How to Get Brand Deals as a Content Creator in the UK

So, you want brand deals?

You’re making content, you’re growing your audience, and now you’re ready to start getting paid — not just by TikTok or YouTube, but by actual brands.

But here’s the truth most people won’t tell you:
You don’t need a massive following to land brand deals. You just need the right approach.

Let’s break it down.

🤝 What is a brand deal?

A brand deal is when a company pays you to promote their product or service in your content. That could mean:

• A TikTok or Reel showing how you use their product

• A shoutout in a YouTube video

• A full post on your Instagram grid

• Or even a whole series or long-term collaboration

The key thing is: they’re paying you for your influence — not just your followers, but your engagement, content style, and niche.

📈 When can you start reaching out?

You don’t need 100k followers.
In fact, many brands prefer smaller creators with strong engagement (aka micro-influencers).

As a general guide:

• 1,000+ followers: you can start pitching

• 5,000–10,000: you’ll be more appealing to mid-size brands

• 10k+ with good views: you’re a serious option

But numbers aren’t everything — brands want results.
If your audience listens to you, you’re already valuable.

✉️ How to pitch to brands (without being cringe)

You don’t need to wait for brands to come to you. Here’s how to pitch like a pro:

1. Find the right contact
   Look for the brand’s influencer manager, PR agency, or marketing contact (LinkedIn or their website is your friend).

2. Send a short email or DM
   Example:

   “Hey [Name], I’m a content creator who makes [your niche] videos and have an engaged audience of [your follower count]. I love your brand and think my audience would too. Would you be open to a collab?”

3. Attach a media kit
   Keep it simple: who you are, your stats, what content you make, past examples (if any), and contact info.

4. Follow up (once, not 20 times)
   If they don’t reply after a week or two, give it one nudge. If it’s a no — move on. Don’t take it personally.

🎯 What brands look for

• Niche alignment: Does your content vibe with their product?

• Content quality: Video, audio, lighting — do you look polished?

• Engagement: Comments, likes, shares — not just views

• Brand safety: Are you swearing every sentence? Risky behaviour? Brands want clean reputations.

💸 How much should you charge?

This is where most creators get stuck.

Here’s a very rough guide (per post/video):

• 1k–5k followers: £50–£150

• 5k–10k: £150–£300

• 10k–25k: £300–£750

• 25k+: It varies a lot. You can charge £1k+ with good engagement

But it’s not just about followers.
You can also charge more for:

• Exclusivity (you don’t work with competitors for a set time)

• Usage rights (they run your content as ads)

• Whitelisting (they run ads from your page)

• Extra edits or platforms

🧾 And don’t forget — it’s all taxable

Brand deals are self-employed income in the UK.

So if you’re getting paid:

• Cash

• Bank transfer

• Free stuff (yep, freebies count too!)

…you need to declare it in your Self Assessment tax return. And if your total income hits £90k, you may need to register for VAT too.

🔑 Final thoughts

Brand deals are a legit way to turn content creation into a real business.
But don’t sit around waiting to be discovered. Reach out, pitch well, and stay professional.

If you need help setting yourself up properly for tax and accounting, or just want to know how to track all this income the smart way — that’s exactly what I do.

I help UK-based content creators and online business owners like you:

• Pay less tax

• Stay compliant with HMRC

• Set up limited companies

• Structure income from brand deals, ad revenue, digital products and more

📞 Book your free call here — no pressure, just solid advice tailored to how you earn.