Creator deal pricing — CPC vs flat fee

Use when structuring creator compensation. Produces a deal structure with the risk sitting where it belongs. The one-line rule: pay flat when you're buying a message, pay per click when you're buying pipeline.

The economics of each

A €1,000 flat-fee post has wildly different unit economics depending on how it lands: 300 qualified clicks = €3.30 each; 60 clicks = €16.70; 15 clicks = €67. The buyer absorbs all of that variance. Under CPC (network range roughly €1.90–2.90 per qualified click), the same outcomes cost what they're worth — weak posts self-limit, strong posts scale without renegotiation. Flat fee caps the upside; CPC caps the downside at "you only paid for real clicks."

For context: LinkedIn Ads runs €8–15+ per click for B2B SaaS, and personal creator accounts reach 3–5× more than company pages — either creator structure beats ads on unit cost when the audience fits.

When flat wins

• narrative control matters more than clicks: launches, category narratives, awareness moments
• a scarce high-authority creator won't take performance terms — and their association is the asset
• the KPI genuinely isn't traffic

When CPC wins

• the goal is pipeline and the campaign runs across several creators
• budget predictability matters — unit cost stays fixed whatever each post does
• you want incentives shared: the creator earns on the same metric the brand reports

Make performance deals fair

A qualified click = passes tracking AND ≥30 seconds on-site. That single definition filters accidental taps and bots, prevents gaming, and gives both sides the same number to look at. Handle payments through a platform statement rather than bilateral invoices where possible — most salaried B2B experts can't easily invoice a one-off sponsorship, and the paperwork kills deals that should have happened.

What good looks like

A great deal structure names what's being bought (message vs pipeline), prices accordingly, and defines the qualified click before the post goes live. A mediocre one pays a big flat fee for "reach" and discovers the €67-per-click math afterwards. The overlooked failure: performance terms with no engagement threshold — raw click counts invite exactly the traffic nobody wants.

MUST decide message-vs-pipeline before negotiating a number. MUST define the qualified click in writing on any performance deal. NEVER pay on raw impressions or unfiltered clicks.