3 Tips For Negotiating Payment For Posts

As micro influencers (usually defined as having less than 10,000 followers on Instagram), it can be disheartening to hear that you shouldn’t be trying to negotiate for more than just gifting opportunities. Of course, being gifted items and services is pretty awesome, but if you’re looking to take your profile to the next level, it’s important to start considering how you will get there.

One of the main reasons you should be considering to ask for monetary compensation as a microinfluencer is that your audience is your most important asset. Brands and companies know the power of influencer marketing – why else would they get in contact with you? Microinfluencers, in particular, are more effective in getting their followers to engage with them talking about a new product which then leads to sales, as their followers feel more connected with them. They are more likely to have a higher engagement rate than an account with half a million followers, which makes the cost per engagement (a figure that brands will consider when deciding who to work with) more cost effective.

Creating content takes time and resources –and that’s just assuming that you’re taking your own photos or getting a friend to snap them for you! If you do things like hire a photographer, buy props for your photos, etc, then you’re having to spend money…is that free £10 mascara (or whatever)  such an exciting freebie now?

The first thing to do when negotiating is to ask what is being expected from you and what you will receive. Of course, you’ll have your own opinions on what you’re happy to accept, but as a very general guideline – if the brand is asking for more than just one post that they haveno influence on the content of, then there should be more than just a freeitem.

After you’ve found out what is being asked for, then the next step is to consider how much you would be happy to accept for this. If you’re unsure on where to start with compensation, make sure you check out this post where we go into more detail. If you’re stuck on how to approach brands for compensation, feel free to use these templates as a starting point:

• Thank you for getting in contact. I am interested in this opportunity, will you be compensating for this?
• Thank you for this information. My rates for (whatever is being asked for – e.g. one Instagram post with 3 images, a link in my bio for a week and 5 Stories, kept as a highlight for a month, etc) is £££. Please let me know how this sounds.
• I am interested in going forwards with this collaboration – my rates for (whatever) is £££, however I amopen to negotiation

It never hurts to ask whether there will be compensation available beyond the gifting – if they say no, then you can decide whether you still want to take part. Try to avoid apologetic language when sending these sort of emails – there has been a lot of talk recently that women tend to use language that puts their own skills down, and we should try to avoid this. (Check out this article for a more detailed look)

Finally, be more open with other bloggers and influencers in the same area as you. Money is always seen as a taboo subject, but if we want to help each other more with what a reasonable amount to charge is, then we should be discussing these sort of things more. (You’ve probably seen us say this sort of thing before – last year we ran a survey to ask about how much you charge). We should be opening up these sort of discussions more – if you’re being approached by certain brands, then it’s pretty likely that your friends will be as well.