Flat-fee influencer deals are a gamble. You pay £300 upfront, the post goes live, and you either make your money back or you don't. There's no middle ground and no safety net.
Performance-based deals flip that equation. Instead of paying for a post, you pay for results. The creator earns money when they actually drive sales. Less risk for you, and creators who genuinely convert get paid more than they would from a flat fee.
But "performance-based" covers a lot of ground. Commission-only, flat fee plus commission, revenue share, tiered bonuses. Each structure works differently and suits different situations. Here's how to think about which one fits.
Commission-only deals
The creator gets paid a percentage of every sale they drive. No upfront payment. If they generate zero sales, they earn zero.
This sounds ideal from a brand's perspective, but there's a catch: good creators won't accept it. If someone has a proven track record and an engaged audience, they'll take the flat-fee deal from a competitor brand instead. Commission-only arrangements tend to attract newer creators who are still building their audience and don't have the leverage to demand upfront payment.
That's not always a bad thing. Newer creators often have smaller but more engaged audiences. And because they're motivated by commission, they'll often put more effort into the content than someone who's already been paid.
Commission-only works best when:
- You're working with micro or nano-influencers (under 20,000 followers)
- Your product has a high enough price point that commissions feel meaningful
- You can offer a generous percentage (15-30%) because you're not paying anything upfront
- You have proper tracking in place so the creator can see their own performance
Without tracking, commission-only deals fall apart. The creator needs to trust that they're being paid fairly, and "trust us, we'll count the sales" isn't enough. Give them a tracked link through something like LinkOwl so both sides can see the numbers.
Flat fee plus commission (hybrid)
This is the structure most brands should start with. You pay a smaller upfront fee — enough that the creator feels valued and compensated for their time creating content — plus a commission on every sale they drive.
A typical hybrid deal might look like: £100 upfront + 10% commission on each sale. The flat fee covers content creation costs and signals that you're a legitimate brand. The commission gives the creator upside and aligns their incentive with your goals.
Hybrid deals work because they solve both sides' problems. The creator gets guaranteed income regardless of performance. You get a lower upfront cost than a pure flat-fee deal, plus a creator who's financially motivated to drive results.
The hybrid structure is also useful for negotiation. If a creator typically charges £400 for a post, you might propose £200 upfront plus 15% commission. If the campaign goes well, they'll earn more than their standard rate. If it doesn't, you've spent half as much.
Revenue share
Less common for one-off campaigns, but worth understanding. A revenue share means the creator gets a percentage of all revenue (not just commission on individual sales) for an agreed period. This is closer to a business partnership than a marketing campaign.
Revenue shares make sense when a creator is deeply embedded in your brand — think brand ambassadors who post consistently over months, or creators who helped develop or co-brand the product.
For most brands running their first few influencer campaigns, revenue share is overcomplicated. Stick with flat fee or hybrid until you find a creator who consistently delivers and deserves a longer-term arrangement.
Tiered commission
A variation on commission-only or hybrid deals. The commission rate increases as the creator hits sales milestones.
For example: 10% commission on the first 50 sales, 15% on sales 51-100, 20% on everything above 100. This rewards high performers and gives the creator a reason to keep promoting your product beyond the initial post.
Tiered structures work well for ongoing relationships. They're fiddly for one-off campaigns because the creator rarely hits upper tiers from a single post.
How to decide which structure to use
Start by asking yourself two questions:
How much can you afford to lose? If the campaign generates zero sales, how much are you comfortable having spent? That number is your maximum flat-fee budget. If the answer is "nothing," you're looking at commission-only, which limits your creator options.
What's a sale worth to you? If your product sells for £30 and your margin is £15, you can afford to give away £3-5 per sale in commission (20-33% of margin) and still be profitable. If your product sells for £5, commission structures become harder to make attractive.
For most small brands running early campaigns, hybrid deals at 15-20% commission with a modest flat fee (£50-200) are the sweet spot. You're not betting the farm on any single creator, and the commission percentage is high enough to keep them motivated.
The tracking problem (and why it matters here)
Performance-based deals only work if both sides agree on the numbers. "How many sales did I actually drive?" is a question the creator will ask, and you need a clear answer.
Discount codes are one option, but they leak. Codes get shared on coupon sites, and suddenly you're paying commission on sales the creator didn't actually drive.
Tracked links are cleaner. Each creator gets a unique link. Every click and purchase through that link is logged and attributed. No ambiguity, no arguments. The creator can see their performance, you can see your ROI, and commission payouts are based on actual data rather than estimates.
With LinkOwl, you create a link per creator and purchases are automatically attributed when they come through RevenueCat or Superwall. When it's time to pay commissions, you pull the numbers from your dashboard instead of cross-referencing spreadsheets.
Setting the terms
Put the deal in writing, even if it's just a DM or email. Cover these points:
- Commission rate (and whether it's on revenue or profit)
- Payment schedule (monthly? after each campaign?)
- How sales are tracked (explain the tracked link)
- How long the attribution window lasts (7 days after click? 30 days?)
- Whether the flat fee covers content creation, posting, or both
- Usage rights (can you repost their content in your ads?)
The attribution window matters more than people realise. Some audiences buy the same day. Others take a week. A 7-day window is standard for social media campaigns. Anything longer than 30 days is unusual and hard to justify.
What happens when it works
When you find a creator who consistently drives sales through a performance-based deal, you've found something valuable. Double down. Increase their flat fee. Offer exclusivity. Build a long-term relationship.
The data from tracked links makes this easy. You can show the creator exactly how much revenue they've generated, which makes renegotiating rates straightforward for both sides. No guessing, no awkward conversations about "what are you worth" — the numbers speak for themselves.
Performance-based deals aren't about squeezing creators. They're about building partnerships where both sides win when the numbers go up. Get the tracking right from the start and the structure takes care of itself.