How to maximize brand deal value
Issue #13 - How creators can ask for more money when negotiating w/ brands!
If you are a creator, you know these types of emails all too well. A brand messages you (hopefully they get your name right) with an opportunity for a new campaign where they list out a bunch of campaign details and somewhere mixed in all the highlighting, colors, ALL CAPS and bold text there is a compensation amount. This is usually the moment where creators decide to respond to an offer or move on with their day.
What if the amount is not what you are looking for? We dive in on how to respond and maximize your deal value in today’s issue of Creator’s Industry Insights.
Brands Low Ball on Purpose
It’s important to understand that most brands are not out to get you and steal your work. Brands are just like creators are trying to maximize their ROI from every marketing campaign and that includes influencers/creators. That means they are usually looking to secure influencers at the lowest possible price but it doesn’t mean they won’t adjust their initial offer.
Here’s what a normal influencer outreach campaign looks like on the brand side:
Brand has a budget of $10,000 and wants to hire 5-10 influencers to reach an audience of 10-20m. The ideal target price is $1,000 per talent.
Brand knows influencers with ~1m followers usually charge $3-5k per campaign but that doesn’t quite fit their budget.
Brand asks an intern or understaffed agency rep to find 5-10 influencers willing to take $500-$1000 for the campaign.
Intern emails/DMs 100+ influencers within their specs with an initial $500 offer, knowing they can go up to $2,000 if they really like the talent.
If 10 influencers accept the $500 offer, the campaign comes in under budget and they can possibly hire more influencers.
As you can see, brands ‘low ball’ on purpose not because they don’t think your work is worth x price, but mainly due to the fact that they are trying to hire multiple influencers at once. The experienced brands know that quality creators will counter their initial offer and if they start at their max budget, there is no room to negotiate. So creators, when you get these initial emails and want to work with the brand but not at the listed compensation amount, it’s perfectly acceptable to counter.
How To Counter to Maximize Value
Responding to a brand’s offer can be nerve racking for some creators, especially those that just starting out or finally starting to receive paid offers. We have heard from a number of creators that they are scared to counter because they think the brand will move on to the next talent but in the majority of cases (75% or more) that is not true. At FamePick, we receive over 1,000 deals every month so it’s safe to say we have seen every campaign type and compensation structure out there. When offers come in, we review the details and break them down in five main sections:
Brand Legitimacy. Analyze the brand…how much do they pay influencers? Check their social feed, are they established? Check their website, would you buy something from it? We highly recommend using F*** You Pay Me (https://app2.fypm.vip/) to see what the brand has paid other talent.
Campaign Goals. Sales goal? Awareness campaign? App downloads?
Review the Deliverables. How many pieces of content? Video length? Do you need to travel to film?
Timeline. Can you meet the requested timeline? Travel costs based on the timeline? Brands love last minute requests!
Rights. Is it exclusive? If so, for how long? Are they asking to use your content on their own channels?
Now there is a good chance you will have to compromise on one of these sections in order to craft a quality counter. So once we review all the sections, we draft our counter by selecting a price point that works for our talent first then we work backward to fit deliverables/timeline/rights into that price.
Out of those five sections, deliverables and rights will provide the most leverage on your counter. Timelines move frequently and brands are usually okay with extending deadlines to get additional deliverables in.
Here are some examples on how to counter based on each section:
Campaign Goals
Once you have decided to work with the brand, you can counter based on their campaign objectives. If the brand is looking to just drive awareness, you can mention that your audience has an affinity to purchase products in the brand’s niche then show proof with audience insights. You can also ask for a higher price based on the number of sales generated. If you go that route, we recommend a base + bonus structure so you don’t end up in an affiliate-type situation if the sales are not what you expected. Example: $500 base + $50/sale.
Deliverables
We normally see two types of deliverables in offers, one we call the ‘over ask’ where brands ask for the world knowing creators will counter and the second is ‘straight to the point’ where brands know exactly what they are looking for.
In an ‘over ask’ situation, many creators will counter by just listing a higher price due to the high number of deliverables but we haven’t seen too much success in that method. So what we like to do is agree to the deliverables but specify that not all pieces will be original content. Meaning if the brand is looking for 2 in-feed posts and 2 stories, you can film the in-feed posts and then break up the content to use in the stories. That way you don’t have to film 4 original pieces. Most brands will go for this.
With brands that are ‘straight to the point’, they are usually more experienced and ask for one specific piece of content because they know it will work for them. In this case, it is best to counter with additional pieces of the same content. If they are asking for 1 story, offer 2 stories. If they are asking for 1 testimonial, offer 2 testimonials. You can also offer to share the listed deliverables on your additional social channels.
Rights
Content and usage rights are the #1 way you can increase the value of your brand deals. Forewarning though that content and usage rights can be very confusing so don’t be afraid to ask around (or a lawyer if you have one) if you have questions (my DMs are always open as well).
Here are the 3 main rights we normally see in social media campaigns:
Content Usage - Where can the content be used? Organic? Paid Media? Exclusivity? Usually, content usage is referring to what social channels the content will be shared on (talent and brand).
Content Usage Length - How long can the content be used on the listed channels?
White Labeling - Can the brand run paid ads through your social profiles?
I would love to go into crazy detail here and maybe I will in a future post but for now I will keep it simple and say the easiest what to maximize your deal value is to give the brand rights to use the content you create for them on their own channels. Why? This allows the brand to extend the life of the content by using it on their social channels, paid ads, website, etc. So even if your post doesn’t reach the number of fans you thought it would, the brand can still get ROI in another way. Make sure you list a specified amount of time though so they can’t use it forever. The current industry standard is 30 days.
The second easiest way to maximize brand deal value is to offer the brand ‘white labeling’ abilities which gives them advertiser access to run paid ads/media through your account. Brands also call this ‘boosting’ or ‘amplifying your content. This may sound a little scary but really it’s not and can actually grow your audience. Again make sure you specify an amount of time and ask to see the ads before they go live. The current industry standard for ‘white labeling’ is 15 or 30 days.
How Much Should You Counter?
I covered a lot in the previous section, so if you just scrolled all the way down and are looking for a specific number, here you go: 100% over the original amount.
Our rule of thumb is to never counter an offer more than 100% of the original amount. Meaning if you receive an offer for $500, we don’t recommend countering back more than $1,000. Budgets are flexible but there are limits and from our experience, 100% is the limit in most cases.
Now every campaign is different and every creator is different so these numbers are not set in stone, just a rule of thumb if you are struggling on an amount. And remember that if you decide to counter, list out why are you countering and how it helps the brand, don’t simply list a higher price.
Questions? Comments? Find me on Twitter: @mzuvella or follow us @famepick.