How to Know Your Worth As An Influencer
Knowing your worth as an influencer can be difficult terrain for any new creator. Not only do you have to consider your inherent value, but also the way that you provide value for others, like brands and fans.
Knowing your worth as an influencer comes down to three key things:
- How brands view you
- How your audience engages with you
- How you provide value
Assessing each of these factors will help you to charge accurate rates and ensure you’re being paid what you're worth.
Why Do I Need to Know My Worth as an Influencer?
Knowing your worth as an influencer will protect you from being taken advantage of in potential contracts.
Most brands have a set budget in mind when they look to work with influencers. However, they may lowball their offer to try and get more content from you. This isn't uncommon in the industry and disproportionately affects women and people of color.
Content creation is incredibly lucrative, but more importantly, it's a skill. Brands work with influencers because they understand their true value.
Don't let brands take advantage of you to save themselves money. Know your worth and charge confidently.
Factors That Influence How Brands Value You
So how do brands see you? When a brand considers you for partnership or collaboration, they're not just looking at how you present yourself.
They're looking at your platform, how you maintain it, and how often you put out content. All of these factor into why a brand would want to work with you.
Following Size
The size of your following is one of the first ways that a brand may consider whether they want to work with you or not. While it’s much better to have a niche, targeted engaged following, size does matter when you're considering working with more prominent brands.
Influencer tiers include:
- Nano: 5K - 10K
- Micro: 10K - 50K
- Mid-Tier: 50K - 250K
- Macro: 250K - 1.5M
- Celeb: 1.5M +
Engagement
Your engagement rate shows brands how active your following is. It also shows them the type of actions your audience is inspired to take from your content.
Typically your engagement rate can be determined within the platform via the analytics tools. If you use any type of media kit or pitch tool and collaboration with brands, your engagement rate is one of the most important things to have visible.
Type of Content
Brands try and choose influencers that create content that resonates with their ideal audience. As a lifestyle influencer, you may be approached by a brand that has a beauty product to sell. This is because as a lifestyle influencer, your audience is likely to pay attention to the products that you're using.
You can raise your value by having measurable proof that your audience is influenced by your content. Showing examples of times your audience purchase things from a link in your bio, or being able to prove click-through rates for your email list are great ways to increase your value to brands.
Increase Your Value To Your Audience
Always remember that your audience is who allows you to do what you do. They are not just people who like your content. They are supporters who are inspired by you and who will make decisions based on what you say and do.
You hold a tremendous amount of responsibility as an influencer and a content creator, and your audience knows this better than most.
This is why engagement is deeper than the number of likes you get on a post. It is often the most important determining factor in whether or not a brand decides to work with you.
Amount of Sponsored or Promotional Posts
There's a caveat to doing tons of promotional content. It may cause your audience to think that you only sell products, which may discourage them from interacting with your content. Try to keep a good balance of sponsored content and non-promotional content, so your audience knows they can come to you for both value and quality.
Type of Engagement
There are so many options for engagement through social media these days, that pursuing engagement can be an entire marketing strategy on its own.
Audience engagement can include:
- Link clicks and swipe up rates
- New visits to your page
- Click-through rates for carousel posts
- Save rates for Instagram posts
- Share rates for TikTok
Consistent interaction from your audience improves your engagement rates and can result in increased trust over time.
How Do I Assess My Value as an Influencer?
It will likely be an experience of trial and error when you first determine your rates and what you are worth as an influencer.
Don't shy away from learning about other creators' journeys and asking about pay transparency, so that the contracts that you make are fair.
Engagement is the key to commanding higher rates as an influencer. More engagement equals more value for both you and your brands.
Don't shy away from negotiating if you feel the contract you have been offered is unfair. Many brands are grateful for the influencers they work with, and a mutually beneficial partnership may be closer than you think.
Create Quality Content With LITTIL
Ready to charge what you're worth? At LITTIL, we fully support creators owning their values and letting their light shine online. Take the time to invest in improving your engagement rates and watch as brands flock to you for collaborations!
