Learning how to set your rates as an influencer for terms such as usage rights, exclusivity and whitelisting can be tough as there is no clear industry standard. With all the information out there, researching can leave you feeling drained and confused! After doing extensive research myself, I have used several formulas to calculate my influencer rates and I will be sharing them in this blog post. Please keep in mind, everyone’s influencer rates and formulas will vary. It’s completely up to you how you set your influencer rates. Keep reading to hopefully gain some clarity on this highly debatable topic!

How to Calculate Your Influencer Rate:

It’s important to first understand the value you bring to the table. As content creators and influencers, we hold a LOT of value. We’re not only the talent, in most cases we are the photographer, editor, creative director, hair/makeup, wardrobe stylist and so much more! You must value yourself and set your rates accordingly, plus add tax! You can’t get paid for what you don’t ask for. Too many content creators are underpaid because they don’t know any better. It’s time to change that!

“Every time a creator works in exchange for free product it devalues everyone else’s work in the industry.”

Before you learn how to calculate anything, you will need to know your influencer fee, which is basically the price for posting on your social media platforms. There are many factors that can help you determine your influencer rate, but the major three are: Followers, Engagement Rate and Deliverables. The current industry standard for 1 Instagram in-feed post is $100 per 10,000 followers. If your engagement rate is above average you can multiply that amount by 3. As for deliverables, check out this breakdown which I find very helpful:

• In-Feed Post: $100 per 10,000 followers (x3 for above average engagement rate).
• Story (per 3 frames): $100 per 10,000 followers.
• Reel: $200 per 10,000 followers.
• Packages: offer a discounted rate of at least 10-15%.

How to Calculate Your Exclusivity Rate:

A brand will sometimes request exclusivity which means they don’t want you to work with any competing brands for a certain period of time. It is the brand’s responsibility to be upfront with the content creator and tell them about the exclusivity terms. However, some brands will try to sneak it into the contract in order to avoid paying extra fees so make sure you read your contracts carefully! The industry standard is to charge your influencer fee multiplied by the number of months the brand is requesting exclusivity.

Example:

10,000 followers = $100 for 1 in-feed post.
3 months exclusivity = $300

Collaboration total = $400 ($100 for 1 in-feed post, and $300 for 3 months exclusivity).

How to Calculate Your Photography Rate:

Your photography rate or the fee you charge for your images should be based on your level of experience. Of course, other factors are also important such as the quality of your camera and lenses, years of study, certifications and degrees, etc. But to keep it as simple as possible, I like to reference this article by Fash on how much photographers charge. Check out this list for more clarity.

• Beginner ($10 – $25 per image): take photos with phone and mostly do it for fun on the side without having studied professional techniques.
• Amateur ($25 – $50 per image): have built an online portfolio and have sold their images to clients but haven’t had any professional photography education.
• Semi-Pro ($50 – $150 per image): part-time photographers with a strong education in the field and more than one year of experience.
• Professional ($75 – $375 per image): full-time photographers with an extensive portfolio, strong skills, years of education and several years of experience.
• Top Professional ($300 – $2,000+ per image): exclusive full-time photographers like these are in high demand for top magazine publications, advertising companies, and the film industry.

How to Calculate Your Licensing Rate:

Your licensing rate is the price of using your work for different purposes and platforms. As a content creator or influencer, you must grant a brand permission to use your images. You took the photos, therefore you own the images. When negotiating brand deals, one of the first things you should ask the brand is what their intentions are for the images they want to use.

To determine your licensing rate you will need to know where the brand intends to place your content and the length of time they plan to use it. I found a useful way to calculate placement using this formula from Through the Lyns:

To calculate licensing (placement+length of time) the general rule of thumb is to take the percentage that correlates to the “placement” (see below) and apply that to the photography rate (for the specific image(s) they want to license), multiplied by the number of months they want to use your image(s).

• Organic Social: reposting your image on the brand’s social media accounts. (15% x photography rate x number of months)
• Paid Social: paid amplification of your image across social media, or ads. (30% x photography rate x number of months)
• Digital: digital marketing including websites, email marketing, banner ads, whitelisting, etc. (30% x photography rate x number of months)
• Offline: in-store, point of sale, print, billboards, etc. (60% x photography rate x number of months)

Example:

A brand wants to use your photo for 3 months on their website (digital is 30%).
You charge $300 per photo. Calculate per month usage fee by multiplying $300 (photography rate) by 30% (digital) and multiply that by 3 (number of months).

$300 x 30% (.30) = $90.00 per month.
$90.00 x 3 months = $270.00.

Collaboration total = $570 ($300 for photo and $270 for 3 months usage).

How to Calculate Your Whitelisting Rate:

Whitelisting is when you grant a brand permission to run ads using your social media accounts, meaning the ads are shown under your influencer handle. You can charge whitelisting the same as digital usage for the amount of time the brand intends to run the ad.

What is Perpetuity?

Perpetuity is a fancy word which basically means forever. When a brand wants the rights to your content “in perpetuity” it means they want full rights to the content forever, in other words, they own all rights and can do whatever they want with it. In my opinion, perpetuity is never a good idea but if you want to know how to sell rights to your content “in perpetuity” take your photography rate and multiply it by the highest usage rate (60%) for 1 year, then multiply by 3 years (average lifetime of an image).

Now Go Make Boss Moves!

Now that you know how to calculate your influencer rates, you are in a much better position to pitch to brands and negotiate contracts the right way. Knowing how to negotiate correctly and understand the terms of a contract is a sure fire way to get paid way more per campaign.

Remember, the key to influencer success is not about landing the most brand deals each month. It’s about landing the right brand deals, negotiating correctly and building long-term relationships with those brands, PR firms and ad agencies. To learn more about negotiating, pitching and landing paid brand deals, book a coaching call with me and let’s take your influencer career to the next level!

Let’s Be Friends!

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