How to Get Your First Brand Deal (Even With a Small Following)

Your first brand deal usually comes from pitching a brand you already use, not from waiting to be discovered. Start with small brands that fit your niche, offer a clear idea for one post, and come back after it goes live with real results. Most creators move from gifted product to paid posts once they can show what their content did for a brand.

What brands look at before they say yes

Follower count gets you noticed, but it is not the whole story. Brands check a few things before they reply to you:

• Niche fit. Does your content match what they sell? A skincare brand wants a creator whose followers care about skin.
• Content quality. Clear lighting, good sound, and a hook in the first seconds matter more than a giant audience.
• Engagement. Are people commenting, saving and sharing?
• Recent posting. An account that posted last week looks alive. One that went quiet for two months looks risky.

The creator platform Influee notes that brands screen for niche fit, content quality, engagement rate and recent posting, and that a small account with strong engagement can beat a larger account with weak engagement. Its example: 5% engagement on 5,000 followers beats 0.5% on 50,000.

Step 1: Work out your engagement rate

Before you pitch anyone, know your numbers. A common way to do it:

1. Pick your last 10 posts.
2. For each one, add likes, comments and saves.
3. Divide by your follower count and multiply by 100.
4. Average the 10 results.

Influee suggests putting the number in your pitch if it is above 3%, and leading with your content instead if it is below 1%. Later, the social media scheduling company, makes a similar point: brands often care more about engagement rate than follower count alone, and they can check your stats with outside tools, so never round up.

Step 2: Make a simple media kit

A media kit is a one to five page summary of who you are, who follows you, and what you offer. You do not need a fancy design. You need a short bio, your platforms and follower counts, your engagement rate, your audience basics (age range, location), and any past work, even unpaid. Our full guide on how to make a media kit walks through each section.

Step 3: Build a short list of realistic brands

Your first yes is far more likely to come from a small or growing brand than from a global name. Good places to look:

• Products already in your videos or your bathroom cabinet.
• Brands that already work with creators your size (check who tags them).
• Local shops, cafes, gyms and studios in your city.
• New brands that just launched and need content.

Aim for 15 to 20 names. Write down why each one fits your audience in one sentence. That sentence becomes the heart of your pitch.

Step 4: Know the three kinds of early deals

It helps to know what you are actually being offered. Influee splits early brand work into three types:

• PR package. Free product with nothing expected in return.
• Gifted collab. Free product in exchange for an agreed post. No cash, but you owe content.
• Paid deal. The brand pays you a fee for a sponsored post on your channel.

Gifted collabs are a normal first step, because you are usually the one who starts them. They are a stage, not a ceiling. Treat each one as a chance to collect results you can show the next brand.

Step 5: Send a pitch that is easy to say yes to

Keep it short. A good pitch has:

1. One line on who you are and what your content is about.
2. Why this brand. Be specific. "I have used your cleanser for a year and my followers keep asking what I use" beats "I love your brand."
3. One clear idea. "A 30 second routine video showing it in my morning, posted on TikTok and Instagram."
4. Your numbers. Followers, engagement rate, and your audience basics.
5. A link to your media kit or best three posts.

Send it by email or DM to the person who runs influencer or social work, not a general help inbox, when you can find them.

Step 6: Follow up with results

Influee observes that brands often move on the second ask, not the first. After a gifted post goes live, send the brand a short note with what happened: views, saves, link clicks, and any comments asking where to buy. That note is what turns "send us a video" into "what is your rate?"

Step 7: Use the platform marketplaces

The apps themselves have places where brands look for creators:

• TikTok One (Creator Marketplace). TikTok's help center says you must be 18 or older, in a region where it is available, and follow its Community Guidelines and Branded Content Policy. Joining specific brand projects typically needs 1,000 or more followers plus other requirements that vary. After you sign up, you can add your starting rates and the industries you work in.
• YouTube Partner Program. This is for ad revenue, not brand deals, but it shows brands you are serious. Google's help page lists 1,000 subscribers plus either 4,000 qualified watch hours on long-form videos in the last 365 days or 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days.

Step 8: Disclose every deal, even free product

This part is not optional. The FTC says free or discounted products count as a financial relationship, so a gifted collab needs a disclosure just like a paid one. Put it where people will see it, inside the video and said out loud, not buried in a hashtag pile. Simple words like "ad," "sponsored," or "thanks to the brand for the free product" work. The FTC says vague tags like "sp," "spon" or "collab" are not clear enough.

Step 9: Get it in writing

Even a gifted deal should have a short written agreement once a post is expected. Watch for one clause in particular: whether the brand can run your video as a paid ad. Influee warns that this is advertising use beyond a normal post, and you should ask how long they want it and charge for it. Our brand deal contract checklist covers what else to look for.

Step 10: Set a starting rate before anyone asks

When a brand finally says "what do you charge?", you want an answer ready. Read our guide on how much to charge for a sponsored post and pick a number for one video, one photo post, and one story set. You can always adjust later.

How Plane Site helps

Plane Site Talent Management works with digital-first creators and athletes on exactly this stage: we bring brands to you, set rates, shape your media kit, and read every contract line before you sign. Clients also start on a guaranteed minimum monthly income deal from Day 1, before any national brand signs (talk to us about the details). If you want a team on your pitches, book a call or see how we work with influencers.

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