All Influencers Are Not Created Equal, & Neither Is Their Compensation. Additionally, having an impressive amount of followers doesn’t necessarily equate to an influencer being able to drive their fans to action.
Below are 6 key pointers to let you determine how much you should/could charge per post
Note: None of the figures below are made up by me. It is pure research and an average, based on international standards. Feel free to +/- dolla’s based on your worth. I went through over 20 websites and below are the ones I found most trustworthy and relatable wrt the current trends.
Intro
Influencer marketing has become one of the most effective marketing tactics in this generation. A research done by Sway Group claims, “a successful influencer marketing campaign earned an average of $6.85 in media value for every $1 they spent on paid media”. These days, 92% consumers trust personal recommendations while only 33% trust traditional ads, such as, billboards and TV.
An important point: A brand should take into consideration, that an influencer/blogger cannot make or break your business. 3rd party promoters can only generate ‘awareness’ about your brand.
The major pros and cons of paying/not paying influencers,
Many micro-influencers – have high engagement rates and are frequently asked for recommendations online. That means your one-time collaboration may reap benefits for the long-term if it is a successful collaboration on both parts. They even have a significantly lower cost-per-engagement.
Celebrity-level influencers set their rates based on the access you’ll gain to their large follower base. The elite tier of such influencers will have an agent or agency representative you must work through to come to an agreement. At the same time, these **trusted** influencers can even promote your business like no one else (considering their fans trust them and they are genuine with their postings/content).
Below are average Instagram engagement rates by followers,
Click here to learn how to calculate your engagement percentage.
Now… let’s get started, shall we?
There’s no one-size-fits-all algorithm you can use to evaluate an influencer’s value to your brand as a collaborator. However, there have been surveys that have looked into typical influencer content creation rates.
1. Did you know, Influencers in the United Arab Emirates charge the highest (on an average)?! (the below is not specific to a certain follower count)
Influencers in UAE charge about 25% more than those in the United States and Canada. While the U.S. makes up the largest % of Instagram accounts globally, the U.A.E. has experienced a surge in its internet-using residents using Instagram. Not only that, but those in the U.A.E. are also more open to sponsored content on social media than their global counterparts.
While the cost of living and average salaries may come into play with how much influencers in different countries charge for sponsored posts, that’s not always the case. For example, Singapore remains the world’s most expensive city, but influencers there fall to the 13th spot with an average of $129 per post.
2. Among the Instagram accounts studied by Influence.co – engagement rates decrease as popularity grew. As your count increases, it’s only natural that the percentage will drop significantly.
3. Sproutsocial also had an interesting survey done and they concluded on the below (thank God it’s not just based on a follower count!),
- $175 per collaboration w/ 10,000 monthly impressions
- $500 per collaboration w/ 100,000 to 500,000 monthly impressions
- $1,000-$5,000 per collaboration w/ 500,000+ monthly impressions
4. Captiv8 has created an interesting table (according to me, this is what the bloggers in UAE typically charge from what I’ve heard)
5. Here’s another look of costs by Economist
YouTubers definitely charge the most due to the time spent/complexity of video creation.
6. Using CPM (CPM means the cost to reach one thousand people. An average CPM for a sponsored post starts from $5 and can go up to even $20 on Instagram, depending on the Industry, budget of the advertiser and the engagement rate of the Social Media Influencer)
Formula: [Number of Followers ÷ 1,000] x $CPM (CPM from ~$5)
Click here and here to read more about CPM. According to me, for ordinary bloggers, this method cannot be relied on entirely as we never really know the campaign costs. Additionally, I don’t think we can always be the judge on how much our CPM can be.
Remember, these numbers are not set in stone or the “official” pricing for all influencers. Some may charge less and others might charge significantly higher. But you can use the figures above as a starting point. If you identify an influencer who is a good brand fit with a high level of audience engagement, it’s likely you can identify a mutually-beneficial collaboration you can both afford. Also, please don’t fall for a fake influencer. Click here to find out “How to spot a fake influencer”.
Sources