Understand your budget and flexibility

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Do your research
Before you reach out to potential partners, germany b2b leads research compensation benchmarks for influencers with different size followings and engagement rates. If possible, it’d be helpful to uncover what other brands in your industry typically pay for different types of posts.

Start your research by reading data reports like Sprout’s 2024 Influencer Marketing Report, and using tools like Sprout Social Influencer Marketing (formerly Tagger) to surface these numbers instantly. Doe recommends supplementing this data with influencer interviews. She says, “Speak to different influencers with varying audience sizes. You can use this information to build realistic budgets.”

Once you have your goals set and compensation benchmarks on-hand, you’re able to set a realistic budget. You should also be aware of your brand’s budget constraints. Having a clear idea about what you can afford will help you steer negotiations in a productive direction. Being upfront and honest about your ceiling might even persuade influencers to give you a bundled content discount or be more flexible.

It’s also essential to have conversations with your leaders about when and why you’d consider going over budget to work with a particular influencer.

As a real-life example, a social marketer recently told me about a time when an in-demand influencer charged $3,000 more than her brand could afford. She was honest with the influencer about budget limitations, and the influencer offered her a deal on bundled posts instead. Even though they went over-budget, the brand was able to demonstrate a significant ROI to leadership.

To ensure equity and inclusion, marketers do have a responsibility to be transparent with the influencers you work with (i.e., where your rates come from) and to be consistent (e.g., if two influencers have the same engagement rates/audience sizes, they should receive comparable compensation).