Some of the top questions we get asked include "What should I charge for Instagram influencers?" and for clients, "How much money should I pay a micro-influencer?" The questions come from seasoned professionals in the industry and newbies alike.
It's no surprise that there are individuals on social media who are able to charge good money for pushing certain products and services. How much should you pay them? What's the going rate for featuring your product on the feed of a Facebook or Instagram influencer, for instance?
We have put together some standard industry talent and influencer rate cards with guide rates to help you set your budget for your next project. We understand keeping clients’ budgets in mind and keeping the rates fair for talents always requires a delicate balance, so take your cue from this information we're freely sharing to get a better idea of how it works in the industry.
Here is a guide to help you decide on most money matters -- what would be the best amount of compensation for the services of influencers and talents who can spell success for your influencer marketing campaigns.
We worked with a leading talent manager knowledgeable about content creation and influencer marketing for global brands, to give both clients and talent confidence when negotiating fair rates. It takes some trial and error plus some confidence in your negotiation skills, but we have created a hack to put you straight on the fast track.
Step 1: Find where your budget sits on the talent scale.
Each type of talent will come with different standards, so we have created a guide with the most common talent types below. Take into account that rehearsals, fittings, editing or any other pre-production or post-production time will need to be compensated for.
For example, an Instagram influencer who has celebrity status will obviously be more expensive than a mega-influencer who has over a million followers. You need to weigh in on these options and make a good judgement on whether or not the influencer's audience will bring in more money.
If you're quoting for an event or film and stage performance you only need Step 1. If you're using event photos anywhere outside of their intended usage, see Step 2.
Influencer Rate Card
How many followers per account / Ballpark rate per social media post
- 3-20K followers / $75-$300 per social media post
- 20-100K followers / $300-$600 per social media post
- 100-250K followers / $550-$800 per social media post
- 200-500K followers / $800-$1200 per social media post
- 500K+ followers / $1200+ per social media post
What other talent types would charge for a typical day for an influencer marketing jobs
For every brand awareness campaign or project, you would also need to engage other talents like photographers, videographers, hair and makeup, and more. Not everyone will need an entire crew of paid personnel, but most influencers would have already worked with suppliers they gel with. If you're looking for what people working in the background of talents or influencers charge, consider this table:
Other talent types
Talent type: Model or Commercial Actor
- Beginner level talent: $95 (minimum hourly rate) or $700 (day rate)
- Intermediate level talent: $200 (standard hourly rate) or $1600 (day rate)
- Experienced talent: $350 (professional hourly rate) or $2900 and up (day rate)
Talent type: Photographer or Videographer
- Beginner level talent: $100 (minimum hourly rate) or $800 (day rate)
- Intermediate level talent: $200 (standard hourly rate) or $1600 (day rate)
- Experienced talent: $1000 (professional hourly rate) or $8000 and up (day rate)
Talent type: Hair and Makeup Artists or Stylists
- Beginner level talent: $75 (minimum hourly rate) or $400 (day rate)
- Intermediate level talent: $150 (standard hourly rate) or $1200 (day rate)
- Experienced talent: $350 (professional hourly rate) or $2800 and up (day rate)
Talent type: Dancers
- Beginner level talent: $95 (minimum hourly rate) or $700 (day rate)
- Intermediate level talent: $150 (standard hourly rate) or $1200 (day rate)
- Experienced talent: $350 (professional hourly rate) or $2900 and up (day rate)
Talent type: MCs or Presenters
- Beginner level talent: $95 (minimum hourly rate) or $700 (day rate)
- Intermediate level talent: $200 (standard hourly rate) or $1600 (day rate)
- Experienced talent: $350 (professional hourly rate) or $2900 and up (day rate)
Talent type: Musicians or DJs
- Beginner level talent: $95 (minimum hourly rate) or $700 (day rate)
- Intermediate level talent: $200 (standard hourly rate) or $1600 (day rate)
- Experienced talent: $350 (professional hourly rate) or $2900 and up (day rate)
What other sponsored content creators on social media platforms might charge
Bloggers – Bloggers rates will depend on the length of the content you would like written (number of words) and any research or photos that you would need to accompany the article. If you are looking for an influencer like a blogger to get paid per post, we would suggest posting a job and specify that you are “open to quotes”
Artists – Talented and diverse artists, from illustrators to graffiti artists, whether on influencer marketing platforms or with agencies on a full-time job, will all have different levels of pricing based on their own preferences. Some would be happy to receive free products while some mega influencers earn money based on the brand's revenue or engagement rate. Be sure to check out theright.fit at it has a number of artists to choose from. Simply request a quote to open the dialogue.
*Day rates are typically 8 hours, but commercial shoots can be 10x hours. The above is calculated off 8 hour days. Make sure you always note how many hours and how much influencers can expect in your quote.
Leverage these bonus hacks to get micro influencers paid fairly
Talent: Be competitive by incentivising booking a full day job upfront by giving the client a discount on the hourly rate (i.e., 4 hours @ $200/hr, but offer full-day; 8 hours is $1000)
Clients: When booking someone for an hourly rate, it’s important to understand the industry minimum is usually 3-4 hours. If you only need your talent for an hour, incentivise your job by making sure you’re offering at least in the “standard” and additional usage costs should be added as based on Step 2.
Now that you have set your budget for talent time, it’s time to chat about usages. This is the part where it gets confusing, so brush up on some industry terms here.
Step 2: Find out what you need to pay for using commercial material elsewhere
PHEW! Now you know what types of usages there are, you’re ready to see what the fair rates are for these usages.
Percentages are based on the day rate or a minimum of four (4) hours. Usages are always applicable to photographers, models, actors, and videographers. Usage fees may be applicable to stylists, hair and makeup artists, and other personnel depending on exposure and experience.
Usage and additional budgets
- Social Media, website, or eCommerce - Additional Budget: 0% - This usage can be included in the day rate. Note: clients are not required to remove images from social media after time has run out, but they cannot repost or run ads with those images etc. They must remove images from other forms of media after usage has expired.
- Collateral, Brochures, Direct Mail, Trade Shows - Additional Budget: 25%
- PR - Additional Budget: 25%
- POS (Point-of-Sale) - Additional Budget: 75%-100% - Can be reduced based on number of stores
- OOH (Out of Home or Outdoor) - Additional Budget: 75%-200%+
- Digital (ads online, YouTube, catch-up TV) - Additional Budget: 75%-200%+
- FTA/Pay TV - Additional Budget: 75%-200%+
- Editorial (magazine) - Additional Budget: 0% for 1x run in a magazine. Additional runs would be at 80-100%. *Highly respected magazines can often charge minimal rates due to the exposure talents receive. Editorial should never be an advertisement.
- Advertorial - Additional Budget: 25%
Rights: Photographers and videographers will always own the rights to the images or footage. The selling of these rights to the client will always require additional negotiation. The above post is based on 12 months of usage in Australia only. Need more guidance on usage? Go to Step 3.
Bonus hacks for brand marketers
Clients: If you’re not sure where you’re going to use the work from the onset, it’s fine to shoot and decide later. If you’re deciding later, make sure you note and quote possible usage on an “if used” basis. If you decide to move ahead with posts on your Instagram account, for instance, you can always send additional payment through theright.fit.
Talent: Stay organised! Know when usages expire and where they are supposed to be used BEFORE your shoot. Kindly follow up with your clients before the usage expires to check in to see if they want to negotiate an extension with you.
Illegal usage: It’s always the client’s responsibility to let the talent know about intended usage, and propose any additional usage before it goes live. Fees must be agreed upon by all involved before usage can commence.
WARNING! Competitive category alert!
The following categories are risky for talent to shoot with since competitors will refuse to shoot with them during the usage, and sometimes even after it has expired.
- Banks
- Financial services
- Insurance
- Car
- Telecommunications
- Fast food
- Healthcare/Pharma (USA usage only)
If you’re quoting for the above categories the usage percentages for each category should go up around 50-100%.
Talent: It’s important to weigh how much work you’d be giving up by accepting a job in the above category. Talent who appear 35+ should be especially careful in Banking, Financial and insurance. Talent who appear in their 20s should be especially careful in Banking, Car, Telecommunications and Fast Food categories. It is suggested not to accept jobs paying “minimal” for work in these categories.
Step 3: Make sure all bases are covered for your influencer marketing campaigns
The extras. I often have clients coming to me saying “I need this forever and I need it everywhere”. Upon my first few questions to them, this is hardly ever the case. The words “Perpetuity” and “Worldwide” all come with hefty price tags, so knowing your intended usage keeps the talent top-quality, and you often save money while paying the talent fairly.
- Time: 12 months is standard
- Additional years should be 80%-100% per additional year
- 3 and 6 months terms can be calculated at 25% and 50%, but not for Competitive Categories
- Perpetuity should never be considered for Competitive Categories.
- Perpetuity for low risk categories (fashion, local businesses etc) should be considered at 300-500%
- Territory: Australian usage is standard
- NZ usages are 50-80%
- USA is 200-300%
- UK is 150-250%
- Other countries should be calculated based on population and it’s relation to Australia
The influencer campaign platform theright.fit empowers both sides of the industry, creating a marketplace where traditional talent agencies and freelancers aid in elevating the business on a grand scale. For talents, being empowered means they have the confidence to quote realistically for what they are worth based on experience and risk. While on the other side clients have an informed expectation of what is fair compensation and what isn’t. The bottom line here is trust, but before there is trust there must be knowledge.
Clients: If you’re still unsure or you’d like to receive quotes from a range of talent simply post your job as “request a quote” and talent will provide their rates. Contact theright.fit team by emailing [email protected] for more help.
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