Brand Deals on Instagram: What Brands Check Before They Pay You

How do brand deals on Instagram work?

A brand deal on Instagram is an agreement where a brand pays you, in money or free products, to create or share content about it. You publish the content, label it as a paid partnership and deliver whatever else the contract asks for.

Deals come in a few common shapes:

• Sponsored posts or Reels. You create content featuring the product and publish it on your account.
• Gifted products. The brand sends free products in exchange for coverage. In the US, the FTC counts free or discounted products as a material connection that needs disclosure.
• Partnership ads. A brand runs your branded content as an ad. Instagram lets a brand create partnership ads from your post when you turn on the "Allow brand partner to boost" toggle and tag the brand in the paid partnership label.
• Affiliate deals. You earn a commission on sales from your link or code.

Deals start in two ways. Either you pitch the brand, or the brand finds you. Instagram's creator marketplace, first tested in the US and expanded to more countries in February 2024, lets brands search and filter creators and send partnership messages to a dedicated folder in the creator's inbox.

What do brands check before offering a deal?

Brands check whether your recent posts get steady engagement from an audience they want to reach. Follower count opens the door, but engagement per post, comment quality and audience fit usually decide the deal.

Engagement rate puts creators of different sizes on the same scale. Buffer, for example, calculates it as likes, comments, shares and saves divided by followers. Our guide to calculating Instagram engagement rate walks through the math step by step.

Brands also read the comments. A thread of real questions and replies tells them your audience listens to you. A thread of "Nice!" and emoji strings tells them the opposite.

How to get brand deals on Instagram: 6 steps

To get brand deals on Instagram, pick a clear niche, post consistently, switch to a professional account, build a media kit from real Insights, join the creator marketplace where available and pitch brands that already fit your content.

1. Pick a niche. Brands buy access to a specific audience. "Budget home cooking" is easier to sell than "lifestyle".
2. Post consistently. A few months of regular posts shows brands you are reliable. Our guide on how to become an influencer on Instagram covers building that base.
3. Use a professional account. Creator and business accounts give you Insights, which hold the audience and engagement numbers brands ask for.
4. Build a media kit. One page with your niche, audience data, average engagement, past partners and rates. Use real numbers from your Insights.
5. Join the creator marketplace. Meta says creators join from the professional dashboard in the Instagram app and can list the brands and interests they care about.
6. Pitch brands that fit. Start with brands you already use and mention. A natural fit is the strongest argument you have.

Wondering where the numbers need to be? Our guide on how many likes you need to get paid on Instagram breaks down what matters at each stage.

How to make your recent grid look active before you pitch

The best way to make your grid look active before a pitch is to publish strong content in the weeks before you reach out and to answer every comment. Brands look at your last few posts, so those posts carry the most weight.

• Plan your last 9 posts. Make sure your most recent posts show your niche clearly and include at least one Reel.
• Reply to every comment. Every reply adds to the visible conversation and shows brands that you show up for your audience.
• Ask real questions. End captions with a question your audience wants to answer.
• Pin strong comments. Instagram lets you pin up to three comments on a post. Pin genuine follower comments that show trust.
• Post at your audience's best time. Check when your followers are online in Insights and post then.
• Remove spam. Hide or delete spam comments so your threads look clean.

These are slow, honest wins. They also give you real numbers to put in a media kit, which is the only kind of number you should ever show a brand.

Where paid likes and comments fit, and where they do not

Paid likes and comments fit your own launches and product posts, where a fresh post needs to avoid looking empty. They do not fit a brand pitch: using bought engagement to look more influential to a paying brand is the case the FTC's rule on fake social media indicators targets.

The rule in plain words

The FTC's rule at 16 CFR 465.8, in force since October 21, 2024, makes it unlawful to buy fake indicators of social media influence that you knew or should have known were fake and that materially misrepresent your influence or importance for a commercial purpose. A brand deal is a commercial purpose. Padding your stats to win one is the risky case.

Instagram's own rules point the same way. Meta's spam policy prohibits buying or selling engagement, and Instagram announced in 2018 that it removes inauthentic likes, follows and comments.

Where it can fit

• Your own product drop or shop launch, so the announcement does not sit at zero.
• A Reel for your own business, where the likes + views combo is built for Reels.
• Custom comments you write as questions you then answer, never as fake reviews.

How to keep it honest

Keep media-kit numbers from your real Insights. Never send a brand screenshots of posts you boosted with paid engagement without saying so. If a brand asks, tell the truth. A deal built on honest numbers can turn into repeat work. One built on padded numbers tends to fall apart once the campaign results come in.

What paid engagement costs at SocialGrowthly

At SocialGrowthly, 100 likes cost $2, 30 custom comments cost $5, and you need only a public post or Reel link. Delivery starts 2-5 minutes after payment.

For a Reel launch on your own business account, the likes + views combo page covers it in one order. For product posts, pair Instagram likes with custom comments you write yourself.

Orders never need your password. Checkout opens WhatsApp or email, the team replies with a secure payment link, and if delivery has not started within 72 hours you get a full refund.

How do you disclose a brand deal on Instagram?

You disclose a brand deal on Instagram by turning on the paid partnership label and adding a clear word such as "ad" or "sponsored" where people will see it. The FTC says not to assume a platform's disclosure tool is enough on its own.

Instagram's paid partnership label

Instagram's Help Center says you can disclose partnerships in Feed, Stories, Broadcast Channels, Live, Reels and Instagram videos, and that adding the label is only available in the Instagram app. When you publish, you can add up to two brand partners, and each brand partner needs a professional account on Instagram.

What the FTC asks for

• Disclose any financial, employment, personal or family relationship with the brand, including free products.
• Put the disclosure with the endorsement, where it is hard to miss, not behind a "more" link or at the end of a long caption.
• Use clear words like "ad", "advertisement" or "sponsored". Vague terms like "sp", "spon" or "collab" fall short.
• In videos, include the disclosure in the video itself, not only in the caption.

Clean disclosures also help your next deal. Any brand that scrolls your profile can see how you labeled past partnerships.

How to pitch a brand: a simple message structure

A good pitch is short, specific and built on real numbers. Tell the brand who you reach, why its product fits your content and what you propose to create.

1. Open with the fit. One line on why you already like or use the product.
2. Share your audience. Niche, main locations and age range from your Insights.
3. Share real engagement. Average engagement on your last 10-12 posts, plus one strong example.
4. Propose one idea. A Reel concept or a carousel outline, not a vague "let's collaborate".
5. Attach your media kit. Include rates or ask for their budget.
6. Make the next step easy. End with a simple question, such as whether they have a campaign planned this quarter.

Send it to the brand's partnerships or marketing email, or reply in the partnership messages folder if the brand reaches you through the creator marketplace. Keep the follow-up polite and brief.