6 factors to help you determine your rate for a brand partnership
Influencer marketing is an effective and strategic way for a brand to reach its target audience. According to Insider Intelligence, the US influencer marketing spend is predicted to hit $4.14 billion in 2022 alone. However, one of the biggest questions that arises for influencers and digital content creators is “How much do you charge brands who want to collaborate with you for their influencer marketing campaigns?”
LTK Creators set their own rates on LTK Connect. Below are some common examples of what brands might pay creators for certain online engagement activities. Brands and creators use a number of metrics and consider numerous factors when calculating fees. Not all factors may be included below. Likewise, dollar figures may change, so consider whether updates to pricing may be warranted. What works for one engagement, creator or brand might not make sense for another.
LTK Connect
Before we dive into rates, let’s take a closer look at LTK Connect. LTK Connect is a self-serve product for brands who want to cast influencers and creators like you for paid end-to-end campaigns and reporting. The platform provides brands with campaign performance within our network, including clicks, sales, and orders, while also providing insights into creators and their followings. To put it simply, it connects brands directly to influencers and creators for potential collaborations.
Now let’s get to rates … While there is no standard rate card or formula, and the rate you set is personal and up to you, several factors that could impact your rates include:
- Your number of followers
- Your engagement rate
- The content requirements for the collab
- Posting frequency required by the collab
- Social media platform being utilized for the collab (where applicable)
- Past ability to drive sales via commissionable links
1. Type of influencer
The number of followers an influencer or creator has may set a baseline for rates. Influencers can be classified in a number of ways from mega-influencers to micro-influencers and even nano-influencers. For example, a mega-influencer who has millions of followers may be paid close to $1 million per post but this isn’t the case for most influencers.
General guidelines
One possible way to guide your rate is to charge:
$100 per 10,000 followers + Extras for type of post (x # of posts)
+ Additional factors = Total rate*
*DISCLAIMER: This may be a helpful place to start in considering your rate for a brand collaboration. Optimal rates for each influencer-brand collaboration will vary as outlined in this article; use your judgment in setting your personal rate for each engagement.
2. Follower engagement
Including influencer engagement rate is helpful to quantify an estimate of the number of people who will actually engage with the post and could justify a bump up or down in rate. Most social media marketing experts agree that a good engagement rate is between 1% and 5%. Smaller creators may be able to offer a higher engagement rate, often between 5% and 10%.The more followers an influencer has, the harder it can sometimes be to achieve engagement. Engagement benchmarks also differ across different social media channels, so do your research.
# of Likes and comments / # of Followers = Engagement rate
The key to this is to always keep your followers engaged.
- Be authentic, create and share relatable content
- Use stories and videos
- Feature valuable information
- Implement calls to action
- Always use relevant hashtags
3. Content requirements for the collab
The type of content a brand is requesting may impact your rate. Whether you’re creating a static feed post or video, each requires a different amount of time, energy and resources to curate the specific brand collab content. For example, a one-minute video shot for Instagram Reels doesn’t typically require the same resources as a 20-minute YouTube video shot in a studio with a production team. The more effort it takes to create the content requested, the more it can be expected to cost.
4. Posting frequency for the collab
The duration of a brand collaboration may also impact an influencer’s rate. An advantage to running an influencer marketing campaign over a period of time is that content can be perfected in real time with data and insights. There are several types of brand partnerships that utilize different posting frequencies:
- Commissionable links: The most utilized LTK brand partnership where an influencer or LTK Creator receives a commission based on sales through the LTK App and, where applicable, the influencer’s social media platform. This is automatically available to all LTK Creators and does not require a specific offer from a brand.
- Sponsored content: This partnership either requires the brand to craft content for the influencer to share or the influencer creates content featuring the brand and/or product.
- Brand ambassador: This is a more long-term agreement where an influencer or LTK Creator consistently shares content on the brand and/or product. They can also eventually become the “face” of the brand.
- Giveaway: This is a short-term tactic used by brands that provides value to the brand via increasing general brand awareness and generating brand awareness for the influencer themselves.
- Platform takeovers: This is an influencer marketing strategy that allows the influencer to take over the brand’s social media channels for a period of time and cross promote the influencer and the brand.
5. Social media platform(s) required of collab (if applicable)
Rates will likely vary depending on the social media channel used, because each platform has different audience types, as well as requiring different resources. Brand collaborations can also be amplified by utilizing multiple social media channels. For example, an LTK video post may also be shared as an Instagram Reel and also on TikTok to extend the reach of the brand collaboration.
6. Past ability to drive sales via commissionable links
LTK Brands often cast creators based on their ability to drive sales via commissionable links for that brand or a specific category. Those influencers who have consistently posted about the brand or category and driven sales are more likely to be cast and will potentially be able to ask for a higher rate for that Brand or category.
Pro Tip: If you are hoping to collaborate with a brand in the future, start sharing their shoppable content and build a strong track record of driving sales.
2022 General Price Ranges
Now that we’ve discussed some of the factors that impact an influencer’s rate for a brand collaboration, let's dive into some typical numbers. Please note that these numbers are examples only and not intended as advice.
Common prices per post*:
The benefits of being an LTK Creator
LTK is built on creator innovation. As a company, we drive more than $3 billion in annual sales by bringing more than 5,000 brands, 165,000 creators, and 8 million in-app shoppers together monthly through original content. Our influencers inspire shoppers through their messaging, define retail trends, and drive purchase confidence.
There are many benefits to being an LTK Creator from boosting your earning potential, to maintaining an ongoing revenue stream, to gaining access to brand collaborations.
As an approved LTK Creator, you get exclusive access to:
- Your own personalized LTK Shop on the LTK App with more than 8M monthly shoppers
- More than 5,000 brands, including LTK-exclusive collaboration opportunities based on performance
- Retargeting, to remind your followers to return to your promoted products
- Innovative technology such as Price Drop Alerts and Post Push Notifications to your shoppers from the LTK App
- Easy tools to quickly create shoppable links, website/blog widgets, collections, and gift guides
- Valuable insights, performance reporting, and data about your business
- Small business support and one-on-one growth consulting
At LTK, we help influencers grow their audience, strategize shoppable content, and track audience behavior to maximize earning potential. Apply below to join a network of like-minded creators and entrepreneurs and start growing your business today!