Getting brand deals on Instagram: from the official rule to the contract

The direct answer: Instagram defines branded content as "content that features or is influenced by a business partner for an exchange of value, such as monetary payment or free gifts", and requires disclosure with the Paid partnership label through the branded content tool. No follower threshold is published for brand deals. The only official number in the topic is the Creator Marketplace requirement: a public professional account, 18 or older, and a minimum of 1,000 followers. And the brand pays you directly, not Instagram.

1. What Instagram counts as branded content

The official definition is broader than most people assume: any content that features or is influenced by a business partner for an exchange of value. And value is not necessarily money: a free product is an exchange of value, and so is a free stay.

Instagram states this applies to anyone, whether their account is personal or professional. So the label is not a feature for large accounts, it is an obligation on everyone.

There are also prohibited categories, and restricted or pre-authorization categories, for branded content. Review those in the branded content policies before accepting any offer in a sensitive field.

2. Types of collaboration

3. How many followers do you need?

No official number exists for brand deals. Brands set their own criteria, and many prefer a small specialised account over a large general one.

The only official number concerns Creator Marketplace: a public professional account, 18 or older, and a minimum of 1,000 followers. Instagram states it is "available to eligible creators worldwide in all countries where Meta advertising operates".

4. The media kit

A page or two answering what a brand actually asks:

• Who you are and what the account is about, in two lines.
• Who follows you: demographics from Insights.
• Your real numbers: views and an engagement rate, using one formula you name.
• Examples of past work, even for products you use without sponsorship.
• What you offer and what you do not.

The rule: do not inflate. The brand will see the real result after the campaign, and the gap costs you the next collaboration. Your numbers come from Instagram Insights.

5. Pricing: build a rate from your own numbers

There is no rate card here. Every published table is an average of a different market from yours, and Instagram publishes nothing on the subject. The right method is to build the number yourself:

1. Calculate your cost: production, shooting, editing and revision hours, at your hourly rate.
2. Add distribution value: the average views of your last ten posts in the same format.
3. Add usage rights: a brand using your content in its own advertising is worth more than one post that expires.
4. Add exclusivity: being blocked from working with a competitor for a period has a price.
5. Review after three campaigns: if everyone accepts immediately, your rate is too low.

6. Finding brands and pitching yourself

Three practical sources: brands whose products you already use, brands working with accounts similar to yours, and Creator Marketplace if you are eligible.

A short pitch outperforms a long one:

1. One line on who you are and who follows you.
2. One line on why this brand specifically, naming something concrete about them.
3. One specific content idea, not a general offer of services.
4. One number that proves the fit.
5. A clear ask for the next step.

7. How to evaluate an offer

• Do you use the product, or could you honestly?
• Is the category permitted under the branded content policies?
• How many revisions are allowed before the campaign becomes a loss?
• Are they asking for usage rights in their own ads? That is a pricing item, not a detail.
• Is there an exclusivity clause, and for how long?
• When and how do they pay?

8. Negotiation: three things not to concede

1. The right to refuse a claim you do not believe. Your name is on the post, not theirs.
2. A fixed number of revisions. Open-ended revisions are the single most common way a profitable campaign turns into a loss.
3. A written payment date. And half up front with a new brand.

9. The brief and the contract

Before production, agree in writing on: the exact deliverables, the publishing date, the core messages, what must not be said, the number of revisions, usage rights and their duration, exclusivity, payment, and who tags whom.

A written message summarising those points is enough for most smaller collaborations, and it is far better than a verbal agreement.

10. Applying the Paid partnership label

1. Create the post and reach the final screen.
2. Open advanced settings.
3. Turn on the option to tag a business partner.
4. Search for the brand's account and select it.
5. Publish, and the label appears above the post.

The branded content policies also restrict the content's form, including no pre-roll, mid-roll or post-roll ads or banner ads, and no title cards in the first three seconds. Review them before production rather than after.

11. Partnership ads

The official page states that "branded content ads are now called partnership ads". They let a brand promote your post from your own account.

What is officially published:

• Eligible surfaces include Instagram professional accounts.
• A "sufficient follower base" is required, with no number given.
• Political entities are ineligible.
• Meta may discontinue the feature at any time.
• They are created in Ads Manager if the creator has allowed boosting, and they are not available on Threads.

Why it matters to you: permission to boost is a negotiable item with real value. Do not hand it over free inside the price of a single post.

12. For brands: how to approach creators

This section is for brands, absorbed here because both sides are describing the same transaction.

• Select for relevance, not follower count. A small specialised account produces customers; a large general one produces impressions.
• Read the comments, not just the numbers. The quality of comments reveals whether the audience is real.
• Send a clear brief: the objective, the core message, what must not be said, the deliverables, and the date.
• Leave the creator their voice. Copy written entirely by the brand reads as an ad and does not work.
• Ask for the label explicitly. It is your responsibility too, as the business partner.
• Define usage rights in the brief rather than after delivery.

13. Long-term relationships

A single campaign rarely convinces an audience. Repeat collaboration with a brand you genuinely use is both more credible and more profitable. Deliver on time, send a results summary two weeks later without being asked, and propose the next idea.

14. Mistakes that ruin sponsorships

• Not applying the Paid partnership label, which is a documented violation.
• Accepting any offer at any price early on, which fixes your ceiling low.
• Not capping revisions.
• Granting open usage rights for nothing.
• Promoting a product you have not tried.
• Inflating numbers in the media kit.
• Running three sponsorships in a row with no ordinary content between them.

15. FAQ

How many followers do you need for brand deals?

Instagram publishes no number. The only official figure is 1,000 followers for Creator Marketplace.

Do I have to label a post if the product was a gift?

Yes. Instagram's scenario table names gifts explicitly as requiring the label.

How much should I charge?

Build the number from your cost, your average views, usage rights and exclusivity. You will not find a table here, because every table describes a different market.

Does Instagram pay for branded content?

No. The brand pays you directly, off platform.

Can a personal account take brand deals?

Yes, and the labelling rule applies to everyone. Partnership ads, however, require a professional account.

Do I need to be verified for brand deals?

No. The badge has no bearing on sponsorship eligibility: how Instagram verification works.

16. Practical summary

The Paid partnership label is mandatory whenever value is exchanged, including when the payment is a free product. No follower threshold exists for brand deals, so do not wait for a number. Build your rate from your cost, your numbers, usage rights and exclusivity rather than from a published table. Fix revisions and payment dates in writing. And do not grant partnership-ad permission for free, because it is an item with value.

The full comparison of revenue routes is in how to make money on Instagram, and the rest of the library is in the Instagram Resource Hub.

17. Official sources

• Branded content policies: the definition, the tool, the prohibited and restricted categories, and the rules against inserted ads and title cards in the first three seconds.
• Tagging business partners: the requirement to tag when value is exchanged on any account, affiliate links, creators being paid off platform, and partnership ads not being available on Threads.
• The scenario table: gifts, affiliate links and your own products.
• Partnership ads: "branded content ads are now called partnership ads", the eligible surfaces, the "sufficient follower base" requirement, and political entities being ineligible.
• Creator Marketplace: a public professional account, 18 or older, a minimum of 1,000 followers, and all countries where Meta advertising operates.
• Partner Monetization Policies.