Strategic creator partnerships: a guide to collaborations that benefit your business

Being a creator doesn’t have to mean going it alone.

With creator partnerships and collaborations, you can expand your reach and leverage your existing followers and customers to sell more products and create new revenue streams.

And we get it.

The world of brand partnerships can be confusing for creators, which is why we wrote this guide.

We break down the main types of creator partnerships and how to find the best fit for your business. We’ll also show you how Kit’s Creator Network can help you grow your creator business with partnerships and how to land the partnership of your dreams.

What types of creator partnerships are there?

Creator partnerships are business collaborations between a creator and another brand or fellow creator to promote one or both parties’ products and services.

Let’s look at four options for online creators:

1. Brand partnerships

Best for: Established creators with a substantial, engaged audience

Brand partnerships involve collaborating with a brand to promote their products or services in several ways.

Creators can create content such as photographs, videos, or written content to advertise a brand’s offerings on their platforms or simply host advertising, such as banners created by the brands on their website or newsletter.

For example, I partner with book publishers and individual authors on my website Reading Middle Grade.

Authors and publishers can pay to host advertising on my newsletter or run sponsored content on my website. I set up a Partnerships page with all the information brands need to work with me, which makes it easier for them to reach out if we’re a good fit.

Brand partnerships require good communication and high levels of accountability.

For example, creators often need to get the brand’s approval on their created content and even share reports on the overall performance of their campaign, such as how many people clicked a link or how many impressions a social media post received.

Kit’s Sponsor Network makes it easier for creators to find beneficial brand partnerships with no effort. Find premium brands, negotiate competitive rates, and run sponsored placements in your newsletter in exchange for 20% of the sponsorship fee.

All you have to do is create content your audience enjoys.

Creators with up to 10,000 newsletter subscribers who send at least one email a week can apply to join the Sponsor Network.

2. Affiliate partnerships

Best for: Newer creators looking to start monetizing their content and established creators looking for “passive income”

An affiliate partnership between a brand and a creator (the affiliate) is where the creator promotes the brand’s products or services in exchange for commission or other incentives.

Creators are legally obligated by the FTC to disclose the use of an affiliate link in their content, so you’ll often see an affiliate disclaimer on websites and in newsletters where creators use affiliate links.

For example, on my blog, visitors can find a link to my Disclaimer page in my website’s footer, and each post begins with an affiliate link disclosure.

Affiliate partnerships are a good starting point if you’re new to creator partnerships because most affiliate programs have a low barrier to entry.

For example, Kit’s affiliate program has no entry requirements—you don’t even need to be a Kit customer. Whereas Amazon only requires that new affiliates have at least ten original pieces of blog content and 500 social media followers.

This creator partnership works for newer creators because it requires less communication and management.

Many brands use intermediary networks to manage their affiliate partnerships, so once you become an affiliate, all you need to do is use your affiliate links as often as possible to increase the chances of your audience purchasing through them.

At the end of every month, you’ll get paid without needing to submit work for approval or provide a report to the brand about your sales activity.

Established creators also like affiliate marketing because it’s a relatively passive income stream. For example, a link shared once on your blog or YouTube description box could keep driving sales for years to come—and with each sale, you’ll get commissions!

The only downside of affiliate marketing is that you need a sizable audience to make a significant amount of money. All the links in the world with no audience to buy means zero sales.

Affiliate income can also be notoriously inconsistent, as people’s purchasing patterns are hard to predict.

3. Strategic referral partnerships

Best for: Service-based creators with complementary services

A strategic referral partnership is a collaboration—between two creators offering complementary services in the same industry—in which they refer customers to each other.

For example, a copywriter and web designer could form a referral partnership that entails that each time one gets a new contract, they’ll pitch the other person’s services—often in a cost-effective package deal for the customer.

Other examples of complementary creators are photographers and videographers, as well as musicians and audio producers.

Not sure how to find creators offering complementary services? Check out Kit’s Creator Network (more on this later).

The only downside of this partnership style is that you might not always find clients who want to work with both creators. We also recommend putting the terms of your partnership in writing to avoid future disputes.

4. Collaboration partnerships with other creators

Best for: Creators who have a network of other creators with similar or complementary offerings

We’re firm believers in community over competition, so we recommend collaborating with other creators who offer complementary or similar products and services.

Because you have similar offerings, you likely share similar audiences, which helps ensure your promotions align with people’s expectations and needs.

That’s what vegan food YouTubers Nisha Vora and Pick Up Limes did in 2024. Both food industry creators made two videos, one for each of their channels, thus cross-promoting both Nisha’s cookbook and Pick Up Limes’s mobile application. Win-win!

Kit’s Creator Network is the perfect place to find like-minded creators with whom to collaborate. Our only tip would be to find creators at the same level of growth so that both parties can benefit equally from the partnership.

How to join the Creator Network

There are so many benefits to joining Kit’s Creator Network. You can find other creators just like you and form relationships that make your creator journey less lonely and more enjoyable.

The Creator Network also makes it easy to recommend other creators and get recommended in return, which can help you increase your reach and grow your following.

When you connect with other creators, you can create opportunities to collaborate, create, and cross-promote content on each other’s platforms.

Joining the Creator Network is easy:

Sign into your Kit account (or join us if you haven’t already!).

Then, click on Grow > Recommendations.

Click Join the Creator Network.

Then, complete the form to set up your profile. Upload your profile picture, enter your profile heading, and write your byline and bio. Click Next.

Choose your creator type from a wide range of options. You can select up to three. Click Next.

Finally, choose up to three topics you cover in your content. Click Next.

Just like that, your Creator Network profile is set up and ready to go!

Now, it’s time to find some creators to collaborate with. You can review trending creators on the Creator Network homepage or ask the Creator Network algorithm to match you to other creators like you offering similar services.

To get matched, head to the Creator Network homepage and click Match in the menu bar.

Then click Let’s Go.

Next, you’ll answer questions about your niche and follower count. Click Next after each question.

Finally, you’ll be presented with your top three creator matches, and you can start by recommending them and then reaching out to them for collaboration opportunities.

Not happy with your match? You can run the process again to find better options.

How to find the right creator partnerships

With so many wonderful creators and brands to choose from, you can’t just pick anyone to collaborate with.

To find the right-fit creator partnership, ask yourself these three questions.

• Who is your audience
• What challenges can you solve for your audience through creator partnerships?
• What other companies or creators solve similar problems?

We’ll help you figure out the answers to these questions.

Know your audience

To create brand partnership content that resonates with your audience, you need to know who they are in the first place. Ask yourself the following questions about your audience:

• What stage of life are they in?
• What do they spend their time doing?
• What’s something they’re struggling with?
• What inspires them?

If you can’t answer these questions, try asking your audience.

You can use Kit Polls to find close-ended information like their demographic (For example, age range, whether or not they have kids, how often they travel, etc.). For example, I use Kit’s Polls in my Welcome email to learn how new subscribers found me. It’s always super informative!

You can use Kit tags for a deeper survey or more insight into their interests. For example, ask them to click on a specific link if they’d like to hear more about a specific offering of yours and then tag everyone who clicks on the link as “interested in X product.”

Knowing your audience sets you up to find aligned partnerships they will love.

3 primary audience examples

Here are three examples of who your primary audience could be:

• #1: Young women in their 20s who are interested in dating and aspirational about finding the perfect partner. They’re inspired by self-improvement that makes them more comfortable and confident in relationships.
• #2: Creators who’ve recently launched a podcast but struggled to get downloads. They spend their time learning podcast marketing and aim to get 10,000 downloads per episode.
• #3: Gamers who love watching you stream Fortnite. They like spending their time experiencing games from perspectives like yours. They aspire to be streamers themselves but haven’t taken action towards this goal yet.

Understand the challenges you can solve for your audience through creator partnerships

Solving problems for your audience keeps them engaged and passionate about your business. Your brand partnerships should support your audience and help them reach their goals.

As you consider each potential collaboration, think about the following questions:

• How can you help your audience get from Step 0 to Step 1 in their journey toward their goals?
• What’s missing in your audience’s toolkit to help them get to where you are now?
• Was there something essential you needed when you first started that they could use?

Examples of ways you can solve challenges for your audience

Here are a few examples of how you can solve challenges for your audience:

• #1: Your audience of young women aspiring to find the perfect partner faces dating challenges. You can teach them how to tap into their confidence through your content so they can say yes to more dates. The ideal partnerships could come from brands that make online dating less intimidating or other creators who also create content around dating and personal development.
• #2: Your audience of podcasters aims for 10,000 downloads per episode but keeps struggling to reach that milestone. The ideal partnership could come from a software tool that makes it easier to edit, repurpose, or promote their podcasts. You could either do a full-on sponsored post or get a commission from each sign-up.
• #3: Your audience of gamers love playing Fortnite yet are too scared to stream themselves. You can collaborate with another creator to build a course on “How to Become a Streamer” or create a post to help them by sharing affiliate links to your stack of streaming tools.

When you solve challenges for people, you get paid. But only if you’re clear about the benefit of this partnership to your audience or customers. This is something that author Mark Manson has learned about brand partnerships.

It has to be a product that I genuinely believe will add value to my audiences’ lives. I think if you’re selective about which brands you work with and really care about the product, your readers appreciate it.

– Mark Manson

Consider how other companies or creators solve similar problems

Once you’ve narrowed down who your audience is and how best you can help them, it’s time to search for companies that solve similar problems for their audiences. These are the companies you want to partner with for the best results.

Ask yourself these questions to get started with your search:

• What companies are in my niche?
• Which company has products best aligned with my audience’s challenge(s)?
• Which of these company’s values aligns with my brand’s?
• How would this partnership work best for me, them, and my audience?

To find companies in your niche:

• Google search your niche’s keywords. For example, you could Google “best online dating apps” if your content is targeted toward single people looking to date
• Search social media for companies with your niche keywords
• Ask your audience what their favorite companies/brands are in your niche

Next, select companies to pitch based on how aligned their products are to your audience’s challenges and your brand. Then, ask yourself how this partnership would work best for each of you.

For example:

• Are you looking to cross-promote each other to get more followers or email subscribers?
• Is it best if you promote their brand for a set fee?
• Does it work better if you ask for an affiliate commission?

Pitching a creator partnership benefits all parties and increases your chances of scoring the gig—and being successful at it, too.

How to ask partners to work with you

There are two ways to secure a creator partnership, and both require some effort on your part.

Brands or creators get in touch with you

Although a lot of brands discover creators and influencers on their own, you can make it easier for brands to discover and reach out to you by doing your part to grow your creator business and stay visible in your industry.

It also helps to set up a comprehensive website page with a downloadable media kit that allows brands to learn about your business to minimize the back-and-forth when they eventually reach out to you.

You reach out to creators or brands

Many creators prefer to be proactive by contacting brands that align with their audience. This is an effective way to ensure that you’re only working with brands you actually like—since you’re in charge of contacting them.

The key to a successful pitch is highlighting how the brands will benefit from the partnership. Here’s a simple example of what your pitch email could look like:

Hey [Name],

My name is [Your Name], and I run/own [your website/YouTube/other major platform]. I have an audience of XXXX [share your audience number and describe their needs and interests].

I’d love to talk about the opportunity for a partnership together that can help you grow your following and/or sell more products.

[*Only include ‘sell more products’ if they have products you’ll promote in the partnership]

When would be the best time to talk about collaborating? I’ve also attached my media kit for your consideration.

Thanks,

[Your Name]

The key is making it clear you’re looking to help them with your partnership.
Once they respond and get into the details, you can discuss what you’d like from the collaboration.
For example, are you hoping to cross-promote and increase brand awareness? Are you looking for a set fee to promote another company’s brand? Or would you prefer to receive affiliate payments?

How to set up your creator partnerships

When a brand says yes to your pitch, it can feel like a huge exhale, but that’s only the beginning of your partnership. Here are two things to do from the start to set your creator partnerships up for success.

1. Set clear expectations

Many disappointments come from unclear expectations, so be specific about what you’re offering and what you’re able to deliver in this partnership. Also, make sure that you understand and can deliver on the other party’s expectations.

For example, if you’re collaborating with another creator on a joint workshop or course, be clear about:

• Each person’s responsibilities with creating and promoting the workshop or course
• What you both expect will result from the project (for example, a 20% increase in social media reach or a specific number of sign-ups or income generated)
• How you will share the profit generated (will it be 50/50, 60/40, or 70/30?)

Being on the same page ensures that the partnership is rewarding for both parties and will not suffer an untimely death.

Once these expectations are set, it’s time to draw up a contract.

2. Get a water-tight contract

Partnership contracts can differ depending on the details of the collaboration. Some contracts include clauses about IP rights or protecting internal information from one of the companies. But, generally, every partnership contract will include.

• Deliverable dates
• Type of deliverables
• Payout
• Necessary details about obligations from each partner
• Termination terms or end date

Make sure to save a signed copy of your contract to refer back to as needed in the future.

Amplify your creator business with Kit’s Creator Network

Amplify your creator business through strategic partnerships that your audience loves and start increasing your revenue.

Start forming new connections on Kit’s Creator Network, where you can collaborate with fellow creators.

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