How to set your fees as an influencer?

There seems to be a taboo in the influencer world surrounding fees and how much influencers really earn. The only common knowledge on this topic is that the large influencers can earn… a lot. 

So if you’re just starting out in the industry and you’re struggling to know how much to charge, you’ve come to the right place.

Essentially, the main thing that comes between you and your fees is your worth. This is fundamentally one of the most important factors when it comes to being an influencer and making brand deals. You decide which deals to take and for what costs, so have confidence not to sell yourself short!

But if this isn’t enough information for you, here’s some extra tips. 

It is quite often you hear influencers say they charge around 1% of their following. So for example if you have 5000 followers, you should be charging £50. Well this is certainly a good baseline to start but there are a lot of other factors that should be evaluated before setting this fee for every deal coming your way.

Depending on what the collaboration entails, should play a large part in how much you should be charging. This alongside the number of hours it will take you to complete the work, even before posting to your audience. This is especially the case for short form video content. As this type of content naturally takes a lot longer than a static in- feed post, your fee should be up to 50% more. But why such a jump? Well when you break it down, you have come up with the concept, be a videographer to film it, an editor to finalise it and an influencer to post it; that's already four roles you have undertaken in order to produce content.

How does Ace set fees for influencers?

When we set fees for an influencer in our agency, we consider the value that the brand is getting, the time it takes to make the content and the complexity of it.

So, for example if an influencer has 10k followers and their engagement rate is 15% we charge more than if their engagement rate was 5%, because the brand gets more value out of that post.

Similarly, if an influencer will need to go to a location or get props to capture content for a brand we factor that into the price because this costs the influencer time and money and effort too!

So what if a brand comes back with a reduced rate? 

Most brands have set budgets for influencer marketing, as well as set targets. So they may have already spent most of it before you started communicating with them. You can alway negotiate, but at the end of the day, it is up to you to decide if you are willing to accept a lower rate. Always take into consideration how much you really want to work with the brand and the possibilities for long term partnerships!

Ultimately, when it comes to setting fees as an influencer, there are no strict guidelines. You determine your worth and how much you think you deserve to be paid.  Just remember to consider all of the work it will take to produce the content; from being a photographer, videographer and editor.