So, you’ve determined that influencer marketing is worth it, but how much does it actually cost?
Social media influencers range across many platforms and their reach, size, audience profile and personal affinity to a brand can all have an impact on how much they will charge.
It’s hard to give an outright figure for each influencer, but you’ll be happy to know that some influencers will be happy with product only (contra) in exchange for content, and others will want to enter a paid partnership. But no matter your brand or budget, coming up with a strong paid influencer strategy is definitely feasible, if you follow these steps:
- Step 1 – Determine Your Budget
Influencer marketing can become a key part of your marketing budget, but it’s important to note that you don’t have to break the bank either. Firstly, determine whether you’re seeking quality OR quantity. To achieve this objective, will you need a range of micro influencers with a handful of paid influencers, or will you purely focus on a couple of paid influencers with large followings? It’s important that influencer marketing is not seen as an afterthought and budget should be set aside from the very beginning. Your budget will inform your strategy.
- Step 2 – Develop a list of target influencers
As we’ve previously covered, it’s important to keep the goals you set in your strategy document handy when commencing your search. To develop out your list, you can search hashtags that are relevant to your brand and see which influencers have worked in your sector before. Once you have compiled a list, check their actual authority as an influencer and be open and honest about measuring results with them before committing to anything.
- Step 3 – Outreach for media kits & cost breakdowns.
It’s important to not shy away from asking influencers for their current metrics and campaign results. If you are going to invest in a paid partnership, ask the influencer for their media kit which should include a cost breakdown e.g. cost per story, IGTV or static post. This kit should also include a short biography, audience breakdown and demographics, engagement rate and social stats e.g. followers, reach. At this stage, it’s important to ask as many questions as possible so you can determine potential ROI. If their social stats and engagement rate are impressive, we normally look for around a minimum of 2%-3%, and their audience aligns with yours, we would recommend going ahead.
- Step 4 – Negotiate within your budget to an amount that suits you both.
Influencers who predominantly work in the paid realm typically have a breakdown of costings in their media kit. However, it’s always worthwhile to see if you can negotiate, especially if you are committing to a number of posts and stories. It’s also important to be up-front with your budget so they can determine if they’d like to continue the conversation. This will save you a lot of time and back and forth!
- Step 5 – Write up an influencer briefing document.
The next step is to write a detailed influencer brief. This is a document that will act as the road map for the influencer when they are creating the content for your campaign. The key is to be specific about what you want, without being too prescriptive and limiting their creativity. We typically include – visual examples, background information on the brand, the value proposition, KPIs, campaign timings, deliverables and mandatory requirements e.g. tags, content approval guidelines, regulations and payment. Pending your brand and specific legalities, this may change but it is a good base to work off.
- Step 6 – Work together to approve content & request analytics to measure success
Once they have produced the content and you have provided the necessary feedback and approval, their post will go live. It’s important to ask them to share detailed analytics so you can assess the performance and ROI. We typically like to receive this 1-2 weeks after the live date as social media is very fast paced. As a part of your negotiations, you may have also gained permission to re-purpose their content on your channels. This is a great way to keep the content alive for longer!
If you have any other questions around the topic, or influencer marketing in general, please get in touch with us at info@agent99pr.com.
Agent Amelia
