Influencer contract template.With payment terms that actually get you paid.

1. Why you need a contract, and why it isn't enough

Most small brand deals are agreed in DMs. That works right up until something goes wrong: the brand wants a third round of changes, runs your video as an ad for a year, or decides it was never going to pay. At that point, the only thing that matters is what you can show was agreed.

A contract fixes that. It turns "I thought we said" into a document both of you accepted. But be honest about what it can't do: a contract tells you what you're owed. It doesn't pay you. If a brand ignores it, enforcing it means demand letters, small claims court and months of waiting, often for a few hundred dollars.

That's why the payment clause in this template matters more than any other. The strongest version makes the brand pay before you start, so you never have to enforce anything.

2. The 12 clauses every influencer contract needs

1. 1. Deliverables

   Exactly what you'll make and where it goes: platform, format, length, number of posts, posting window, and how long each post stays live. Vague deliverables are the root of most disputes.

2. 2. The brief

   Key messages, required mentions, links or codes, and anything the brand doesn't want. Attach it, and agree that you keep creative control within it.

3. 3. Draft approval (optional)

   Whether the brand sees a draft before you post, and how long it has to respond. Without a deadline, a draft can sit in someone's inbox for weeks.

4. 4. Revisions

   How many rounds of changes are included, and that they must stay within the brief. This is the clause that stops "can you just try one more version" from eating your week.

5. 5. Review and approval

   How long the brand has to approve the finished work, and what happens if it doesn't respond. The key line: silence counts as approval. Without it, a brand can avoid paying by simply never approving.

6. 6. Fee

   The price, the currency, and whether it includes tax. If the deal is in a currency other than yours, say who covers conversion costs.

7. 7. Payment terms

   When you get paid and how. See the three options in the next section.

8. 8. Usage rights

   What the brand can do with your content beyond your own post: repost it, run it as an ad, use it on its website. Paid usage is worth extra, often a lot extra. Our influencer pricing guide covers how to price it. Make all usage start only once you're paid.

9. 9. Ownership

   You keep ownership of your content and give the brand a licence to use it. Don't hand over ownership for the price of a single post.

10. 10. Exclusivity

    Whether you can work with competitors, which ones, and for how long. Exclusivity costs you income, so it should be paid for and narrowly defined.

11. 11. Disclosure

    You'll label the content as an ad, as the law requires: the FTC's Endorsement Guides in the US, the ASA and CMA's rules in the UK. This protects you as much as the brand.

12. 12. Cancellation and disputes

    What the brand owes you if it cancels after you've started (a kill fee), what you owe if you can't deliver, and how disagreements get resolved.

3. The payment clause: three options

The template gives you three payment options. Pick the strongest one the brand will accept.

Option A: Full payment before work starts, held until approval

The brand pays the full fee when it accepts the terms. The money is held by a payment service, not paid to you, until the brand approves the work or the review period runs out. You don't start until the payment is confirmed.

This is the best option for both sides. You know the money exists before you invest a minute. The brand knows it's not paying for something it hasn't received: if you don't deliver what was agreed, it gets its money back.

Option B: 50% deposit, 50% on approval

The traditional freelance compromise. Half before you start, half after. If the brand disappears after the post goes up, you've lost half the fee rather than all of it. Better than nothing, but you're still chasing the second half.

Option C: Invoice after posting, short terms and a late fee

Sometimes the only option with large brands that pay every supplier the same way. If you have to accept it, push for net 15, put a late fee in writing, and make the brand's usage rights start only when you're paid in full. Our invoice template matches these terms. Then read our guide to what to do if the brand doesn't pay, just in case.

4. Free influencer contract template

Copy the template below, fill in the brackets and delete the options you don't use. Keep it short: a two-page agreement a brand actually reads is worth more than a twenty-page one it signs blind.

INFLUENCER AGREEMENT

This agreement is between [creator name or business name] ("Creator") and [brand's legal name] ("Brand"). [If an agency is signing for the Brand: [agency name] signs on the Brand's behalf and is responsible for the Brand's payment obligations.]

1. DELIVERABLES
Creator will create and publish:
- [number] × [format, e.g. Instagram Reel of 30–60 seconds] on [platform] (@[handle])
- [add each deliverable]
Posting window: between [date] and [date].
Each post will stay live for at least [30] days after posting.

2. BRIEF
The Brand's brief, attached as Schedule A, sets out the key messages, required mentions and anything to avoid. Creator has creative control within the brief.

3. DRAFT APPROVAL [optional]
Creator will share a draft by [date]. Brand will approve it or request changes within [3] business days. Creator will not post before the draft is approved.

4. REVISIONS
Brand may request up to [1] round of changes per deliverable. Changes must stay within the brief. Further rounds, or changes outside the brief, cost [amount] each.

5. REVIEW AND APPROVAL
After Creator submits the published posts (and any files), Brand has [7] days to approve them or report, in writing, how they don't meet this agreement. If Brand doesn't respond within that time, the work is treated as approved.

6. FEE
Brand will pay [amount and currency] for the deliverables, [plus applicable sales tax or VAT].

7. PAYMENT [keep one option, delete the others]
Option A: Protected payment. Brand will pay the full fee before work begins, through [HotInfluencer]. The payment is held until the work is approved, or treated as approved under clause 5, and then released to Creator. Creator does not need to start work until the payment is confirmed.
Option B: Deposit. Brand will pay 50% of the fee before work begins. The remaining 50% is due within [7] days of the work being approved.
Option C: Invoice. Creator will invoice when the posts are published. Payment is due within [15] days of the invoice date. Overdue amounts carry a late fee of [1.5]% per month, or the maximum allowed by law if lower.

8. USAGE RIGHTS
Brand may share and repost the content on its own organic social media accounts, crediting Creator, for [duration].
Paid usage (ads, whitelisting or Spark Ads, website, email, print) is [not included] / [included for [duration] for [amount]].
All usage rights begin only once Creator has been paid in full.

9. OWNERSHIP
Creator owns the content. Brand receives only the rights set out in clause 8.

10. EXCLUSIVITY
[None.] / [Creator will not publish sponsored content for [named competitors or product category] from [date] to [date]. This is included in the fee.]

11. DISCLOSURE
Creator will label each post as advertising as the law and platform rules require, for example using the platform's paid partnership label and #ad.

12. CANCELLATION
If Brand cancels after signing but before the posts are published, Brand will pay [50]% of the fee, or 100% if the content has already been created. If Creator can't deliver, Creator will refund anything paid for undelivered work.

13. DISPUTES
Both parties will first try to resolve any disagreement in writing within [14] days. [If payment is made under Option A, release or refund of the payment is decided under that service's dispute process.] This agreement is governed by the laws of [state or country].

Signed:
Creator: ________________  Date: ________
Brand: __________________  Date: ________
Name and title: __________

This template is a starting point, not legal advice. Laws differ between countries and states. For high-value deals, long exclusivity or broad usage rights, have a lawyer where you live review it.

5. Red flags in a brand's contract

Larger brands and agencies will often send their own contract. Read these parts closely before you sign:

• "In perpetuity, in all media, worldwide"

  The brand can use your face and content in ads forever, for the price of one post. Limit usage to a set period and set channels, or price it accordingly.

• Payment on net 60, net 90 or "on receipt of the client's payment"

  You become the brand's (or agency's) lender. Ask for shorter terms, a deposit, or a protected payment.

• Payment depending on performance

  "Fee payable if the post reaches 50,000 views." Unless you agreed a performance deal on purpose, your fee is for the work, not the algorithm.

• Unlimited revisions or approval "at the brand's sole discretion"

  The brand can refuse to approve forever, and with it, refuse to pay. Insist on a revision limit and a review deadline.

• Broad exclusivity with no extra fee

  "Creator won't work with any beauty brand for 12 months." That could cost you more than the deal is worth.

• The right to edit your content

  A brand editing your video and publishing it under your name is a reputational risk. Allow it only with your approval.

6. Is there escrow for brand deals?

When creators search for an escrow service for influencer deals, they usually mean something simple: the brand pays before I start, and someone neutral holds the money until I've delivered.

Formal escrow is something more specific. It's a regulated service where an escrow agent holds money under an escrow agreement until set conditions are met, built for one-off transactions like property, vehicles and domain names. It isn't designed for creative work, where you need a brief, a set number of revisions, a review deadline and a fair way to settle disagreements about whether the work matched the brief. That's why almost no brand deals go through escrow.

Protected payments: built for brand deals

HotInfluencer isn't an escrow service. It's a protected payment built around how brand deals actually work:

• Terms and payment in one link

  You write the deal: deliverables, dates, revisions, usage rights, exclusivity and price. The terms lock when you send it, and the brand accepts that exact version.

• The brand pays up front through Stripe

  By card or bank transfer, without creating an account. We hold the money as your payment collection agent, and email you when it's secured. That's your signal to start.

• Silence means approval

  The brand has a review period you choose, from 7 to 30 days. If it doesn't approve, ask for changes or report a problem in time, the work is approved and the money is released.

• Disputes decided on the terms

  If you can't agree, we look at what the deal says, what you delivered and the messages, and release, refund or split the payment.

Read the full rules in our Payment Protection Policy, or see how it works step by step.