Influencer Brand Agreements: Use of Deliverables

Minisode Two of Season Nine. Jon continues our in-depth discussion of influencer agreements and brand deals, diving into one of the most important—and often misunderstood—parts of negotiating these deals: how brands can use the content that influencers create. We’re talking about “usage rights” or “content licensing”—in other words, what can the brand actually do with your content after you’ve delivered it?

We will continue to take a deep dive into each section of an influencer agreement in the minisodes to come in this special series.

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A transcript of the episode follows:

Welcome back to The Creative Influencer podcast! This is minisode two of the ninth season, and it’s also the eighth installment in our continuing series on Influencer Brand Agreements.

Today, we’re diving into one of the most important—and often misunderstood—parts of negotiating these deals: how brands can use the content that influencers create. We’re talking about “usage rights” or “content licensing”—in other words, what can the brand actually do with your content after you’ve delivered it?

So here’s the basic question: Can the brand use the deliverables for any purpose they want? And the answer is: only if you let them. Or, more precisely, only if they pay for that right.

Typically, as the influencer, you want to limit the brand’s use of your content to specific digital channels. That often means the brand’s own social media accounts—think Instagram, Facebook, TikTok—and perhaps their website. But even with their website, there should be limits. For instance, you’ll want to define how long they can feature your content there. A common term is six months. After that, if the brand wants to keep your content up or use it elsewhere, they need to pay more.

One of the big pushbacks you’ll get in negotiations is around expanded use—brands may want to use your content at point of sale—like in physical retail stores—or in print advertising. That’s a much broader use than social media, and it should definitely trigger an additional licensing fee. You’re not just promoting on Instagram anymore; your face could be on store signage or in magazine ads. That changes the game.

Even when it comes to digital use, the scope needs to be clearly defined. A brand may ask to use your content in digital advertising or what’s called “whitelisting.” That’s where they promote your content—your actual posts—using their ad budget. Essentially, they’re amplifying your voice, but with their money and control over the targeting.

Whitelisting isn’t necessarily a bad thing, in fact it’s generally a win-win for the influencer and the brand, but it has to be handled carefully. You’ll want to limit both the duration and scope of the whitelisting rights.

And one more thing—just because the content is online doesn’t mean it can live there forever. When the agreement ends, the brand should take the content down from their digital platforms, unless they’re keeping it for archival purposes only—not for continued marketing use.

This is where many influencers—and even their managers—can get tripped up. The brand’s legal team will often push for broad rights “in perpetuity,” and that’s a red flag. You don’t want your content floating around promoting a brand forever unless you’re being compensated forever. And, spoiler alert: you won’t be.

To wrap up, remember: this is a negotiation. The brand wants as much usage as possible. You, as the influencer, want to control your image and make sure you’re being paid fairly for every type of use. Six months is typical. Anything longer than that? That should cost them extra.

Thanks for listening!