What Influencer Marketing Really Costs

The main misconception of influencer marketing is that it's very expensive and only big and famous brands can afford it. But it's not completely the truth. Social media has different types of influencers, so even brands with small budgets can use this type of promotion.

And influencer marketing really worth its usage because 92% of brands which have tried it in 2017 considered it was effective.

You may ask what exactly are social media influencers and what benefits could you get from cooperation with them. The answer is quite easy: they are one of the main driving forces today in the advertising world. Above all, no one is better than they in the engaging content creation.

Collaboration with influencers can easily help you to stand out from other brands and attract audiences.

SWell, there's no one simple answer, because prices may vary dramatically. From $50 per one advertising post at a micro-influencer's profile to $3,000 — or even more — at a macro-influencer's.

Below there are approximate values for sponsored posts, yet real prices may be different due to many additional parameters.

Let's now figure out on what factors does the influencer marketing cost depend.

The number of creators' followers affect their posts' cost, first of all. Fewer followers mean less cost. Therefore, posts of celebrities are the most expensive.

Nano and micro social media influencers have no less power than celebrities. Moreover, they may be even more effective in terms of the audience's engagement, because they often create more interesting content, and they have a tighter connection with their followers. Besides, micro-influencers are better for niche advertisement, as their audience is more homogeneous.

If a content creator has a big engagement rate it means that they have a higher reach of their posts, and a brand may get more profit from advertising. That’s why one influencer may charge higher for their posts than another with the same number of followers.

Advertising with content creators on each social channel differs in cost. The most expensive is YouTube, then go on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and others. But according to research, Instagram is the most popular social media channel among brands and creators. So before running a campaign think about where it will be more profitable.

The price of the advertised product may also change the influencer marketing cost. If it's something expensive like cars or luxury accessories, the post will cost more than if you advertise, say, cosmetics or casual clothes.

Also, if your product is a unique category and narrow-focused, there will be fewer content creators in your industry. It means that posts will be more expensive due to lower competition.

Here are are some of the most popular niches with the most reasonable prices

If an influencer should just make a post about your product, it will be cheaper. But if you require more actions (make more than one post; go somewhere and make a review with photos; make a video and edit it; make a cross-post to all their social media profiles) the price will increase.

It may seem cheaper to find influencers by yourself, without intermediaries, but:

• You spend a lot of time searching and negotiating, and the sample will never be large enough (unless you spend even more time searching).
• You have no guarantees. You just pay and wait relying on the influencer's decency and responsibility.
• It's difficult to negotiate, and you never know whether your price is fair enough.
• All the analytics will also be manual.

On the other side, using an influencer marketing platform, you have thousands of influencers all in one place, all the communication (and analytics) is automated, and the platform may grant better prices because it is a high-volume customer for influencers.