Lost on what to pay an Instagram influencer? You’re not alone. Rates can vary widely, and for valid reasons. Determining the appropriate amount to pay an influencer for a campaign depends on far more than follower count or industry budgets and standards. Here is a list of factors to consider when determining how much to...
Lost on what to pay an Instagram influencer? You’re not alone. Rates can vary widely, and for valid reasons. Determining the appropriate amount to pay an influencer for a campaign depends on far more than follower count or industry budgets and standards. Here is a list of factors to consider when determining how much to pay influencers on Instagram for a sponsored brand campaign.
Engagement rate
Engagement rate is undoubtedly one of the strongest metrics to look at when scouting and budgeting for a campaign. Rates above 6% are considered very high. Influencers with these stats may justify charging brands a heftier price for access to their captivated audiences.
Deliverables
Pricing can vary widely depending on a campaign’s deliverables. The longer the deliverable checklist, the more expensive a campaign will be. Here are examples of the most common Instagram campaign deliverables:
- Number of Images: Is the influencer posting a single image? A carousel? Are multiple Instagram posts required for the campaign? The more images and posts required, the higher the price.
- Instagram Stories: If Instagram Stories are a deliverable, influencers can charge additional fees per slide.
- IGTV: Video is an entirely different beast from still images. Including an IGTV video as a deliverable will greatly increase the cost of an Instagram campaign.
- Specific callouts in the caption: Aside from the required FTC #ad disclosures, brands can give influencers general caption guidelines with talking points, a fully-written caption to be copied and pasted directly, and anything in between.
- Dedicated link in bio: Only one link can live in an Instagram bio at a time. It costs a pretty penny to get a branded link to take up all of that precious real estate.
Production value
Production value is often one of the major reasons that an influencer gets scouted by brands in the first place. The overall production quality and value of the creative assets will impact what an influencer will charge, and therefore, what brands pay. For instance, iPhone photography may cost less than high-resolution photos taken with a DSLR. Video content is generally more expensive to produce than still images. Specifying the equipment and content medium an influencer is permitted to use for a campaign will drive up the price.
Dedicated vs non-dedicated
Sponsored posts don’t necessarily have to be dedicated to a single brand. Dedicated Instagram posts are much more expensive than non-dedicated ones. In a non-dedicated post, the influencer is allowed to depict or discuss other items in conjunction with the sponsored product. For a dedicated post, the influencer must make the sponsored product the sole focus of the caption and creative assets. Non-dedicated posts are a great way for brands to get quality creative assets of their product and exposure at a lower price point.
Exclusivity
Brands can choose to include an exclusivity clause in their influencer contracts. This is to ensure that the influencer will not post any content containing the brand’s competitors for a designated period of time. The longer the time period, the more a brand will need to pay, in order to offset the costs of the influencer purposefully limiting their deals with other brands.
Timeline
It’s important to give an influencer enough time to fulfill all of the deliverables and requirements of a campaign so that they can produce their best work. A shorter turnaround time on the brand side may warrant a rush fee.
Usage rights and licensing
Influencer images are often used in brand advertisements and emails, but not for free. To request the rights to the assets from a sponsored campaign, a brand will have to pay an additional amount of money for the influencer to waive their rights to the assets entirely.