Which Factors Impact Influencer Rates? 

1. Social Media Platform

Almost half the population is on Social Media.  Facebook has  2.8 billion active users, and that doesn’t even include the billions that use their subsidiary, Instagram.  

Youtube is the world’s second largest search engine, and TikTok, Pinterest and LinkedIn have continued to increase their usership into the high millions (and billions) too. 

You’ll need to do audience demographic research to figure out which platforms have the right audience for your brand. Make sure to consider your industry, your offering, and your competitors. Once you’ve picked a platform, you’ll need to track down the right influencers to promote your brand. 

2. Influencer Follower Count

The more followers/subscribers that a content creator has, the more they can charge. The size of the following will be more or less valuable depending on the platform you choose.

Here are most common  influencer categories  broken down by size:

Nano Influencer: >1,000 Followers

Micro Influencer: 1,000-10,000 Followers

Mid-Tier Influencer: 10,000-100,000 Followers

Macro Influencer: 100,000-1,000,000 Followers

Mega Influencer: 1,000,000+ Followers

3.  Influencer Engagement Rate

In a perfect world, people wouldn’t be able to buy fake followers. Unfortunately, people can and do regularly. With that in mind, you’ll want to pay attention to influencers’ engagement rates and behaviors.

Use this engagement rate formula to calculate an influencer’s engagement rate:

Essentially, you want to make sure that the number of likes they’re receiving is accurate based on their follower count.

A good average engagement rate is around 2%, though 1-3% is also considered reasonable. If someone gets less than 1% engagement, they either have fake followers or don’t do a good job of reaching their target audience.

You’ll also want to check out what their followers are saying. While normal engagement will often be a combination of statements of support, discussions, and emoji’s, a tell-tale for an influencer who purchased followers is “bot-language”  This will come in the form of very out of left-field comments that don’t have anything to do with the post and anonymous accounts with no name attached.

4. Influencer Niche

The industry you’re in has a massive impact on cost per post.

A niche influencer is a content creator with a clear focus-area. Chances are, you’ll need to track down influencers within your niche to reach your target audience.

The amount of time and effort it takes for an influencer to create content will directly impact their cost per post. Jon Peters, a woodworking influencer, explained in a recent interview that his pricing is much more expensive than most content creators, because he is performing carpentry work that he needs to film and edit. Doing woodworking projects is time consuming, and as a result, a brand targeting carpenters must be willing to pay extra money to reach their target audience through woodworking videos.

5. Type of Post

Having an influencer make a video instead of an image post can be more costly. 

That being said, evidence suggests that video posts on social media are said to be better for going viral, receiving higher engagement, and most importantly, closing sales!

You’ll need to decide what types of posts will be best for your brand. Do you want long-form video (10 minutes +), short-form video ( > 10 minutes), just a picture, or all of the above for your influencer campaign? Coming to this conclusion is crucial to determine an influencer budget. 

6. Influencer Demand

Like most things, how much an influencer makes depends on how in demand they are. Big name influencers like Charlie D’amelio are working with household names like Dunkin’ Donuts and multiple other brands, so chances are their schedules are pretty tight. Limited time often results in higher rates per post.

One of the advantages of working with smaller influencers is that they have more availability and a tight-knit following of people in your target audience.

How Much Do Influencers Charge?

The cost of a post fluctuates with each influencer. Looking at the average cost per post on each platform is a solid way to gauge what you’ll need for an influencer budget.

Here is the average cost for an influencer per platform:

Avg  Influencer Rate on Facebook 

In 2021, the average Facebook influencer charges $25 a post / 1000 followers. 

That means a nano influencer may only charge $25, while a mid-tier influencer with 100,000 followers could charge around $2,500 per post. Keep in mind, this may be more expensive if you opt for video content. 

Avg  Influencer Rate on Youtube

In 2021, the average Youtube content creator charges $20 a post / 1000 subscribers 

That means a Youtuber with 10,000 subscribers might charge $200, whereas one with 100,000 might be closer to $2000. Keep in mind, these numbers vary drastically depending on video length and content type. 

Avg  Influencer Rate on Instagram 

Even with the rise on TikTok, Instagram remains one of the hottest social media platforms and offers millions of influencers of varying follower counts for you to work with. 

 In 2021, the average Instagram influencer charges $10 a post / 1000 followers

Avg  Influencer Rate on TikTok

TikTok is the fastest-growing social media platform out there. With hundreds of millions of Gen-Z and Millennial daily users alone (and other generations signing up quickly to stay in the mix), this platform has quickly ramped up as a content marketing behemoth. 

In 2021, the average TikTok influencer charges $25 a post / 1000 followers.  Keep in mind, with its rising popularity, this rate will likely continue to get more expensive. 

Ways You Can Use Influencers

Content Creation: One of the great things about influencers is that they can create content for you. Bring an influencer a thorough outline, and chances are they can make that post / video a reality for you to share on your own website or feed. 

Sponsored Posts: Influencers can make the content for you and then share it on their feed or stories. This is your chance to get a shoutout by an influencer in front of their followers. 

Giveaways: Giving away something for free is a steadfast way to gain followership and viewership on your social profiles. Youtube influencer David Dobrik has been giving away Teslas in collaboration with brands for years, and has millions of people sharing and following brands’ profiles for a chance to win.

 

Hire Within Your Budget

1. Performance-Based Approach

In a win-win approach for both parties, setting up performance-based content creation deals can be awesome for everyone. In this structure, content creators agree to create content for a brand with their earnings based on the performance of the post. That means they’ll want to create the best content out there, so that the content performs well and they can make money as a result.

With a performance based approach, brands reduce the risk in their content marketing strategy, as they will only have to pay an influencer if the content performs well. Talented influencers can also earn significantly more than if they did just one up-front payment, as quality evergreen content can generate clicks for years!

2. Offer Influencers Free Products

Many nano and mid-tier influencers are willing to promote a product if it’s given to them for free. Starting small by targeting smaller influencers with a free product can be a cheap approach to getting your product out there. 

3. Multi-Post Deals

If you plan on producing content at scale, consider having a content creator make multiple videos / posts for you. If they’re able to sign a larger contract, chances are they would be willing to reduce the cost per post. 

This is also a smart bet for establishing a long-term relationship with an influencer. If you really resonate with their content and believe their audience aligns with your brand, signing longer term contracts can set the tone for an ongoing working relationship.

How Brands Can Secure Influencers

Influencers can be very picky when choosing brands to work with, and they’re within their right. 

Here are the ways you can ensure an influencer will agree to work with your brand:

Payment Security

There’s nothing worse than doing work only to not get paid by your client. Unfortunately, this happens all too often with influencers making deals over social media DMs. 

Reassuring content creators that they will be paid for their services is a great way to build credibility. Get them a detailed contract that outlines the scope of work and consider sending influencers their money via direct deposit. 

Products They Believe In

No influencer wants to share low-quality products with their following. Therefore, you want to make sure you work with influencers that understand the value your product or service provides. 

Streamlined Content Briefs

A content creators’ job is substantially easier when a brand outlines their vision for a post. Especially when working with brand-sensitive clients who may come back with very specific edits. Provide details on the title, sub-topics, objectives, and keyword data to the influencer you’re working with to ease their workload and ensure that the project is completed exactly as you envisioned. 

Overall, it’s clear that influencer marketing has a lot of potential for any brand. Keep influencer reach, niche, and the type of posts you want in mind as you build your influencer budget. 

For more information on how you can streamline the process of content creation, read more on Brkfst.io.