Have you ever seen someone on social media with a hundred thousand followers and wondered how they got so popular? So what did they do to achieve this level of popularity and authority?
Over the last decade, we have seen social media grow rapidly in importance. Over 40% of the world’s population actively use social platforms. With the rise of social media came the rise of social influencers. Brands love those social bloggers because they can create trends and encourage their followers to buy promotional products.
Types of Influencers
An influencer is an individual who has the power to affect the purchase decisions of others because of his/her authority, knowledge, position or relationship with his/her audience. It is important to note that these individuals are not simply marketing tools, but rather social relationship assets with which brands can collaborate to achieve their marketing objectives.
Influencers in social media are people who have built a reputation for their knowledge and expertise on a particular topic. They make regular posts about that topic on their channels and generate large followings of enthusiastic engaged people who pay close attention to their views.
There are several types of social influencers:
- MACRO
These personalities and viral sensations are typically well-known, and they tend to have an impressive amount of fans and followers on their social channels. Partnering with one of them means reaching a huge audience, often at a high price. - MICRO
While they don’t boast millions or even hundreds of thousands of followers, micro bloggers have a higher quality influence with their audience. This type of instagrammers is often looked to for recommendations, and their passion, experience, and authenticity make their advice more credible and impactful. - NANO
You or someone you know could be a nano-influencer. These bloggers can have as little as 1,000 followers on social media. And while their following is a fraction of the micro- and macro-influencer, their messaging (and your brand ad) is viewed as more authentic and trustworthy. They are highly approachable and will post branded content at a low cost or in exchange for free products. - CELEBRITY
This is the typical macro-influencer. They may be an actor, musician, comedian or an athlete. They boast an enormous audience on social media and require a sizable fee for advertising brands and products. There are two challenges that come with celebrities. Firstly, they may be more memorable than the promo brand. Secondly, a poor connection between the brand and the celebrity can make the messaging appear inauthentic. - Opt-in
Every brand wants opt-in influencers. They may fall under any of the previous type, but their promotion doesn’t come with a price tag. These are the people who love a brand and product so much that they’ll advertise it without any monetary gain.
How Much Do Influencers Charge Per Post?
For marketing on Instagram, social media influencers are charging brands anywhere between $75 and $3,000 per Instagram post. Sponsored Instagram post cost will depend on the quality of their content and the size of their audience.
- 2,000 to 10,000 Instagram followers: $75 to $250 per post
- 10,000 to 50,000 Instagram followers: $250 to $500 per post
- 50,000 to 100,000 Instagram followers: $500 to $1,000 per post
- 100,000 to 500,000 Instagram followers: $1,000 to $3,000 per post
- 500,000+ Instagram followers: $3,000+ per post
Selena Gomez is said to be the highest-paid Instagram influencer with 122 million followers on her Instagram account. Her Instagram sponsored posts cost brands $550,000 per post!
How Much Do Instagram Influencers Charge for Videos?
Most content creators appreciate that a video involves greater production costs than a photo, but the added investment can often translate into more than just added engagement.
Benefits of Instagram video:
- Gives the influencer a voice, showing the audience a new side of the person they follow.
- Allows for compelling storytelling.
- Builds bundling potential. Consider working teasers or behind-the-scenes posts or Instagram Stories into a video shoot.
A popular travel blogger and photographer with 100K followers charge $2000-$5000 for a 60-Second Product Video.
How Much Do Influencers Charge to Feature on a Story
An Instagram story is a photo or video that vanishes after 24 hours. Production quality can range from off-the-cuff smartphone footage to polished uploaded content, and costs will vary accordingly.
Benefits of an Instagram Story:
- Often looks more casual and authentic.
- Allows the influencer to add personality through GIFs, markups, and sticks.
- Prominent tagging can be added more easily. Influencers can be precious about their feed’s aesthetic but tend to be more flexible with Story content.
Travel and lifestyle blogger, Christina Galbato (@christinagalbato) (223k followers) charges a rate of $2.2K per post and $700 per story.
Another popular travel blogger and photographer with 100K followers will charge $200 per Instagram Story.
How Instagrammers Calculate How Much to Charge?
Research from Sway Group reported marketers who implemented an influencer marketing campaign earned an average of $6.85 in media value for every $1 they spent on paid media.
That’s not surprising when you consider consumers’ trust in brands has continued to decrease year-over-year, while their reliance upon and trust of word-of-mouth has increased.
One of the biggest challenges brands face with Instagram marketing is calculating how much they should pay. It is such a versatile platform, which brings with it a whole host of different factors that play into how much an influencer costs.
Most pricing starts with this baseline formula and goes up from there.
$100 x 10,000 followers + extras = total rate
Aside from what you want to achieve with your campaigns, fees are often dependent on some common factors:
- Number of Followers
The more followers an Instagram user has, the more reach they have. As a result, you’d be willing to pay more to get your product on the feed of a user with 10,000 followers rather than one with 100. - Average Engagement Rate
To calculate engagement rate, simply add together the likes and comments on the influencer’s Instagram posts, divide it by the number of followers, and divide that by the number of posts. It will give you a per post average engagement percentage.
Well, for starters, Instagram is the best channel for social action with an average 3.21% engagement rate compared to 1.5% across other networks. - Type of Posts
These days, you can share life stories, videos, and other forms of creative content too, some of which will cost more than others to create.
The kind of content you want your Insta-blogger to put out there will depend on your overall aim of the campaign.
When you bear in mind that photos on Instagram generate 36% more likes than videos, it’s worth thinking about what you want to present to followers (and how you’re going to present it).
In 2022, Instagram Stories are where all the eyeballs are. Bloggers charge less for a Story post, so consider using that to your advantage. - Production Fees
Various production-related costs such as how long it takes to produce the content (labor), props, clothing, hair and makeup, photography, editing, and travel, should be factored into influencer rates. - Agency fees
Many influencers are represented by managers or agencies. These companies will typically charge handling fees. - Campaign length
The length of the campaign will have a direct effect on the pricing based on the added labour, content, and exclusivity requirements attached to it.
One lifestyle blogger, with 118K followers and a 2.5% engagement rate, shared her rates with Later including different package options:
A health and nutrition blogger, with 30K followers and a 7.3% engagement rate share the following pricing options in her media kit:
- Dedicated Instagram Post: $325
- IG Giveaway: $350
- Brand IG Takeover (min 2 photos + Stories): $250 per day
- IG Caption Mention (No visible product): $75
- Series of 5 IG Stories: $85
- Series of 3 Dedicated Posts: $825
- Series of 5 Dedicated Posts: $1400
Influencer Earning Calculators
There are a few free-to-use influencer earning calculators available online. Simply enter in your Instagram user name and they will estimate how much you could make for a branded Instagram post.
For example, the Instagram Money Calculator allows you to calculate your estimated earnings from your Instagram account if you believe you are an influencer, based on your engagement and number of followers.
Conclusions
Bloggers in social media have the most authentic and active relationships with their fans. Brands are now recognizing and encouraging this, as their products can be promoted not only in the USA but all over the world.
However, there is no cut and dry answer to social media influencer marketing costs. It will vary by channel, industry, follower count, and individual influencer.
