Influencer Rates: How much should you pay? Complete Guide for Brands 

So, the other day, I met a few friends of mine over the weekend. The topic somehow wounded upon the subject of how much influencers earn. What are the influencer rates that brands pay for them to live the dream life that we all desire? We know people with viral content, celebrity status, and high engagement get paid well, but the question in the spot still is what are their influencer rates. 

Influencer rates keep changing, which is highly dependent on industry conditions. I mean 500 INR to lakhs flowing from one side to the other. It depends on many factors, including- how high an influencer is on the ranking charts, to get paid an amount of the sort. 

Factors that decide the influencer rates

It’s not just about what brands offer but also what influencers demand, considering what they bring to the table per the brand’s goal. We have multiple categories of influencers birthed in the last couple of years. Categories that we didn’t imagine people would be interested in. And brands are leveraging them. Influencer marketing is a legitimate way of building and sustaining a brand in the market. So, if influencers can do that, they demand to be paid in a justified manner. Let’s look at factors that decide the payments of these influencers. 

1. The platform they use
2. Their follower counts, engagement and reach
3. Type of count, i.e., video, image, audio 
4. Their categories and niche 
5. Efforts and types of equipment required by the influencer to create content 

The factors mentioned above are crucial to understanding the rudiments of influencer rates. Using a pretty popular platform like Instagram or YouTube makes your content visible to a large audience and helps you stay more relevant on the internet. Obviously, influencers present on prominent platforms will have better engagement and will reach a better audience from tier-1 cities than short video apps. But you’ll also have to keep other factors in mind, like the type of content, their work before, niche and even how they’re going to create content because that can be an accumulated cost to the brand. 

Top platforms to find talents of the world

The top social media platforms, according to The Small Business’s published article, are –

1. Instagram (93%)
2. Facebook ( 68%)
3. TikTok (68%)
4. YouTube (48%)
5. Twitter (32%)

How to earn like the Kardashians earn as influencers?

Well, there have been wild theories about how much influencers have been making money. Like so much so that they can leave behind Elon Musk in a few years with all their expenses paid off by brands. Let’s set the record straight for once and all – THAT’S ALL NOT TRUE! 

Influencers earn according to the various metrics that cater to brand needs. Influencer categories identify influencers and can predict the results of working with various types.

Nano-influencers

These are individuals who have a small following, usually less than 1000 followers. They are considered to be upcoming and potentially be in the Micro or Macro influencer category in the future.

Nano influencers may earn up to ₹3,000 to ₹5,000 on average per post. The rates fluctuate depending on the type of deliverables, i.e., images, videos, reels etc. 

Micro-influencers

A level above nano influencers, these are individuals with a smaller following, usually between 1,000 and 100,000 followers. They tend to have high engagement rates and are considered experts in their niche.

Since this category holds a large number of influencers between different caps of followers, they make thousands of rupees depending on various factors. The rate can be between ₹30,000 to ₹50,000. Because the community of creators in a niche like finance is relatively smaller than that of someone from the fashion/lifestyle community, that niche may charge more. 

Macro influencers

These are individuals with a more significant following, typically over 100,000 followers. They have a broader reach and often have a more general audience. Everybody knows them, and they’re the ones that come to your mind when you think of influencers. 

They have earned their right to get the brand in the limelight and can demand between ₹1,00,000 to ₹3,50,000, depending on deliverables. 

Mega influencers / Celebrities

Mega influencers are individuals with an enormous and engaged following on social media platforms, typically numbering in the millions. They can reach a broad audience and significantly impact the promotion and marketing of products or services. They are considered to be among the most powerful and influential social media personalities, and brands often work with them to help promote their products and services.

Their charges usually start from 5 Lakh and beyond, depending on the deliverables, popularity, and engagement they bring to the table. 

These are just approximate numbers which can be more or less depending upon the influencer and your campaign goal. 

Before bidding farewell, let’s look at some of the standard campaign objectives for brands –

1. Increasing brand awareness: The goal is to increase the visibility and familiarity of the brand among the target audience.
2. Driving website traffic: The goal is to increase the number of visitors to the brand’s website by directing them from the influencer’s social media platforms.
3. Generating leads: The goal is to collect contact information of potential customers, such as email addresses and phone numbers, through the influencer’s promotional efforts.
4. Boosting sales: The goal is to increase the number of sales of the brand’s products or services through the influencer’s promotion.
5. Improving customer engagement: The goal is to increase the level of engagement and interaction between the brand and its customers through the influencer’s promotion.
6. Increasing social media following: The goal is to increase the number of followers on the brand’s social media platforms through the influencer’s promotion.
7. Creating user-generated content: The goal is to encourage customers to create and share content about the brand through the influencer’s promotion.
8. Improving brand image and reputation: The goal is to improve the brand’s overall perception and enhance its reputation among the target audience through the influencer’s promotion.

And that’s all for this blog. I’ll be back with more such content very soon. Till then, you can talk to our experts and learn how we help you scale your business through influencer marketing. Come, talk to us!