Influencer Contract Templates

What an Influencer Contract Actually Does

An influencer contract is the document that decides who owns the post, who pays for what, and what happens when the creator's flight gets cancelled, the brand's product never ships, or the campaign goes viral and the brand wants to run it as a paid ad. A handshake or DM thread covers none of those scenarios. The contract does not need to be long — a one-page agreement that names the parties, the deliverables, the rights granted, and the kill fee handles 90% of disputes that escalate to small-claims court.

The vast majority of brand-creator deals under $5,000 still happen on Instagram DM with no paperwork. That is not a feature of the industry — it is the reason creators chase invoices for months and brands lose usage rights they assumed they had. The cost of a contract is fifteen minutes. The cost of skipping one is the entire deal.

How to Use This Template

Pick the closest match to your deal type, then edit four sections before sending: the Deliverables block (be specific — "1 Reel, 60-90s, posted Tue 10 Mar between 6–9pm IST"), the Compensation block (cash amount or product retail value plus shipping window), the Usage Rights block (organic only? paid whitelisting? for how long?), and the Exclusivity block (no competitor brands for X days). Send as a PDF, not a Word doc — PDFs feel final, Word docs invite redlines from people who don't have legal authority to redline.

For deals under $1,000 or pure barter, an e-signature tool like Dropbox Sign or even a plain text "Reply CONFIRM if these terms work" email creates an enforceable record under the US E-SIGN Act and India's IT Act 2000. You do not need DocuSign for a $200 product gifting deal.

Five Worked Examples by Deal Size

1. Product gifting, nano creator (5K–15K followers)

Skincare brand sends a $60 retail-value bundle to a nano beauty creator. Contract should specify: 1 Story (24h) plus 1 grid post or Reel within 14 days of receipt, organic-only usage, brand may repost on its own grid for 30 days with credit, no exclusivity clause (it is not worth fighting over for $60 in product). Kill fee: none — creator returns or pays retail if they back out post-shipment.

2. Paid Reel, micro creator (50K–100K followers)

DTC coffee brand pays $850 for one Reel. Contract specifies: 60–90 second Reel, brand handle tagged in caption and on-screen, 1 round of revisions before posting, posted within 10 days of script approval, brand may whitelist as paid ad for 60 days for an additional $400, 14-day exclusivity from competing coffee brands, payment 50% on signing and 50% on post-go-live.

3. UGC-only deal, no posting (any tier)

Brand pays $300 for 3 pieces of UGC the creator never posts to their own feed. Critical clause: full transfer of usage rights in perpetuity, all channels, worldwide. The creator is selling the footage outright. Without this clause, the brand technically only has a license and cannot legally use the content in a TV spot two years later.

4. Long-term ambassadorship (3–6 months)

Athleisure brand signs a mid-tier creator (250K) for $4,500/month for 6 months: 2 Reels and 8 Stories per month, monthly content review call, exclusivity from any direct competitor for the term plus 30 days post, automatic 90-day renewal unless either side gives 30 days notice. Add a morality clause — brand can terminate without payment if the creator is publicly accused of conduct that materially damages the brand.

5. Barter deal on BrandsForCreators

Brand ships a $400 retail-value product. Creator delivers 1 Reel + 2 Stories. Because there is no cash changing hands, the contract should be even more explicit about what counts as completion (post goes live, stays up minimum 30 days, creator sends screenshot of insights at 14 days). Add a product-return clause: if creator does not deliver within the agreed window, they ship the product back at their cost or pay retail. This is the clause most barter deals skip and most barter disputes are about.

Why Barter Deals Need Contracts More, Not Less

The default assumption in a paid deal is that money flows on a clear trigger — usually post-go-live. In a barter deal the brand has already shipped the product before the creator does anything. The brand's only leverage is the contract. Without it, the creator can keep the product, ghost the deal, and face zero consequence.

BrandsForCreators is a barter-only platform — there is no cash component to any deal that runs through us. Every brand-creator match on BFC should be backed by a written agreement, even if it is a single email with the deliverables and a "reply YES to accept" line. The platform's escrow logic and dispute resolution both reference the agreed terms, so vague terms create unwinnable disputes.

Clauses Most People Skip (and Regret)

• FTC / ASCI disclosure language — require #ad or "Paid partnership with" in the first three lines of caption. Brand is liable for non-disclosure, not just creator.
• Takedown rights — brand can request removal within 7 days of posting if content materially misrepresents the product. Creator must comply within 48 hours.
• Performance is not guaranteed — explicitly state the creator does not warrant any minimum views, likes, or sales. Otherwise a brand can argue underperformance is breach.
• IP indemnity — creator confirms music, fonts, and footage are original or licensed. Brand is not on the hook for the creator's copyright violations.
• Post-term archive — what happens to the post after the usage window ends. Default should be: stays up on creator's feed in perpetuity, brand stops using it in paid media.

Common Mistakes

Vague deliverables. "Some Stories and a post" is not a deliverable. "1 Reel + 3 Story frames + 1 grid post" is. Specificity is the single biggest predictor of clean execution.

No usage window. Brands that don't specify "organic only" often discover their creator's face in a Meta paid ad campaign 8 months later, with no recourse because the contract said nothing.

Exclusivity that's too broad. "No other beauty brands ever" is unenforceable and will get renegotiated. "No direct competitors (list 5 named brands) for 30 days post-go-live" is reasonable and survives challenge.

No payment trigger. "Payment within 30 days" anchored to nothing means the brand pays whenever. Anchor to a real event — "30 days from post-go-live, verified via creator-supplied insights screenshot."

Templates vs Lawyers vs Platform Contracts

For 90% of creators reading this, a templated agreement edited per deal is the right tool. Bring in a lawyer the first time you sign a six-month exclusivity, an equity-for-content deal, or a contract drafted by the brand's legal team that runs more than three pages.