How Much Should You Be Paying for Influencer Marketing?

Posted at Mar 18, 2019 7:45:00 AM by Taylor De Luca | Share

The power of influencer marketing is very apparent in today’s digital world, and it doesn’t seem to stopping anytime soon. And although many companies understand its importance, identifying the right amount of influencer marketing spend is still a bit of a mystery. To be honest, there is no exact answer for how much to pay social media influencers, but here are some guidelines to consider.

Factors to Consider

Before you determine how much to pay social media influencers, you need to consider the following factors:

Social media platform. Instagram tends to be the top choice for most influencer marketing, followed by YouTube and Snapchat. However, it is not uncommon that an influencer will also cross-promote content on Facebook and Twitter.
Number of followers. The number of followers a social media influencer has will greatly impact their asking price. The more followers they have, the more they will charge.
Engagement. It’s easy to buy fake followers, but it’s hard to buy engagement…that is why I consider this a more powerful factor than followers. The higher the engagement rate, the greater reach your brand will receive.
Campaign. How much you spend will also depend on how many posts the influencer will provide and who creates the content…you or the influencer?

Spending Guidelines

Although there isn’t an exact answer for the right amount of influencer marketing spend, there are the following guidelines you can refer to:

Instagram. $10 per 1,000 followers or $250 - $750 per 1,000 engagement
YouTube. $20 per 1,000 subscribers or $50 - $100 per 1,000 video views
Snapchat. $10 per 1,000 followers or $100 per 1,000 views

Keep in mind that this is just a reference. Not all social media influencers abide by these guidelines.

In addition, I encourage you to negotiate pricing with any potential influencer. I have found that most social media influencers are willing to compromise on their prices.

If you're looking to set guidelines for your social media ad budget as a whole, I recommend downloading our free calculator tool: