Ownership of what gets made
Creative work produced under a marketing agreement, from ad copy and photography to video, designs, and social posts, usually belongs to whoever created it unless the contract transfers it. The work made for hire rule covers employees acting within their jobs and only certain categories of commissioned work under a signed writing, so most agency or freelancer output needs a written assignment or a clear license before it is yours to use freely. Decide whether you need ownership or simply a broad license, and whether the agency may reuse templates or raw footage. Material the agency brings in, such as stock images, music, and fonts, often carries its own license limits.
Your brand in someone else's hands
When a marketer uses your trademarks, the agreement should work as a trademark license, with approval rights over how the brand appears. Endorsement and influencer campaigns carry disclosure obligations under the FTC's endorsement guidance, and advertisers can face scrutiny for a promoter's undisclosed paid relationship or unsupported claims. Statements a marketer makes about your product are still statements about your product, so substantiation and review procedures belong in the contract. Data collected during the campaign, including email lists, leads, and analytics, should have a clear owner and privacy obligations attached.
Money, performance, and the exit
Fee structures range from flat retainers to commissions and performance bonuses, and performance terms are only as reliable as the metric definitions behind them. Exclusivity, non-solicitation, and termination provisions decide how hard it will be to change course. We read the draft against how you actually plan to work with the marketer, flag what is missing, and talk about which points are worth negotiating. Bring the draft, any statement of work, and examples of the content you expect to receive.
