Influencer Pricing: How Much Do Instagram Influencers Really Cost?

Influencer marketing is one of the most popular modern marketing techniques today. The growth of the relevance of social media platforms has given way to the rise of influencers. From this, influencer marketing has risen to the top of the digital marketing landscape on apps like Instagram and TikTok. 

So, if you’re looking to keep your brand at the front of current trends and remain relevant on social media, it’s a good idea to utilize influencer marketing. This can seem daunting if you’re unfamiliar with the process of working with influencers, but we’re here to help guide you through it.

Understanding influencer pricing is one of the first steps in undertaking an influencer marketing campaign. We’re going to take you through the average influencer rates that you’ll likely run into, as well as look at the various plans that are typically used for influencer content pricing.

Cost Based On Influencer Tier

There are various types of influencers, and creators are typically identified by the tier to which they belong, which is determined based on the size of their account.

Let’s take a look at the follower ranges and average prices you’ll see for influencers in each category. 

Nano-Influencers

A nano-influencer will have 1,000 to 10,000 followers, and you’ll commonly see them charge $10 to $100 per post. 

Micro-Influencers

Micro-influencers are identified as those with 10,000 to 100,000 followers. To work with influencers on this tier, you’ll likely pay $100 to $500 per post. 

Mid-Influencers

Mid-influencers range all the way from 100,000 followers to 500,000 followers. With this broad scope, you could pay anywhere from $500 to $5,000 per post, depending on the individual content creator and the specific size of their account. 

Macro-Influencers

A macro-influencer is one who has 500,000 to one million followers. To work with an influencer of this size, it will cost between $5,000 and $10,000 per post.

Mega Celebrities

Mega-influencers typically fall under the category of celebrities, and they have one million or more followers. These creators will normally charge $10,000 or more per post, once again depending on the size of their account. 

Factors Involved In Instagram Influencer Pricing

Each influencer has a unique pricing plan, which they have developed based on a variety of factors. Here are some of the elements that go into the decision of how much any given influencer will charge.

Follower Count

As you can probably tell from the previous section, an influencer’s follower count plays a significant role in the price they charge for posts or campaigns. This is because an influencer’s career is primarily based on the number of followers they have on social media. The more followers a content creator attracts, the bigger their account is. This leads them to work with bigger brands and achieve greater success. 

So, if an influencer has a higher number of followers, they belong to a higher tier, which means it costs more to work with them. Additionally, the more followers an influencer has, the more users you’ll reach when you work with that content creator. These influencers get paid to…well…influence their followers. So, you’ll pay a higher price to reach a broader audience from a more credible source when you work with a more high-profile influencer from the mega or macro tiers, for example.

Engagement Rate

While an influencer’s follower count plays an important role in the effectiveness of their messaging and, therefore, the price that they charge for brand deals, simply having a high number of followers doesn’t necessarily mean that their posts will have a wide reach. 

The key to effective messaging is all about the engagement rate. An influencer’s engagement rate is determined by the number of followers they have as compared to how many of these followers interact with their content. If an influencer has a high volume of followers, but only a small portion actually interacts with their posts, then the influencer’s engagement rate will be low.

A low engagement rate lowers the quality and effectiveness of an influencer’s posts, while a high engagement rate increases the value of their posts. So, this factor plays a significant role in an influencer’s pricing plans as well. If a micro- or mid-level influencer has an extremely high level of engagement, their posts may be worth more than an influencer who has enough followers to reach the macro tier but does not have an engaged audience.

Keep this in mind when you determine your Instagram influencer marketing strategy – you’ll want to work with an influencer whose followers are active on their Instagram account in order to ensure that, when they promote your products or services, users are actually viewing and engaging with the promotion. This will lead you to a higher rate of success in your influencer marketing campaign. 

Niche

An influencer’s niche also determines how much they’ll charge for their posts. Some niches are just more popular overall, meaning that they receive higher traction on social media. So, working with an influencer in a more high-profile niche will probably cost you more. 

For example, the travel, beauty, and fashion industries are three of the top niches on Instagram by popularity. A significant amount of Instagram users interact with these niches, so the influencers in these fields are in higher demand, generally. 

Thus, the average Instagram influencer rates in the travel, beauty, and fashion niches will be higher overall. So, before you begin the process of working with Instagram influencers, it’s a good idea to do some research on your brand’s industry. Is this industry particularly prevalent on social media?

If so, the influencers that you work with may charge more. 

Keep in mind that you can also work with influencers from a variety of angles. If your brand creates cruelty-free makeup products and you don’t have the budget to work with one of the top beauty gurus on social media, you could consider working with an influencer in the vegan community.

Be creative in your campaigns – you never know which influencer could create an unlikely but very effective partnership!

Content-Type

Obviously, each social media influencer’s account is unique. So, the type of content that an influencer creates has an impact on the influencer pricing that you’ll see when working with them.

If you’re looking for a campaign based on Instagram Reels, this will likely be priced differently from a campaign based on in-feed Instagram posts. Or, if an influencer is creating Instagram Stories for your brand, this would also have its own fee. 

Instagram content creation pricing varies widely, and it often depends on the type of media that is being produced. So, keep this in mind, and be sure to talk through different options as you establish a plan with an influencer. 

Posting Frequency

Another factor that affects Instagram content creation pricing is the posting frequency of the influencer. When you determine a campaign plan with an influencer, you’ll discuss a number of posts that you’d like them to create as well as a timeline. 

If an influencer is publishing posts for you at a particularly high frequency, they may charge you more. Something else to consider is the frequency with which they post about your products, as compared to the rate at which they usually post. 

Geographic Location

Instagram influencer rates can also be affected by the geographic location of the influencer, especially if they’re creating posts for you that are related to their location. For example, if you’re a Los Angeles-based business and you work with a Los Angeles-based influencer, and you ask them to promote your brand as a local business (or if they actually go to your business in person for a post), this may increase the Instagram charge per post. 

For one thing, the fact that they’re visiting your brand’s physical location is an added step that they’ll likely charge you for. Another aspect of this scenario is the fact that the influencer is based in Los Angeles. LA is an influencer marketing hub, so many of the local influencers in that area are in high demand, which increases the Instagram influencer rates for those creators.

When working with an influencer, and especially when asking them to create content related to where they live, keep in mind what their location is like. Are they located in a hot spot for Instagram content creation? Or, are they located somewhere milder in terms of social media?

Brand Collaborations

One final factor that greatly impacts Instagram influencer rates is the previous collaborations the influencer has participated in. An influencer’s credibility is greatly impacted by the brands that they work with. So, if a content creator has collaborated with major brands in your industry, know that they’ll likely charge more.

This is another place where it’s important to do your research – check out the previous work that an influencer has done when you are considering working with them. Their Instagram content creation pricing can likely be gauged by the level of brands they work with; not only is an influencer’s credibility increased when they work with high-profile brands, but it’s also relevant to consider what type of brands are able to afford a given influencer’s Instagram charge per post. 

Pricing Models

There are various pricing models that you may see when looking at Instagram influencer pricing. Each content creator has a different way of charging for collaborations, so be prepared for any of the following possibilities.

Flat Fee

Some influencers charge brands a flat rate for their whole collaboration. This may include a set package that they offer, or it could apply to whatever your brand needs. Once again, this depends on the creator.

Cost Per Post

Another common plan to see in influencer pricing is the Instagram charge per post model. This option is fairly self-explanatory, as you and the influencer would determine the number of posts that works well for your proposed collaboration, and then you would pay based on the number of posts involved.

Cost Per Engagement

We discussed engagement earlier, and, as we established, engagement is the key to social media success. So, it’s possible that a content creator may charge you based on the rate at which their followers interact with your campaign. Sometimes, when influencers post via brand collaborations, their engagement rates go up or down, so this can impact the influencer pricing that you experience.

Another way that you may pay for engagement is that the goal of your collaboration with an influencer could be to increase the engagement that your brand receives on social media. So, an influencer could charge you based on the engagement you receive from the campaign as well. 

Revenue Sharing

With this option, the influencer and the brand each receive a portion of the revenue generated by the campaign. Once again, the exact percentages will vary depending on the individual content creator, based on all of the factors outlined above.

How To Determine Instagram Influencer Pricing

So, you’re looking into Instagram influencer marketing. How can you tell what a given influencer will charge?

Here are some tips.

Do Your Own Market Research

It’s probably pretty clear by now that doing your own research is a recurring theme with this topic. We’ve addressed multiple factors that can affect Instagram influencer pricing. So, as you start looking into content creators in your industry, research them with an eye toward the elements that we outlined earlier. 

What tier is the influencer in? How popular is their niche? What’s their engagement rate like?

Calculate Engagement Rate

And speaking of engagement rate…Calculate it!

This is fairly simple to do, and it can be helpful in indicating the prices that an influencer might charge. If you’re interested in working with a creator and you’d like to know what their engagement rate is like, compare their number of followers with the number of likes and comments that they typically receive. 

More specifically, you can divide the number of likes or comments by the number of followers to calculate the actual percentage of an influencer’s followers that engage with their content. 

Negotiate With The Influencer

Once you determine that an influencer seems like someone that you want to partner with, start a conversation with them. After they present their typical pricing, you can discuss what you are hoping to pay. You can then negotiate to find a price that works well for everyone involved.

Determine Budget

Before starting talks with an influencer, it’s important to have a budget in mind. Determine the highest price that you’re willing to pay, and then decide on the ideal price that you’d like to pay. That way, when you hear an influencer’s price point, you will know if they are within range of your influencer marketing budget or if you should keep looking into other options.

Benefits Of Instagram Influencer Marketing On Your Brand

There are many benefits to including influencer collaborations in your social media marketing strategy. Here are some examples of how this can be an effective tactic.

Increased Brand Awareness

As we all know, an influencer’s career is based on the influence they have over their followers. So, when brands partner with influencers, the goal is to get their brand name in front of as many social media users as possible.

When you collaborate with an influencer, your brand is promoted to at least a thousand, and up to millions, of people. Additionally, social media users will sometimes repost influencers’ content, which brings even more views to a given post. 

Working with an influencer is a surefire way to increase brand awareness for your business, so if you’re looking to increase the number of people who are familiar with your company or your content, then influencer marketing is likely the way to go.

Improved Brand Credibility

In addition to the increased brand awareness that comes from working with Instagram influencers, you’ll also experience an increase in credibility. With influencer marketing, your brand is promoted by someone with a certain degree of authority – people follow influencers because they trust their opinions and are typically inclined to take the recommendations that influencers give. 

An influencer in any given industry has typically achieved their state of popularity by building loyalty, credibility and trust among their followers. So, when an influencer promotes a brand, service, or product, their follower base will be inclined to take the recommendation. 

So, if people see your brand being promoted by an influencer that they follow or are familiar with, they’ll be likely to see your brand with an added level of respect, and they may be interested in learning more about the business. 

Targeted Reach

We already discussed that almost every influencer works within a particular niche, and influencers tend to build audiences from very targeted groups of people. In fact, influencers tend to cultivate active communities through their accounts, and their followers are drawn together by interests that they share with the content creator.

So, by working with an influencer who is popular within your niche, you’ll have a way to reach an audience composed of people in your target market. By connecting with an influencer’s community of followers who are interested in your brand’s industry, you are likely to gain recognition with your ideal audience and draw increased business to your brand.

Increased Revenue 

Instagram influencer pricing may seem like another business expense that you’re not sure about taking on. But, it’s important to keep in mind how much you can gain from the partnership monetarily as well. 

Once your collaboration with an influencer begins to increase awareness and credibility of your brand among your target audience, you’re bound to experience an uptick in business as well. By delivering the right message to the right people, you’ll be setting yourself up for financial success.

The entire goal of influencer marketing is to drive traffic to a brand’s page and increase sales for that business. So, if you’re looking for a whole new way to revamp your social media strategy and use it to positively impact your brand’s revenue, influencer marketing is a great tactic to consider. 

Access To New Audiences

Finally, it’s important to consider all of the new sets of eyes that will be on your branding when you work with an influencer. As we mentioned, collaborating with a social media influencer will give you the chance to get your content in front of an audience composed of people in your brand’s niche.

Beyond reaching the people who fit exactly within your target market, however, you’ll also connect with people who may have some overlapping interest with your content but wouldn’t typically come across your brand on their own.

Thanks again to the influencer’s credibility, these more distant audience members may be interested in further connecting with your brand, giving you business from users you may not have otherwise reached.

Instagram Influencer Marketing: Pricing And More

From influencer tiers to typical pricing and plans, to the benefits of influencer marketing, we’ve covered it all!

There are so many options available within the world of influencer marketing, which gives brands the opportunity to find the right fit for them.

Whether you’re looking to work with a micro-influencer on a per-post pricing plan or a macro-influencer for a flat fee, you should be able to find the ideal content creator for you in your niche. Just be patient – finding the right influencer for a partnership takes time and research.

But, once you find the right fit, you’ll reap incredible benefits!