The Definitive Guide to Negotiating Brand Partnerships for Creators: Part I — Exclusivity & Monetizing Opportunity Cost
The saying knowledge is power holds true for every profession and industry. Any power disparity in professional partnerships can and will be exploited to the detriment of the party with lesser knowledge.
Having worked with social content creators for the past 5 years, I have seen this dynamic on full display. Influencers who negotiate for themselves unknowingly make concessions leaving huge amounts of revenue on the table.
On the other hand, creators who put this knowledge into practice thrive. The secret to their success isn’t working harder. It doesn’t require more followers or producing more content.
It’s quite simple: as a creator, if you want to earn more income from brand partnerships, you need to negotiate from a position of strength, with a full understanding of the meaning, implications, and value of specific conditions of your contracts.
You do not need a lawyer or a talent agent to utilize the knowledge any of these terms. However, if you are not aware of them, you are likely earning less than half of what you could be as a creator.
Having reviewed thousands of brand partnership contracts for creators and spent time on both sides of the negotiation table, I’d like to share a guide to the secrets that have enabled creators to double their brand partnership earnings almost overnight.
In part I of this guide, we’ll focus on “Exclusivity”, one of the most common terms in brand partnership agreements, which represents an opportunity cost that restricts what marketers a creator creator can work with. We’ll cover what it means, why it’s important, and how to negotiate it.
Disclaimer: the following is not legal advice, nor should it be used to replace the guidance of certified legal, tax, or accounting professionals.
“Exclusivity”
Estimated increase to contract value: +20–50%
What it means:
Exclusivity comes in two forms: post-specific and category-wide exclusivity.
- Post-specific exclusivity prohibits you from promoting or including any other brand (outside of your client) in the content you are creating for your client. This is standard on most creator-brand partnership agreements and not something often negotiated since it does not represent a cost to you, the creator/influencer.
- Category-wide exclusivity is a different beast altogether. If included in a contract it prohibits you from promoting, posting, or mentioning any brand that may be considered a competitor to your client for a specified period of time. Sometimes, the brand’s definition of competition is narrow and easy to accommodate, but oftentimes these definitions are broad and can include even indirect competitors to your client’s brand.
Why it’s important:
It’s not just your time that is valuable, it’s the airspace you are dedicating to your client with each most. Exclusivity gives your client’s brand “airspace” well beyond a specific moment on your feed as a creator. For you, this means opportunity cost. That’s because for the period when a client has you locked into “category exclusivity”, you cannot work with other brands in that category. Even if that brand offers you an extremely enticing opportunity (more pay), you are contractually required to turn it down.
How to negotiate it:
Marketers realize the importance of exclusivity and will often include it in contracts by default, without necessarily mentioning it in verbal or written communication.
Your first step is to identify exclusivity in your contract. If you cannot find “exclusivity” exactly mentioned, search your contract for the term “prohibit”. Often, your contract will say something like “the influencer is prohibited from posting content on behalf of brands in the following categories….”
When negotiating with your counterpart, explain how exclusivity represents an opportunity cost to your business since you will need to turn down new deals if accepting. You will need your compensation to be updated to reflect this cost.
When proposing an appropriate fee, I recommend charging roughly 20–50% of your rate for a single post for each month of required exclusivity. Example: if your rate is $1000 for an in-feed Instagram post and your client requires 2 months of exclusivity, propose a total fee of $2000 = $1000 + ($500 x 2).
In closing:
Do you have experience negotiating “exclusivity” as a creator or brand? What do you think are some of the most common mistake creators make when negotiating? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
In part II, we will explore “content licensing” and “usage” to reveal how you can negotiate to increase the value of your brand partnership agreements by 50% or more.
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