Recently, I’ve been researching influencer marketing for an article I am writing. It has become a massive business. What started as a way to leverage customer reviews and build social proof online has become a lucrative paid marketing tool. The total amount of money spent on influencer marketing this year is estimated at $16.4 billion by Influencer Marketing Hub. That’s some serious marketing budget. But it is worth it. A brand can earn a $5.20 return on investment for every $1 spent on influencer marketing.
Needless to say, many influencers are charging thousands of dollars for a single Instagram reel. And not just the celebrities with millions of followers. As with most social media marketing strategies, you will need more than a massive number of impressions to reach your goal. The critical measurement you strive for is engagement. Impressions are a passive behavior. Engagement results in action. Engagement is not a function of quantity but quality. In other words, an influencer with fewer followers but higher engagement will move your brand closer to your marketing goals.
Here’s an Instagram rate sheet for influencer posts in 2022. You can see that even micro and mid – level influencers can net decent earnings for one post.
| Type of Influencers | Rate |
| Nano (1-10k followers) | $10-100 |
| Micro (10-100k followers) | $100-500 |
| Mid (100-500k followers) | $500-$5k |
| Macro (500k-1m followers) | $5-$10k |
| Mega (1m+ followers) | $10k+ |
TikTok influencers can make even more per post.
| Tier | Nano influencer | Micro influencer | Mid influencer | Macro influencer | Mega influencer |
| Price | $5-$25 | $25-$125 | $125-$1,250 | $1,250-$2,500 | $2,500+ |
But these are just averages. A micro-influencer who can provide a terrific ROI for clients can ask for campaign packages worth much more. Micro-influencers are people who have a passion for a certain topic, product, or niche and regularly share that passion with their online audience. These influencers engage in daily real and organic conversations with other like-minded people and have a unique ability to build brands. Follow pertinent hashtags and thought influencers on social media, and you’ll find these Pied Pipers easily. These are the people smart brand leaders should be tapping into right now.
When I was at Bath & Body Works, I saw how powerful our most engaged customers were online. At the time, we had about 5 million followers on our Facebook page and were actively trying to build a presence on Instagram and Twitter. I was in charge of events, not social media, but it was hard to ignore how certain customers and lovers of BBW were influencing the results of the events I was planning. I asked for and was given the task of identifying a group of BBW mega fans and setting up a BBW best-customer posse. The goal was to harness their enthusiasm by offering them exclusive access to new products to try, VIP invitations to events, and other perks in exchange for their continued support online. Unboxing and haul videos were just becoming a thing back then, so we wanted to build on the appeal of those videos in a way that was targeted to a marketing strategy but still felt organic. We didn’t offer to pay them. It was so much fun to work with these folks. They were so excited to be a part of the BBW family and share their love of our products. When my position was terminated, the project was also terminated, which was a miss, in my opinion. Now, eight years later, if BBW is going after influencers (and I have no idea if they are), it will cost them big money.
Influencer marketing is another way to use content to build a brand and increase product sales. Like with all marketing strategies, it’s essential to create content that is a positive reflection of your brand and will drive your business toward your goals. That includes finding the right influencer. When you find an influencer you are proud to represent your brand, the social media content they create for you will feel genuine and be impactful. It’s an effective way to build that critical social proof. If your company has not explored an influencer marketing campaign in 2022, I highly recommend doing so in the new year.
