Flat-fee influencer deals are a gamble. You pay £300 upfront, the creator posts, and maybe it converts. Maybe it doesn't. Either way, the money's gone.
Performance-based deals flip that equation. The creator gets paid when they actually drive sales. It sounds simple, but most brands get the structure wrong and end up with either no takers or a mess that's impossible to track.
Here's how to build a deal that creators will accept and that actually makes financial sense for both sides.
The three structures that work
Commission-only
The creator earns a percentage of every sale they drive. No upfront payment. If they sell nothing, they earn nothing.
This is the lowest-risk option for brands and the hardest sell for creators. Established creators won't touch it. They have audiences they can monetise regardless — asking them to work for free upfront signals that you don't value their time.
But commission-only works well in two specific situations. First, with affiliate-style creators who are used to earning from product links anyway. They're already in the habit of recommending products and tracking their earnings. Second, with micro-creators who genuinely love your product and want to earn from recommending it. They're not expecting £500 upfront because they've never been paid that before.
Typical commission rates vary wildly by industry. Physical products tend to sit around 10-20% of the sale price. Digital products and apps can go higher — 20-40% — because the margins are better. A good rule: set the commission high enough that a creator with decent conversion can earn more than they'd make from a flat fee.
Flat fee plus commission
A small upfront payment plus a percentage of sales. This is the sweet spot for most first-time deals.
The flat fee covers the creator's production time. Making content takes hours — scripting, filming, editing, posting. Asking someone to do all of that for potentially nothing isn't a great pitch. A modest flat fee says "we respect your time" while the commission says "we also want you invested in the outcome."
For a small brand, this might look like £50-150 upfront plus 15% commission per sale. The upfront amount doesn't need to cover their normal rate. It just needs to be enough that they're not working entirely on spec.
This structure also filters for creators who believe in your product. Someone who thinks they can drive sales will happily take a lower flat fee in exchange for commission. Someone who knows their audience won't convert will push for a higher flat fee and no commission. Pay attention to which they prefer.
Tiered commission
The commission rate increases as the creator hits milestones. First 10 sales at 15%, next 20 at 20%, anything above 30 at 25%.
This keeps creators motivated after the initial push. A flat commission rate means the 50th sale earns the same as the 1st, and most creators lose interest after the first week. Tiered rates give them a reason to keep promoting.
It also works well for longer partnerships. If you're booking a creator for a month-long ambassadorship rather than a single post, tiered commissions reward sustained effort over time.
Setting the commission rate
Start with your margins. If you sell a product for £30 and your cost of goods is £12, your margin is £18. You can afford to pay up to £18 per sale and still break even.
But breaking even isn't the point. You want profit. So work backwards from a target CPA (cost per acquisition) you'd be happy with. If £8 per sale feels right, that's roughly a 27% commission on a £30 product.
For apps, the maths is simpler. If your app charges £4.99 and Apple takes 15% (small business programme), you keep £4.24. A 30% commission to the creator means you pay £1.50 per sale and keep £2.74. That works.
Don't set the rate too low. Offering 5% commission on a £10 product means the creator earns 50p per sale. They'd need to drive 200 sales to earn £100. Nobody's going to promote your product enthusiastically for that.
The tracking problem (and how to solve it)
Performance-based deals only work if both sides trust the tracking. The creator needs to believe they're getting credited for every sale they drove. You need to believe you're only paying for sales that genuinely came from their content.
This is where most DIY setups break down. Discount codes get shared. Manual spreadsheets miss sales. "We'll check our analytics" means different things to different people.
The cleanest approach: give each creator a unique tracked link. Every click is logged. Every purchase that follows a click is attributed to that creator. Both sides can see the same data.
With LinkOwl, you create a link per creator and they use it wherever they promote you. Purchases are tracked automatically through your payment provider — RevenueCat for apps, Superwall for paywalls, or webhooks for custom setups. The creator can see their stats. You can see theirs. No arguments about whether a sale "counted."
What to put in writing
Even informal influencer deals need basic terms written down. Doesn't need to be a legal contract — a clear email or DM outlining the deal works fine for small campaigns. But get these points agreed before anyone posts:
Commission rate and structure. "You earn 20% of every sale attributed to your link" or "£50 upfront plus 15% commission." Be specific.
Attribution window. How long after someone clicks does a purchase still count? 7 days is standard. 30 days is generous. "Forever" sounds nice but creates accounting headaches. Pick a window and state it clearly.
Payment schedule. Monthly is typical. Some brands pay weekly for high-volume creators. Whatever you choose, stick to it. Late payments kill creator relationships faster than low rates.
Minimum payout. If a creator earns £2.30 in a month, do you still send a payment? Most programmes set a minimum — say £10 or £20 — and roll smaller amounts into the next period.
Content requirements. What are they posting? A reel, a story, a static post? How many? Any specific messaging you need included (or excluded)? Spell this out so there are no surprises.
Exclusivity. Can they promote competing products? For commission-only deals, demanding exclusivity is a tough ask. For deals with a flat-fee component, some degree of exclusivity is reasonable.
Pitching it to creators
Creators get dozens of DMs from brands. Most are terrible. "Hey, love your content! Want to collab?" gets ignored.
A performance-based pitch needs to answer three questions the creator is immediately thinking:
How much can I realistically earn? Give them numbers. "Creators with audiences similar to yours typically drive 15-30 sales per post, which would be £45-90 in commission." Specifics beat vague promises.
Is the product something my audience would buy? If you're approaching a fitness creator with a cooking app, they'll pass regardless of the deal structure. Make sure the fit is obvious.
Will tracking actually work? Mention that you use proper attribution. "You'll get a unique tracked link and can see your clicks and sales in real time." This shows you're serious and that they won't need to chase you for numbers.
When performance-based doesn't make sense
Some situations call for a straight flat fee:
Brand awareness campaigns. If you're paying for exposure rather than direct sales — launching a new product, entering a new market — there's nothing to track per-sale. Pay a flat fee and measure impressions.
High-follower creators. Anyone above 100k followers typically won't do performance deals. Their time is worth money regardless of whether your specific product converts. If you want access to their audience, you pay for it.
Very low-price products. If your product costs £1.99 and commission is 20%, the creator earns 40p per sale. Even 100 sales only nets £40. The maths doesn't work for the creator. Either pay a flat fee or bundle with other incentives.
Start small and iterate
Your first performance deal will probably be imperfect. The commission might be too low. The creator might not promote it as hard as you hoped. The tracking might reveal that most clicks happen from stories, not posts.
All of that is useful information. Adjust the rate. Try a different creator. Shift your content brief. The whole point of performance-based deals is that the data tells you what to do next.
Run three small deals before committing to one big one. The pattern in the data will tell you more about your ideal influencer partnership than any amount of upfront research.