In 2025, influencer marketing is almost just as common for a brand to use as your everyday social media or emailing platform. In fact, 84% of brands say that influencer marketing is effective, which means that most brands that you and I know and love are using influencers as a way to help them sell their products or services.
The reason the influencer model works so well is because consumers naturally feel more connected to another human. If they like the person they’re following, they’ll be more apt to buy the product they’re promoting.
Through working with influencers, many businesses and brands have found that their marketing dollars are well spent with this industry and typically experience more reach, new and different content that grabs the attention of their target audience, and of course more sales.
While influencer marketing is a GREAT thing, like all aspects of business, there’s a few legal agreements that must be in place.
Much like that of selling goods online, many people tend to think that this process is plain, simple and straightforward and often overlook the nitty gritty details of what it really takes to make this whole thing legit.
From an influencer perspective, it may seem like all you need to do to get started in this industry is grow your audience, promote products, and pitch yourself to brands. Simple enough, right?!
Well if it were that simple, everyone would be doing it. You see, all of that work means next to nothing if you don’t have a legally binding contract in place when you land your first deal.
Without proper contracts in place, you can do a whole lot of work that can quickly backfire.
And I’m not just talking to influencers here!
But the question can easily become – who should provide the contract in an influencer partnership? The influencer or the brand? Can both parties have a contract? How do you decide? And what happens if one party refuses to sign the other’s contract?
That’s what we’re diving into in this blog post, so keep reading!
Who Provides the Contract in an Influencer Partnership?
If there’s one thing that’s true about me, it’s that I constantly preach having contracts for your brand or business. And that includes influencers!
But knowing how to properly use them is another thing, and sometimes when it comes to influencer partnerships it can be confusing who needs to provide the contract.
The short answer for that is: it depends AND it doesn’t actually matter.
Sounds a little weird, I know, so let me explain.
In an influencer partnership, either the brand OR the influencer can provide the contract, but the decision often comes down to factors like industry norms, the size of the collaboration, and who has more leverage in the partnership.
All that really matters is that there is a contract at all!
Here’s some further explanation:
When the Brand Provides the Contract
Oftentimes, when a brand is hiring an influencer to promote their product or service, they will come with a contract as well. This is especially common in larger partnerships or when a company or brand has a dedicated legal or marketing team to handle these matters.
Why it makes sense for the brand to provide the contract:
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The brand is often the party hiring the influencer, so it’s natural for them to outline the terms of the collaboration.
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Brands have specific goals, timelines, and content usage rights in mind, and their contracts can be tailored to protect these interests.
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Larger companies tend to have standardized contracts for influencer partnerships, making it easier to handle multiple collaborations efficiently.
When the Influencer Provides the Contract
In some cases, however, the influencer may come prepared with their own agreement. This is more common for seasoned influencers or those who frequently work with smaller brands that may not have a formalized process.
Why it makes sense for the influencer to provide the contract:
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Influencers are running their own businesses and want to ensure they’re protected.
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Their contract may include terms that safeguard their creative freedom, payment terms, and intellectual property.
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Influencers who have been burned in the past by poorly drafted brand contracts may prefer to control the legal side of the partnership themselves.
Can Both Parties Provide Contracts?
Typically in any kind of partnership, including an influencer partnership with a brand, you will have one single contract that both parties sign. However, if both parties show up with their own contracts, it’s not uncommon to merge the two agreements or negotiate to create one unified document.
For this to happen, the brand and the influencer would simply exchange their contracts and review the terms and then a single agreement would be finalized through negotiation, incorporating key elements from both documents.
This would ensure that both parties’ interests are represented and protected!
How To Decide Who Provides The Contract in an Influencer Partnership
If you’re entering into an influencer partnership and you’re trying to decide who should provide the contract for the project, a few things to consider include:
Who initiated the collaboration?
If the brand reaches out to the influencer, it’s typically the brand’s responsibility to provide the contract. However, if the influencer pitches the brand, they may present their own agreement as part of the proposal.
Level of Experience
Experienced influencers may have their own contracts to ensure their needs are met, while brands with established influencer programs are more likely to provide a standardized agreement.
Complexity of the Campaign
For larger, multi-faceted campaigns, brands often take the lead to outline specific deliverables, timelines, and budgets. For simpler collaborations, influencers might provide a straightforward agreement.
Legal Resources
Companies with legal teams typically draft the contract, while independent influencers often invest in professionally crafted templates to protect themselves.
What If a Company Isn’t Willing to Sign an Influencer’s Contract?
So, let’s say you’re an influencer and a brand approaches you about a partnership, you’re excited to do it, but when you present them with your contract, they aren't willing to sign on the dotted line…
What’s a girl to do?! 🤷🏻♀️
To be fair, this isn’t uncommon, especially if the brand already has their own legal documents in place. Just like YOU want to make sure you’re protected in the partnership, so do they.
So here’s a few things you can do:
First things first, simply talk it out! Any brand that truly cares about the influencer it works with will more than likely be willing to at least review the contract with you to have a better understanding of why certain clauses are important to you. And if they aren’t willing to do that? Thennnn they probably aren’t a brand you want to be working with anyways!
Next, ask for a combined contract that includes your non-negotiable terms (like payment schedules or intellectual property rights). Most of the time, brands are willing to combine the most important clauses from your contract with theirs.
Ultimately, most brands will respect your professionalism and be willing to collaborate on a fair agreement. If they’re unwilling to budge, however, it’s best to consider whether the partnership aligns with your values and business goals.
Because remember: NO partnership is worth sacrificing your values or your worth! 🙅🏼♀️
What If an Influencer Isn’t Willing to Sign a Brand’s Contract?
On the flip side, some influencers might push back against signing a brand’s contract if they already have their own. And again, the reason likely has everything to do with simply wanting to protect themselves.
If that’s the case, as a brand, here’s how you can address this:
First, as simple as it might sound, communication really is key! Ask the influencer to share their concerns about the contract so that you can have a better understanding of what’s important to them. It could simply be an issue with specific clauses like exclusivity or usage rights – all things that are easily fixable!
Once you have a better understanding of what’s holding them back from signing, be willing to revise terms that feel overly restrictive or one-sided.
Ultimately, you want to show the influencer that your intentions are fair and that the contract is designed to protect both parties, not just you!
But at the end of the day if the influencer refuses to sign after reasonable efforts to address their concerns, it might be best to part ways and find a partner who’s a better fit.
Brand Partnership Contract Templates (For Brands AND Influencers)
Overall, the most important part of this conversation is that contracts are needed and whether it’s the brand that provides them for the partnership OR the influencer, there’s not really a right or wrong answer.
With that said, it’s still smart for BOTH parties to have contracts for their businesses so that you’re ready to use them when the time comes!
Which is why I’ve taken what I know from doing this work one on one and created super simple templates for both – brands AND influencers – to implement with ease.
They’re both easy-to-use fill in the blank templates that you can edit to match the specific details for YOUR brand and business.
FOR BRANDS ➡️ click here to grab yours!
FOR INFLUENCERS ➡️click here to grab yours!
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