As influencer marketing has grown, so have fees. Still, there is no industry standard or rate card for how much brands should be paying for different forms of activation.

For brands that work at scale with influencers, often micro and nano, gifting has been and is the most common model. Overall, however, a flat fee is most common for brands that don't work daily with influencers, and popular in combination with barter deals (gifting).

Below are the most common payment and gifting models summarized.

Gifting

Approach

In-kind

Pros

• Can provide content at scale
• Budget required for product only
• Can be an effective trial to identify high-performing influencers

Cons

• No obligation to deliver
• Content quality may be variable
• Price point has to be low enough to gift without guarantee of return

Flat fee

Approach

Pay-for-play

Pros

• Low admin requirements
• Meets expectations

Cons

• Not related to outcomes (unless bonus is agreed)
• Often requires large budgets

Performance based

Approach

Affiliate marketing

Pros

• Inceasingly common
• Motivates influencers to meet KPIs

Cons

• Risks becoming transactional
• Not yet widely adopted

Commission

Approach

Reward-style

Pros

• Gifted product is the only upfront cost
• Incentivises influencer to convert to sales

Cons

• Influencer becomes salesperson rather than collaborator
• Feels very commercial to audiences

Design collaboration

Approach

Co-creation

Pros

• Involves influencer in product process
• Incentivises influencer to share design collaboration

Cons

• Time consuming
• Hard to manage influencers

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