7 Tips to figure out influencer rates
Influencer rates are a vital component of any marketing strategy. They can help drive traffic, increase brand awareness, and create a buzz around your product or service. But before you reach out to an influencer for sponsorship, it’s essential to understand what you’re paying for and what you can expect.
Many factors will go into the cost of hiring an influencer, such as follower count, niche, and even time commitment. To help you better understand how to calculate your influencer rates, here are five tips to figure out what kind of rates to expect.
1. Gifting or Rewards
Influencers usually have a set rate for sponsored posts, but some offer a “gifting” option where they’ll give away items related to the post’s topic. But, of course, this means you have to pay for the item. So a considerable part of influencer marketing is about building relationships with your audience.
The more time you spend connecting with them, the more likely they will share your content. I like to start with a gift or a small reward for them in exchange for their help. This creates a sense of loyalty, which will make it easier to ask for their help again in the future.
2. Comped Event or Trip Attendance for Influencer Content
Influencers can receive compensation for attending events such as conferences or trade shows. If your influencer is a speaker, they will likely receive a comped ticket to the event. In addition, you are paying for the speaker’s travel and lodging, but not the time spent on stage, for influencers paid to attend events to negotiate an amount for the influencer to be compensated for attendance.
This can vary from $100 to $1,000 depending on the type of event (i.e., trade show, convention). The more time and effort that goes into planning and attending an event, the more you should expect to be compensated. For example, if the influencer does not have a booth at the event or is only there as a guest speaker or panelist, then compensation will likely be less.
3. Store Credit and Rebating
Influencer marketing is a hot topic, and companies pay influencers to promote their products. Some of these influencers may require a “rebate” or “store credit,” which means the company will pay back some portion of the cost to promote a product. For example, if an influencer charges $100 for a post, but the company has to pay them $20 in service fees, the influencer will receive $80 in profit. To calculate rebate percentages, you need to calculate how much of the total price is covered by store credit.
4. Content Licensing Fees for Brand Awareness
Influencer rates offered to brands in exchange for a product or service are often based on brand awareness. This is generally done through a content licensing fee. A content licensing fee is the amount an influencer charges for using their content on their social media channels.
The content licensing fee is usually paid upfront before the influencer posts anything on their social media channels. An excellent way to determine your content licensing fees is by looking at other brands and seeing how much they’re paying to use their content.
5. Pay Per Post and Sponsored Posts
This is probably the most common way to figure out influencer rates. Pay per post is when you pay influencers for each post they create. So instead of paying influencers a flat rate, you can pay them based on their posts’ number of views or engagements. This can be a great way to get more bang for your buck, as an influencer can earn more money by creating more content with less effort.
6. Performance-based Partnerships
Performance-based partnerships are a great option to build a long-term relationship with an influencer. In this type of partnership, you pay the influencer based on what they deliver in engagement and results. This is a helpful way to determine payment for influencers with a high volume of followers but less engagement.
7. Fixed rate + performance Bonus
Influencer marketing is a long-term relationship. If the influencer is not working with you, they likely won’t be open to a fixed rate. Instead, they want to be paid on a performance basis where they are only paid when you’re getting results. This type of contract will vary from influencer to influencer, but you must know what you’re getting before signing anything.
This is an unmissable opportunity for brands to get in front of their target audience. But it’s important to know how much you’ll need to pay influencers before you sign on the dotted line. I’ve listed the different pricing models above, so you can choose the one that works best for your brand.
