Expert Influencer Pricing Guide to Elevate Partnerships

More and more businesses are shifting from traditional marketing strategies to influencer marketing and influencer marketing platforms. And for good reason. Influencer marketing continues to be a viable marketing strategy when it comes to improving brand awareness, promoting products and/or services, increasing sales, and more.

The return on investment (ROI) of influencer marketing is also pretty enticing for brands. The ROI of influencer campaigns can be in excess of $18 per every dollar spent.

More enticing influencer marketing statistics include:

• 93 percent of marketers utilize influencers
• 90 percent of marketers believe influencers are effective
• 86 percent of marketers are focusing on brand awareness
• 57 percent of marketers increased their 2020 influencer budgets

And when it comes to consumers, 80 percent said that they made a purchase based on an influencer’s recommendation. Statistics like these paint a pretty clear picture — Influencer marketing and influencer marketing platforms are essential to brand growth and success.

Partnering with a reputable influencer marketing platform is ideal. Businesses large and small often have difficulty finding the right influencers, negotiating the right price per post, and nurturing influencer relationships.

Here’s one example from influencer @gofitjo . . .

Pricing is one of the most challenging aspects of influencer marketing. We at Scalefluence, an influencer marketing platform with an extensive influencer database, get asked about what to pay influencers all the time.

To help businesses like yours, we compiled an influencer marketing pricing guide that dives deep into ways influencers get paid, pricing models, and more. Let’s dive in!

3 Ways Influencers Get Paid To Influence Followers

There are a few different ways influencers get paid to influence for businesses. They are different, but each has its unique benefit for influencer and business. The way you pay influencers also depends on what you need as a brand, and what fits into your influencer marketing budget.

1. Direct Payments To influencer Or Talent Agent/Manager

This is one of the most common ways to get paid as an influencer with serious influence. You can negotiate direct payments with influencers, but those with massive influence often have people that negotiate for them.

It is important to think of influencers as actors in a sense, because influencers get paid for their creativity and artistic process. Influencers with a massive celebrity following, or micro-influencers that have a high engagement rate may have managers or talent agents that negotiate direct payments per post.

For example, Ryan Kaji, the face of Ryan’s World on YouTube and Ryan’s World on Instagram, expect to talk to a talent agent . . .

26+ million subscribers on YouTube warrants a talent agent when it comes to direct payments.

2. Influencer Marketing Agency Negotiations

Influencer marketing agencies that are reputable work with a number of influencers. These agencies have a robust network of influencers, but many agencies will only take on high-profile influencers.

Similar to talent agents or managers of influencers, influencer marketing agencies negotiate contracts between influencers and brands. Typically the payments to influencers have commission fees.

3. Influencer Marketing Platforms Provide Full Suite Of Services

Another way influencers get paid is by partnering with an influencer marketing platform. Influencer marketing platforms provide a full suite of services to influencers, as well as businesses. The large influencer database and data-driven pricing models can make influencer marketing pricing easier.

This makes influencer marketing platforms enticing. They serve up a simplified approach to partnering with influencers, negotiating payments per post, and ensure maximum ROI based on data of previous influencer campaigns.

In most cases, pricing is transparent. When an influencer marketing platform pairs a brand with an influencer, the prices are shown with a detailed description of what is delivered, and estimated date of posting.

Influencer Marketing Pricing Models Explained

Knowing the ways influencers get paid via the variety of mediums, like influencer marketing platforms, or direct payments to the influencer is important. Now it is time to cover the multiple influencer pricing models.

Why is this important? Well, different models equal different dollar amounts. Or in some cases, no money per post, only free products in return for a sponsored post or mention in an Instagram post or YouTube video. Let’s take a closer look.

Sponsored Posts (Pay Per Post) Influencer Pricing Model

This is by far the most popular influencer marketing pricing model. And the most simple to understand. Essentially, a business contacts an influencer, agrees on a one-time price for a post, influencer posts, business pays influencer.

Sponsored posts, also known as pay per post (PPP) models, do seem pretty simple on the surface, but what goes into the post is a bit more complicated. For instance, the business and influencer need to agree on the type of post and brand message. And the influencer needs to keep his or her personal brand intact as well.

Here’s an example of a great sponsored post from Instagram fitness and lifestyle influencers @sweatandtell . . .

You can see how this influencer shared a story within the post in order to recommend the sponsored product Hex Performance. This is textbook sponsored post, and even has #ad to ensure it doesn’t violate any Instagram guidelines.

Payment Per Campaign Influencer Pricing Model

This is another popular influencer pricing model that works well for both influencers and businesses that hire them to promote products and/or services on social media. Like sponsored posts, a single payment is made. However, instead of per post, payments are per campaign.

It is not uncommon for influencers to be hired for more than one sponsored post. In fact, some influencers are hired to be brand ambassadors for a set amount of time.

Businesses can also opt-in for social media takeovers, a type of influencer marketing strategy that lets an influencer take over the brand’s Instagram or YouTube for a set amount of time.

Here is an influencer takeover example from @museummammy in partnership with Prada . . .

This influencer takeover netted massive engagement, and most likely led to a campaign payment. Influencer marketing platforms, like Scale fluence, are experts at setting up influencer campaigns for businesses across multiple industries.

No Monetary Payment Influencer Pricing Model

This is another popular payment model in the space of influencer marketing. Many influencers that are just starting out, or that prefer certain brand products, will opt for a non-monetary payment model.

Normally the payment is not money, but with products and/or services. For example, aspiring beauty nano-influencers or micro-influencers on social media may get products from beauty brands in return for recommending them to their followers.

Like this YouTube video review from YouTube influencer Austin Evans . . .

The above are the most common and popular influencer marketing pricing models. Others include pay per click (PPC) and pay per acquisition (CPA).

The PPC pricing model is a payment based on the number of clicks in a certain amount of time from a post. The CPA pricing model is based on purchases. If a user buys a product via a link from an influencer, or if a user uses a promo code, the influencer gets a percentage of the sale. It is similar to affiliate marketing.

Need Help With Influencer Marketing Pricing? Tap Into Scalefluence

Scalefluence is a premiere influencer marketing platform that makes working with, and paying influencers easy. We have a robust influencer database of influencers across multiple industries and/or niches. And our data-driven approach to influencer pricing ensures your business gets maximum value for each post and campaign.

If you are ready to maximize your influencer marketing budget and make each influencer campaign a successful one, we have the expertise to get your business moving in the best direction. Sign up today and tap into influence that can grow your brand.