Agencies reveal how much it costs to launch an influencer marketing campaign today

Influencer marketing has become a key part of the marketer’s toolkit, used to organically bring larger personalities into the social sphere, or to target specific cohorts with an authentic voice. But, despite improvements in how the impact of influencer campaigns is measured, the sector is often viewed as a black box by the rest of the marketing industry. Costs, in particular, are a dark area.

So to find out what influencer campaigns could really cost a marketer in pounds, cents and dollars, we asked a group of influencer marketing agencies to tell us about pricing. While many declined to discuss the numbers on the case, five agencies — The Goat Agency, Digital Voices, Komodo, Disrupt and Tailify — were willing to share.

So how much does influencer marketing cost?

Several global influencer marketing agencies have shared with us their minimum campaign spend requirements, which is the minimum amount you would need to budget to access their services.

At The Goat Agency, co-founder Harry Hugo tells The Drum that figure is £40,000 a month. Komodo, an agency with offices in the UK, US and Australia, generally sets its minimum spend at £30,000, although lower prices are offered to clients who keep the agency under contract.

For the Digital Voices agency, the figure is £30,000. Chief Executive and Founder Jenny Quigley-Jones says spending in the sector has “increased rapidly” over the past two years. “Influencer marketing spending has grown rapidly over the past two years. The industry is growing at a CAGR of 43.2%. Influencers have become an established media channel for driving campaign ROI,” she notes.

“The other thing that’s changed is the variety of creators, as millions of creators started their careers under global lockdowns. This means brands are getting value from their investments by partnering with a wide variety of micro “rising star creators to drive long-term results, rather than partnering with a few big names. This diversified spending strengthens and supports the economy of creators.”

She says every pound spent on influencer marketing goes further than one spent on TV. “Creator content tends to outperform brand-produced advertising and is often less expensive – on average, brands see a 50% reduction in costs when working with creators on a video production studio. Instead to order video content, smart brands pay creators for usage rights and serve them as paid ads.”

According to Stevie Johnson, CEO of Disturb, the minimum spend is between £15,000 and £20,000. He says, “Anything less than that, it’s pretty hard to move the needle on an influencer campaign and see real results.

But, he notes, that level of spending will typically only sustain a campaign for about eight weeks. “The more you spread it out, the less a campaign can really grow,” he explains. Therefore, most of its clients run campaigns that involve spending between £40,000 and £60,000.

Meanwhile, Tailify is keeping its minimum spend at £50,000 per month. “Each solution is tailor-made,” explains Esme Rice, the company’s marketing director. “Some customers want a week-long thing, some want longer. It fits every brand’s needs.

Goat, Digital Voices, Komodo, Disrupt, and Tailify are all full-service agencies, meaning they help clients plan and discover the right partners, execute content, and manage relationships.

There are plenty of players specializing in the influencer marketing umbrella, however, including Koalified, a SaaS provider that serves the creator space. According to Tina Scala, senior vice president of sales and marketing, the company has no minimum spend, but advises customers to use the platform only if they are frequent activators.

“There is no minimum spend, but there is a place where it makes sense to create efficiency. For example, a single campaign every few months doesn’t justify using a platform, but 100 influencers doing multiple campaigns would,” she says. The company’s platform is used by both brands and agencies, although consultancy work generally comes from its sister agencies in the Stagwell Group.

And not all companies impose a minimum spend. Maira Genovese, Founder and President of MG Empower, told The Drum: “We don’t believe enforcing minimum spend is relevant in our world today. We operate in a space that is changing and evolving at such a pace that it demands a flexible approach, so we move with the times.

The upper limit for campaign spending, our sources tell us, is much more variable. Komodo co-founder Freddie Strange says the agency works with brands whose spend runs into the millions; the agency typically works with clients in the travel and fashion industries.

It’s a similar story to Goat. “We have a wide range,” Hugo told The Drum. “Some of our brands spend upwards of $10-15 million a year.” The agency typically works with 10-100 influencers on any given campaign, with the average work exceeding 50.

How is influencer activity factored into larger campaigns?

While some brand marketers may choose to reach audiences solely through influencer activities, this is an atypical choice. In 2021, most clients are using influencer marketing as part of a mix, alongside other above or below the line activations.

For example, Hugo tells The Drum that Goat typically advises his clients to set aside between 20% and 70% of their media budget for influencer marketing, depending on their goals and the campaign itself.

“We’ve been in business for six and a half years and we’ve gone from the biggest budget of £5,000 a month to millions. It’s not just the growth of our business, it’s because the market has grown so rapidly. Investing in this channel is now a prerequisite for launching a new product. For our top tier brands… it has to be 20%. This is what we believe it should be at a minimum.

Disrupt’s Johnson says his clients typically spend about 25% of their budget on influencer activity, while at Digital Voices, Quigley-Jones says that number “varies by campaign,” but “a media plan average could see brands spend 25-40%.” of campaign spend on organic content, 15% on usage rights, and then the remaining 45-60% on paid spend. »

Rice says Tailify generally advises clients to set aside 50% of their media budget for influencer work, but points to the variation between clients. “We’re not going to ask for a specific amount of their media budget…we’re talking about the results they want to see as a business…and then what influencer marketing can do for that.”

And for Komodo, whose fashion customers are particularly dependent on the channel, Strange says it’s “impossible” to name an average proportion of spending. “There is a huge proportion [of spend] on influencers because it’s the cheapest way to advertise and access a mass market for e-commerce brands. »