How much do Social Media Influencers cost to hire?

Influencer marketing is a highly effective way for businesses to partner with influential people who can increase the reach and exposure of a business to it's targeted audience. This follows on the concept of word of mouth marketing in the modern age. The influencer industry is estimated to be worth $15 billion in the next 2 years underlining its importance in the modern marketing mix.

With more and more businesses considering the use of social media influencers, we're often asked the question, "how much do social media influencers cost to hire?". This article aims to help those looking to budget for the use of social media influencers.

The thing is, there is no standard formula in terms of the hiring cost. The most we can do is give average figures that you can base your calculations and estimates on. Then we’re going to delve into all of the contributing factors that ultimately determine the cost involved in working with a social media influencer.

Average influencer costs per 1,000 followers/views

Facebook: $25
YouTube: $20
Instagram: $10
TikTok: $10
Snapchat: $10
Twitter: $2
Blogs: $60

The above are standard rates that are used to help determine cost. In addition to these standard rates, there are also additional fees which may need to be worked into the equation. This includes travel expenses, agency fees and production costs.

Most influencers do not publically share their rates. Independent influencers will have rate cards and media kits which they share with potential clients. More established influencers work with agencies who handle the admin on their behalf and in many cases, the only way you'll establish any rates will be to directly approach the influencer or engage an agency to perform this often timestaking task on your behalf.

The cost of working with an agency for your influencer marketing can be determined by whether you engage with the agency on an ongoing, regular basis or if the engagement is for a one-off project. Agencies often have a strong network of connections and can reach smaller, micro-influencers (see below), who may charge little or no money to work with a brand, as well as famous celebrities. Celebrity influencers obviously charge a premium and it's estimated that the likes of Kim Kardashian and Cristiano Ronaldo, for instance, charge around $750,000 per post.

Types of Influencers

When considering using a Social Media Influencer for the first time, it's important to understand what type of influencer they are as well as the potential impact they can have on your business. The following are types of influencers can you can engage.

Nano (under 10k followers)
Micro (10k-50k followers)
Mid tier (50k-500k followers)
Mega (500k-1 million followers)
Celebrity (More than 1 million followers)

Factors affecting costs

Schedule: They frequency you’d like your posts to be shared at, as well as the availability in the content schedule that each influencer has.
Scale: The working relationship you have with the influencer as determined by the length of the campaign you’re running with them.
Brand fit: How well the influencer connects with your brand and their willingness to share these associations and make it part of their personal content.
Deal: The type of campaign you choose to have with the influencer (as described below).
Followers: This determines the league of the influencer and can result in higher rates being charged, provided they have increased influence too.
ROI: The ability of the influencer to affect your bottom line by bringing you leads and sales.
Engagement: This trumps follower rates, as engagement is key to garnering influence among people and is a key marketing objective.
Product or service: Certain industries, products and services will charge higher rates based on the kind of business you are - are you a multinational or small business? Do you sell high end products to services to the masses?
Exclusivity: This refers to the rights to the content which is produced (ie can your business re-share it?), as well as the potential to strike up exclusive partnerships that require the influencer not to work with your competitors for a set period of time.

The price of influence

Once your budget for influencer marketing is established, you’ll be able to determine who and what you can afford. This will inevitably inform your approach and the kinds of partnerships you'll develop. While the costs involved can seem high, it is important to consider exactly what it is that these fees are exchanged for. These include:

Reach: They have favoured access to an audience you’d like to target.
Authentic appeal: The audience trusts their recommendations.
ROI: They have the ability to influence, as this is what qualifies them as influencers.
Creativity: They are producing content to support your marketing and have creative control over the campaign.
Time: It makes the job of the marketer easier and supports the advertising they do from the business directly.
Production: This process and the costs involved are reduced on behalf of the brand, resulting in various concepts and interpretations which speak to your audiences.
Admin: Working with an agency is ideal as they will have a list of influencer contacts who suit your brand and budget. They will handle this marketing for you, from the research to the strategy, the deal, briefing, tracking and reporting.

Types of influencer content and agreements

You can determine specific rates in various ways. This will be determined by the campaign itself and the types of content as detailed below, as well as your campaign objectives. This includes paying per: post / acquisition / click / subscriber / view

Sponsored post
Mentions
Story feature
Contest
Brand takeovers
Live video broadcasting
Video content
Ambassadors (long term partnerships)
Discount code (which can directly measure their ability to generate sales)
Commission (sales based partnerships)
Gifts (instead of or in addition to payment)

Based on the above, it is clear to see that the cost of influencer marketing is incredibly varied. It depends on the market average as well as the type of influencer(s) you work with, the content you’d like them to create and share and the kind of results they can produce.