An influencer agreement buys access to an audience. The brand is paying for a post to appear on the creator’s feed, at a certain time, in a certain form, and to stay there. The contract has to make each of those promises concrete enough that both sides can tell whether it was kept.
Free to start. A template to adapt, not legal advice. See every clause.
On social media, an influencer contract (sometimes called an influencer agreement or social media influencer contract) covers sponsored content the creator publishes to their own Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or other account. The value is the creator’s credibility with their followers, so the obligations centre on publishing: which platform, which format, which day, and for how long the post stays up.
That makes it a different document from a UGC contract, where the brand receives files and posts them itself. Here, the brand rarely gets the files at all unless the agreement grants extra usage. It also differs from a sponsorship agreement, which usually buys a mention inside a larger piece of content such as a YouTube video or podcast episode rather than a dedicated post.
The agreement also carries a compliance job. Under the FTC’s Endorsement Guides, a paid relationship has to be disclosed clearly in the post itself, and both the brand and the creator can be on the hook if it isn’t. Writing the disclosure into the contract, with the exact wording expected, protects everyone.
These are the clauses an influencer contract template should include, with what each side should look for.
Lists each post by platform and format (for example one Instagram Reel, three Stories with a link sticker, one TikTok video), plus required tags, hashtags, links and discount codes.
Creators: Stories frames, link stickers and comment pinning are all separate pieces of work; list them so they’re counted.
Brands: Specify whether a collab post (co-authored post) is required, since that changes where the content appears.
Sets the posting window, the earliest and latest allowed dates, and how long the content must stay published. It also covers whether the creator may archive, edit or delete the post afterwards.
Creators: Leave room for your own content calendar: ask for a window of several days rather than a fixed hour.
Brands: If the launch date might move, add a right to postpone with notice and without extra cost.
Describes the review process: draft submission date, how long the brand has to respond, how many rounds of changes, and what the brand may ask to change.
Creators: Limit change requests to the brief, factual claims and legal requirements.
Brands: Send product claims you need included, and claims to avoid, as part of the brief so they’re checked before filming.
Requires a clear disclosure of the paid relationship in the post itself, such as ‘#ad’ at the start of the caption plus the platform’s paid-partnership label where available, and prohibits hiding it among other hashtags or behind ‘more’.
Creators: Use the platform’s branded-content tool as well as the caption text; it’s often what a reviewer looks for first.
Brands: Monitor live posts and keep a record. The brand is expected to have a reasonable compliance process.
States the fee per deliverable or for the package, what’s paid upfront, the due date of the balance and any product the creator keeps. Gifted product of real value should be noted, since it can be taxable income.
Creators: Get a deposit before posting, and set the balance due a fixed number of days after the post goes live.
Brands: If you pay a performance bonus, define the metric and the data source exactly.
Lists the metrics the creator will share (reach, impressions, views, saves, link clicks, story taps) and when, usually as screenshots from native analytics.
Brands: Ask only for metrics that you’ll use; long reporting lists slow down payment approval on both sides.
By default the brand can share or reshare the post with credit. Anything beyond that, like downloading it to run as an ad, needs a separate usage grant with its own term.
Creators: Repurposing your post as an ad is a different product. Price it like paid usage.
Restricts promoting competing products in a defined category for a defined period around the campaign, often a few weeks before and after posting.
Creators: Check your existing partnerships don’t already conflict before you sign.
Lets either side end the agreement for a serious breach, and lets the brand end it if the creator’s public conduct seriously harms the brand. It says how fees are settled if that happens.
Creators: Make sure ‘harm’ is defined narrowly and that you’re paid for work already delivered.
Brands: Include the right to ask for the post to be taken down after termination.
A sample of the publishing obligations in an influencer agreement. Fill in the bracketed terms for the campaign.
Influencer Agreement — Section 3
3.1 Posting window. Influencer will publish the Approved Content on [@handle] on [Instagram] between [June 3] and [June 7], at a time of Influencer’s choosing.
3.2 Keep-live. Influencer will keep the Approved Content live and unedited for [90] days after publication. After that, Influencer may archive or delete it.
3.3 Disclosure. Influencer will clearly disclose the paid relationship in the Approved Content by placing “#ad” at the start of the caption and enabling the platform’s paid-partnership label. Brand will not ask Influencer to remove or obscure the disclosure.
3.4 Reporting. Within [7] days of publication, Influencer will send screenshots from native analytics showing reach, views and link clicks.
Set the posts, dates, disclosure and fee, then send a signable link to the brand or the creator.
The posts and platforms, the posting window and keep-live period, the approval process, FTC disclosure, the fee and payment dates, reporting, any usage rights the brand gets, exclusivity, and how either side can end the agreement.
Yes. People use the terms interchangeably. ‘Agreement’ is the more common word in the document title; both describe a binding contract once signed.
Not always, but if the brand expects a post in return for product, a short agreement makes that expectation clear and confirms the creator will disclose the gift. Unsolicited gifts with no posting obligation usually don’t need one.
Only if your contract gives it that right. A standard influencer agreement lets the brand share your post organically. Running it as a paid ad, or through your handle via whitelisting, should be a separate, paid usage term.
Both sides can be. The FTC expects creators to disclose clearly and advertisers to have reasonable steps to monitor and correct compliance, which is why the contract should require disclosure explicitly.
For a sponsored segment inside a video, podcast or newsletter.
Read the templateWhen one-off posts become a monthly retainer.
Read the templateLet the brand run ads from your handle, with limits.
Read the templateFor content the brand posts, not you.
Read the templateMore templates: UGC rate card · Content licensing agreement · Content creator contract · All templates