Making Money With Brand Deals

Brand deals remain one of the most immediately lucrative revenue streams for content creators. While building a consistent brand and monetizing your content takes time, brand deals can help land hundreds to thousands of dollars per month in a creator's pocket.

Even as the nature of content and brand deals evolve, creators consistently rank among the most sought-after components for companies looking to get their products in front of the right audience. 

There are a lot of different ways a creator can work with a brand, ranging from a traditional brand deal like those we see with the biggest celebrities and athletes, to much smaller micro opportunities. When done right, brand deals should be a good opportunity for the creator, the audience, and the brand. 

While there are plenty of other ways you can monetize your audience, from monetizing the content itself to affiliate marketing and beyond, brand partnerships should be a serious consideration. Here are three of the primary ways any content creator can work with brands. 

User-Generated Content (UGC)

User-generated content or "UGC" seemingly grows more popular by the day. This style of content involves a creator making something (typically a video) for the brand to eventually post from their own channels (or run as an ad). Think of it as a type of acting for commercials where the primary medium is social media.

Companies utilize UGC because it allows them to have content that feels native to social media. It's a budget-friendly alternative to hiring a full time employee to create content. Many companies will also further outsource this task by working with an agency that then goes out and recruits creators for UGC projects. The agency will compensate the creators with a portion of the money the company pays them. 

From the creator perspective, UGC projects allow you the opportunity to quickly grow a portfolio of brands and content. Because you're not posting the content to your own following, it also doesn't matter what your audience size is — as long as you can demonstrate an ability create branded content that feels organic. 

Pros Of UGC

• No need to have your own social media following or potentially dilute your social media channels
• Increasingly popular option means lots of opportunities
• Some UGC doesn't even require editing — just raw footage
• Creative briefs (the instructions you follow) are typically pretty specific, which means that, while you typically have some creative license, you're not solely responsible for ideas behind the content. 
• Many UGC opportunities include products etc.

Cons Of UGC

• Typically the lowest paying form of brand deal, though it is possible to create full-time work through volume
• The pay fluctuates wildly, with some companies trying to take advantage of creators for as little as $25 per video
• You don't always get to see your finished product
• Can be less creatively fulfilling in some ways
• Some brands and agencies can be difficult to work with or unnecessarily create extra work by sending unclear briefs and instructions
• Not the most effective way to build your own brand through content

Sponsored Posts

Sponsored posts used to be primarily known as "influencer posts," though a lot of brands and creators have moved away from the term "influencer" recently. This is, partially, because the imagery and profile that word invokes — fashion-forward and attractive individuals with followings in the hundreds of thousands to tens of millions — doesn't accurately portray the much more nuanced world of sponsored content. 

This form of brand deal typically involves posting content to a creator's own profile. Which means the audience you've cultivated can be really important to a brand, and they're often looking for creators whose audience intersects with their own. (Of course, whether or not your content gets in front of your audience on social media is a different story altogether). 

Sponsored posts are typically a bit harder to land than UGC deals, even if you have a decent following. That's because there are several additional factors that need to fall in place to make sure it's a good fit. However, creators can usually command higher pay for these types of posts and get to have a lot of control over what the content actually is. After all, most brands want you to create content that will resonate with your audience. 

Pros Of Sponsored Posts

• Can command higher rates based of your audience and track record
• You're in creative control (though of course the brand will have some expectations and limitations)
• Helps you build your own brand 
• Can lead to consistent, longterm partnerships

Cons Of Sponsored Posts

• Harder to land than UGC
• Your existing following and engagement can play a large role in pitching brands
• Can lead to some pressure to create high-performing posts, despite most platforms limiting reach of sponsored content (without ad spend, of course)

Content Sponsorship

Content sponsorship is one of the most popular forms of sponsorship on platforms like YouTube. It's also really popular in the podcasting world and even in some written formats like blogs and newsletters. 

Usually, these types of brand deals feel a bit more like traditional commercials because they're inserted into the content rather than being the content themselves. However, they still largely rely on the creator being the one to deliver the "ad read" or copy to the audience. That's because these brands understand there's a lot of power to the creator being the one to deliver the brand message. 

This means that these brands also usually still have a lot of overlap with the creators already. It's why you might see so many film YouTubers have videos sponsored by companies like Storyblocks, or why it might seem like every podcast you love has BetterHelp as a sponsor.

Sometimes these types of brand deals are super straightforward and just involve an ad read, and sometimes creators find a way to incorporate them into their content in a more natural way. (YouTuber Daniel Thrasher usually has some fun skits for his content sponsorship).

Pros Of Content Sponsorship

• Can be very complementary to content without being too intrusive
• Typically involve longer, consistent partnerships
• Among the higher paying deals

Cons Of Content Sponsorship

• Can be the hardest relationships to cultivate
• Not as immediately available to creators who primarily focus on vertical video social media

Now that you've got a good idea about some of the primary ways you can work with brands as a content creator, it's time to get that media kit in good shape!