Creators pivot as brands’ spending goes into ‘freeze mode’
Some creators are thinking about how to change up their business strategies as they face a slowdown in the volume of brand deals or see deals fall through completely in the financial negotiation phase.
Starting in March, parenting creator Tina Cartwright heard from three brand partners that they would be halting or pulling upcoming campaign spending (around Mother’s Day, for example), citing “budget freezes” and “tightening budgets” in the face of tariffs being imposed by the Trump administration.
“Everybody’s in a freeze mode,” Cartwright said. “[They don’t know what] additional impacts and stresses they’re going to have to account for as a result of these tariffs.”
Cartwright, who has 75,200 followers on Instagram, was eventually able to get the brand deals (she declined to name the specific brands) moving again by adjusting contract terms and timelines. Her official contracts with the three brands are still being finalized, but they will be “restructured into a different form,” while trying to keep the same financial rates, she explained. Mother’s Day is usually Cartwright’s “Super Bowl,” but now those content deals will potentially shift to June or July as brands stay cautious, she added.
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