. Every extra deliverable lowers the effective rate.
Creative freedom. Cheaper than cash, better content, and it signals that you respect their judgement.
A credible next step. "If this performs, the next one is a bigger guarantee" turns a small offer into a first step — but only if you mean it and follow through.
These feel free to a brand and are expensive to a creator, which is exactly why they are so often attached to small offers where they do the most damage.
Three things are genuinely true of a small brand and genuinely attractive, and most small brands never say them.
They will not be one of forty. A creator posting about a well-known brand is one voice among many. Being early on something is a better story and a more distinctive post.
They get access. They can talk to the founder, influence the product, get questions answered same-day. Larger brands cannot offer this and creators value it.
Upside is real. If the brand grows, an early partner is in a strong position. This is only persuasive if you are specific rather than aspirational.
What makes these work is honesty about the trade. "We are small, so we cannot pay what a bigger brand would — here is what we can offer instead" is a stronger opening than pretending to be established.
Illustrative figures, not benchmarks.
| Weak offer | Strong offer, similar cost | |
|---|---|---|
| Fee | DKK 0 — product only | DKK 1,000 |
| Commission | 5% | 15% |
| Attribution window | 7 days | 30 days |
| Tracking | Code only | Code and link |
| Deliverables | 3 posts plus stories | 1 post, their choice of format |
| Usage rights | Perpetual, all channels | None by default, priced separately if wanted |
| Exclusivity | 6 months in category | None |
| Payment | 60 days | 14 days |
The cash difference between these two is DKK 1,000 plus whatever the higher commission costs — and the higher commission only costs you when it works. The difference in acceptance rate, and in the calibre of creator who accepts, is not marginal.
This section is Make Influence's own operational view, not an industry standard.
Small brands consistently under-use the two levers that are cheapest for them and most valuable to a creator: commission generosity and transparency. Both are essentially free to offer — commission only costs you alongside revenue, and showing someone their own numbers costs nothing at all — and both directly address the specific thing that makes a creator hesitate about an unknown brand, which is not the size of the fee but the risk that the whole arrangement is not serious.
The corresponding mistake is attaching large-brand terms to a small-brand offer. Exclusivity and perpetual usage rights on a modest fee reads, to an experienced creator, as a brand that does not know what those things are worth. Dropping them costs nothing and immediately improves both your response rate and who responds.
The offer to aim for: modest guarantee, generous commission, light deliverables, no exclusivity, fast payment, open reporting, and an honest account of where the brand is. That is available at almost any budget.
Should I tell creators we are a new brand?
Yes. They will find out, and being straightforward about it lets you make the early-partner argument instead of being caught pretending.
What if we genuinely cannot pay a fee?
Then run honest seeding with no deliverables attached, and be clear that is what it is. Do not ask for specified work in exchange for product.
How generous should the commission be?
Calculate your break-even rate and offer meaningfully below it but well above the minimum you could get away with. The gap you leave is what makes the offer competitive.
Do I need usage rights at all?
Not at first. If content performs, buy the rights then — see buying UGC upfront vs after it has performed.
How many creators should I approach?
More than you need, expecting a low reply rate as an unknown brand. Personalise each one; generic outreach performs badly for brands without recognition.
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