DM templates · Instagram
Reply to brands asking for your rates
When a brand asks for your rates, answer with questions before numbers: what they want made, where it will run, for how long, and by when. Each of those changes the price. Below are replies for every stage, from the first answer to the deal in writing, plus how to spot an offer that isn't real.
Updated 6 October 2026 · 13 templates
13 messages to copy
Tap a card to copy the message. Swap anything in braces, like {name}, for your own words before you send it.
First reply: get the brief
Thanks for the message, {name}, and nice to meet the {brand} team. Before I put numbers together, could you tell me which formats you'd like, when they'd go live, whether you plan to run them as ads, and your budget range?
Those four answers decide the price. Asking for all of them in one message saves a day of back-and-forth.
A quote with three options
Thanks, that's really helpful. For {brand}, I'd suggest three options: one Reel at {Reel fee}; a Reel plus three Story frames at {bundle fee}; or a two-month package at {package fee}. These cover posting on my account; ad usage is quoted separately.
Options let a brand choose a size instead of haggling over one number. Keeping ad usage separate makes the base price easier to approve.
Sharing a published rate card
Sure! My standard rates are in my media kit: {link} They cover posts on my own account. For anything custom, like ad usage or a longer partnership, tell me what you have in mind and I'll price it.
Suits creators who'd rather publish prices than quote each time. Update the kit whenever your rates change, or old numbers will come back to haunt you.
Countering a low offer
Thank you for the offer. For everything listed, my rate is {fee}. If {budget} is fixed, I could do {smaller deliverable} for that instead. Which would work better for you?
Trim the work, not your rate. Doing the same work for less tells the brand your first number wasn't real.
Yes to a gifted product
Thank you, I'd be happy to try {product}! To be upfront: I only post about gifts I genuinely like, and if I do, the post will say it was a gift. Does that work for you?
Under the FTC's guide, a free product is a connection you have to disclose. Agreeing on that before the parcel ships avoids an awkward chat later.
Turning gifting into a paid offer
Thanks for thinking of me! I keep guaranteed posts for paid partnerships, but I'd be glad to quote for {deliverable}. If gifting is all you can do right now, no problem, and good luck with the launch.
Decide your rule on gifts once, for example “trials yes, promised posts paid”, so you can answer in a minute.
Asking about ad usage
One question before I finalise the quote: will you want to run the content as ads, or repost it on your own channels? Usage is priced by how long you'd use it, so I'll add it once I know.
A brand can only run your post as a partnership ad on Instagram once you give it permission, and that permission is worth paying for.
Exclusivity
Do you need exclusivity in your category? I'm open to it, I'd just include it in the quote, since it means turning down similar brands for that period. How long were you thinking?
Exclusivity costs you other deals, so it goes on the quote as its own line, never as a free extra.
Confirming the deal in writing
Great, so to confirm: {deliverables}, going live on {date}, for {fee}, paid within {time} of posting. You'll see a draft first, and the post will carry the paid partnership label. Shall I send this as a short agreement by email?
DM threads get long and hard to search. Restate every term in one message, then move it to email or a contract.
Checking an offer is genuine
Thanks for reaching out! Before we go further, could you email me from your company address at {email}? I confirm all partnerships through official channels.
A real brand can email you from its own domain. Lookalike handles and “ambassador” deals that ask you to buy something first are the classic warning signs.
Saying no to a poor fit
I'm going to pass on this one: {product} isn't something my audience would use, and I only post what suits them. Thanks for the offer, and if you ever have something closer to {topic}, I'm all ears.
Giving the reason in a line helps the brand pitch you better next time, and saves a second round of persuasion.
When they ask for your stats
Of course. I'll send screenshots from Instagram Insights for the last 30 days: reach, top locations and age range. Happy to share results from a past campaign too, if that helps.
Brands ask for screenshots because they're harder to fake than numbers typed into a media kit. Never hand over your login or a sign-in code.
Chasing a late payment
Hi {name}, hope the campaign went well! A quick nudge that invoice {number} for {fee} was due on {date}. Could you check where it is with your finance team?
Typed in the Instagram app, this can go any time. Keep it friendly and exact: invoice number, amount and due date.
Set it up in DMFast
Brands who write COLLAB get your media kit
Put “Brands: DM me COLLAB” in your bio, and messages that mention a collab anyway are caught too. The reply admits it's automatic, gives a real time and hands over the kit while the brand is deciding. Prices stay out of it, because they depend on the brief.
Pick direct messages
Connect your Instagram account and add an auto-reply for DMs. It answers messages, not comments.
Set the word: COLLAB
Any message with the word COLLAB in it gets this answer, in capitals or not.
Paste the message
Add the message shown here and the link card that goes with it.
Free plan, no card. Instagram professional accounts and Facebook Pages.
Rules to know
- Instagram's branded content policies require posts made for a brand in exchange for something of value to tag that brand with the paid partnership label.
- In the US, the FTC's guide for influencers counts free or discounted products as a connection you must disclose, and warns that a platform's own label may not be enough on its own.
- A brand can run your post as a partnership ad only after you've given it permission.
- An automatic reply to a brand's DM has to go out within 24 hours of their last message. Replies you type yourself in the app aren't limited.
- Meta's messaging policy asks automated chats to say they're automated wherever the law requires it.
Sources
What to ask before you quote
A rate means little until you know what it covers. These are the answers that move the number, and why.
| Question | Why it changes the price |
|---|---|
| Which formats, and how many? | A Reel takes more work than a Story frame, and a series more than a single post |
| Will it run as ads, and for how long? | Ads show your content beyond your followers, for as long as the brand keeps paying |
| Do they need exclusivity? | You'd turn down rival brands for that period |
| When does it go live? | A rush job means moving other work |
| How many rounds of changes? | Every round of edits is more of your time |
| When will they pay? | Payment 60 days after posting is worth less to you than payment up front |
Tip: Write the answers into your quote, line by line. If the brief changes later, the price can change with it, and nobody can say you moved the goalposts.
How to work out your number
There's no official rate table for Instagram, and formulas based only on follower count ignore what brands are paying for: how many people see your posts, how they respond and how much work each piece takes. Build the number from your own figures instead.
- Note your average reach per Reel and per Story over the last month, from Insights.
- Estimate the hours a piece takes, from idea to final edit, and what an hour of your time is worth.
- Add your costs: props, travel, a location, an editor.
- Price ad usage, exclusivity and rush work as separate lines on top.
- Raise your rates when you're turning down more work than you take on.
Keep a note of what each brand paid and how the post did. After a handful of deals, those notes are a better guide to your next quote than any calculator.
Red flags in sponsorship DMs
- You're asked to pay first: for the product, for shipping or for an “ambassador” fee.
- The handle is almost the brand's real one, with an extra letter, a dot or an underscore.
- They want your password, or a code sent to your phone, to “verify” your account.
- There's no website, no company email and no one willing to move the conversation off Instagram.
- You're pushed to decide within the hour.
Labelling the post once you agree
Instagram's paid partnership label shows the brand's name above the post. The FTC's guide for US audiences goes further: the disclosure should be hard to miss, inside the video rather than only in the caption, and placed over the image on a Story. Plain words like “ad” or “sponsored” work; vague ones like “collab”, “sp” or a stand-alone “thanks” don't.
The FTC also says US law can apply to posts made from abroad when it's reasonably foreseeable they'll affect US consumers. Other countries have their own rules: in India, the advertising standards body ASCI publishes influencer guidelines that also call for a clear label. If brands pay you often, read the rules where your audience lives.
Questions people ask
Should I tell a brand my rates straight away?
Only if you publish a rate card. Otherwise ask for the brief first: formats, dates, ad usage and budget all change the price, and a number given without them is likely to be too high or too low.
What do I say when a brand only offers free products?
Decide your rule once. Many creators accept a gift to try with no promise to post, and charge for anything guaranteed. Say which applies in your reply, and label any post about a product you were given.
Can I set up automatic replies for brand enquiries?
Yes, as long as the brand messaged you first. A DM keyword such as COLLAB can answer within seconds and share your media kit, inside the 24-hour window. Keep the quote itself manual, since it depends on the brief.
How can I tell if a sponsorship DM is real?
Check the handle letter by letter, look for a real website, and ask them to email you from a company address. Genuine brands don't ask you to pay to take part, or to share your password or sign-in codes.
Do I have to label a post if I was only sent a free product?
Under the FTC's guide for US audiences, yes: a free or discounted product counts as a connection with the brand. Instagram's paid partnership label helps, but the FTC says not to rely on a platform's tool alone. In India, ASCI's guidelines also ask for a label.
Related templates
Set-ups by business
More DM templates
Send these messages automatically
DMFast replies under the comment, sends the first DM in seconds and your link once they answer, day and night. Free plan, no card.
Start free