Pricing is the single hardest part of working with brands, and the place most creators lose the most money. Charge too little and you train brands to underpay you. Charge blindly and you leave usage rights, whitelisting, and revisions off the invoice entirely.
Here's the framework I use on every deal, so your rate reflects the actual value of what you're handing over.
Work out which of the two things you're selling
Almost every brand deal is one of two products, and they price completely differently. Getting this wrong is the most common reason a quote lands badly.
- Content the brand runs as their own on their page, in their ads, on their site. They're buying production and permissions. Your audience size is close to irrelevant here price the work and the usage.
- A post to your own audience. Now they're buying reach and trust, so your following, your engagement rate, and how closely your niche matches their customer all belong in the number.
Plenty of deals are both: you post it *and* they run it as an ad. When that happens, quote them as two line items rather than one blended figure the second one keeps working for the brand long after the first has scrolled past.
Then build the quote in three parts
- Base rate: one finished video, one round of revisions, organic use on the brand's own channels.
- Add-ons: extra hooks, aspect ratios, raw footage, faster turnaround.
- Usage & whitelisting: the big one, covered below.
Sanity-check yourself against the going rate
Benchmarks aren't your price. They know nothing about your niche, your conversion history, or how badly this particular brand wants you. But they're a useful check on whether you're quoting in the right postcode. Across published 2026 rate surveys, creators in the 10K to 100K range are commonly paid somewhere between a couple of hundred dollars and around $1,500 for a single Instagram or TikTok deliverable, with YouTube integrations running higher because the production is heavier.
The thing that moves those figures most isn't follower count, it's engagement. A 50K account at 5% is worth more to a brand than a 500K account at 0.5%, and the brands doing this seriously already know it. If your engagement is strong, quote above the band for your size and say plainly why.
Benchmarks tell you the postcode. Your engagement, your niche, and the usage terms decide the house.
Charge separately for usage rights
Organic use on the brand's page is one thing. Running your face as a paid ad for six months is another, and it's worth far more. Always separate the content fee from the usage fee, and price usage by duration and platform.
If your video becomes their ad, you should be paid like it's their ad.
A common structure: a flat content fee, plus a usage fee per 30 or 90 days of paid-ad rights. Whitelisting, running ads through your own handle, commands the highest premium of all.
Protect yourself on payment
Once your rate is set, the terms matter just as much. Get a deposit before you film, put the deliverables and deadline in writing, and never hand over final files until the balance clears.
That's exactly the part I handle for you negotiating the rate, collecting upfront, and making sure the money actually lands. You focus on the content; the business runs itself.
Pricing mistakes that cost creators the most
- Quoting on follower count alone. Reach is one input. Usage, exclusivity, and the number of deliverables routinely add up to more than the audience does.
- Bundling usage into one flat number. If paid-ad rights aren't a separate line, you're giving away the most valuable thing you sell.
- Undercharging to "get the deal." A low rate doesn't win loyal clients; it trains brands to expect a low rate forever.
- No deposit. Skipping the upfront payment is how creators end up chasing invoices, or never getting paid at all.
FAQ
How much should I charge for a single branded video? There's no fixed figure price the work (filming, editing, revisions) plus usage separately. A video with paid-ad rights is worth far more than the same clip used organically.
Does my follower count affect my rate? It depends what you're selling. If the brand runs the content as their own, barely. If you're posting to your audience, yes and engagement rate moves the number more than raw follower count does.
What's the most commonly forgotten thing to charge for? Usage rights especially paid ads and whitelisting. If it's not written down, assume organic-only and re-quote the moment that changes.