How Much Should You Pay Influencers?
Influencer marketing is well rooted in the halls of marketing tactics that have the potential to positively impact campaigns. But as a relatively new tacic that till recently has been somewhat different to quantify the success of, the landscape is still a little bit of a free for all.
At ZINE we are somewhat veterans in the influencer marketing space, having worked with influencer for about three whole years now. One of the biggest questions we get asked, is about pricing, and how much you should pay influencer for their posts. This is something that can be especially tricky when running campaigns with multiple influencers. Will I really have to negotiate with 100 seperate influencers on price?
Pricing influencer campaigns based on CPM
At ZINE we have over 36 thousand influencers in our rapidly growing database, and when influencers sign up to ZINE they can fill in what they charge per post across 7 different social media channels. This enabled us to do a regression analysis and come up with a CPM pricing model you can apply to your influencer campaigns.
This pricing model should provide you with a strong starting point for calculating the cost your your influencer marketing campaigns. The influencer pricing structure is tried and tested amongst our own clients, and as the pricing model is based on real influencer data, is more likely to require less negotiation between influencers, while still keeping your campaigns lean.
CPM Influencer Marketing Pricing Model
We advise our clients to use the CPM pricing model for their influencer marketing campaigns, which provides a universal pricing structure for influencers based on the potential reach of the post. Using this model allows you to have a uniform starting position for negotiations, and makes measuring output far easier, as the pricing structure is consistent regardless of size.
In our regression model, we found the overall average CPM for Instagram is £5 per 1000 followers. We use Instagram here as an example as it’s the most popular channel for collaborations.
Sample Pricing Matrix
This sample pricing matrix shows what we mean in terms of cost per post. So you can easily see the variance, I have also included a lower rate of £4 CPM and the higher rate of £6PCM.
| (Followers) | £4 CPM | £5 CPM | £6 CPM |
| 1, 000 | £40 | £50 | £60 |
| 30, 000 | £120 | £150 | £180 |
| 250, 000 | £1000 | £1250 | £1500 |
| 1mil | £4000 | £5000 | £6000 |
Influencer Marketing Variables For Pricing
Channel
CPM rates per channel vary considerably. Below we outline average CPM ranges across the core collaboration channels.
- Instagram – £4 – £10
- YouTube – £7 – £30
- Blogs – From £10- £100 per 1,000 unique visitors to £10 per 1,000 page views per month.
- Snapchat – £30- £50 per 1,000 views
- Facebook – £4 – £9
- Twitter – £6 – £10
Product
If the influencer has strong affinity to your brand, they are more likely to accept an offer below that they would usually accept. That’s where tools like ZINE can help lower overall costs, as you see both the influencers previous brand associations, and their followers top brand affinities and likes.
Agency or Direct
If you are dealing with your influencer via an agency, the fees influencer will charge will be exponentially higher. This is because agencies charge up to 30% of the set fee.
