Creator fees have never been particularly easy to price.
Two creators can have similar audience sizes and completely different levels of creative craft, performance, production complexity and commercial value. The same creator can also command very different fees depending on the platform, deliverables, usage rights, exclusivity, region and timeline.
Yet brands have historically had limited data to benchmark those variables.
That’s where Companion’s Benchmark Algorithm comes in.
Built from more than 180,000 verified creator quotes, final deals and deal data points totaling $173 million in creator campaign spend, Benchmark Algorithm gives brands a data-backed Suggested Fee for creator partnerships before they enter a negotiation.
Creator Pricing Is About More Than Followers
Follower count has long been used as a shorthand for creator value. It’s easy to see, easy to compare and easy to put into a spreadsheet.
But it tells you very little about what a specific partnership actually involves.
A creator producing one TikTok with organic usage is a very different investment from one producing multiple pieces of content across platforms with paid usage and category exclusivity.
Benchmark Algorithm accounts for the factors that shape the scope and value of each partnership, including:
- Platform and content format
- Creator niche
- Region
- Usage rights
- Exclusivity
- Seasonality
- Production timelines
- Predicted content performance
The result is a Suggested Fee based on the specifics of the partnership, rather than follower count alone.
A Better Starting Point for Negotiations
Benchmark Algorithm isn’t designed to dictate what a creator should charge. It gives brands a consistent benchmark to use alongside the other factors that shape a negotiation.
Teams can use it to understand:
- Whether a fee is in line with the market
- How a quote compares with similar partnerships
- Whether usage rights and exclusivity are reflected appropriately
- How creator pricing compares across markets and teams
It also brings historical deal intelligence into the picture, giving teams visibility into previous quotes, negotiations and agreed fees – including past deals with specific creators.
Built on Real Creator Deals
Public rate cards rarely capture the details that can materially change a creator’s fee.
Benchmark Algorithm is informed by pricing intelligence from Billion Dollar Boy’s real creator campaigns over the last decade – covering 180,000 deals across more than 50 regions worldwide.
It gives teams a clearer reference point for evaluating quotes, preparing negotiations and assessing whether fees are in line with the market.
Benchmark Algorithm, Part of Creator Investment Intelligence
Benchmark Algorithm is part of Creator Investment Intelligence, Companion’s solution for bringing greater transparency and governance to creator pricing and budgets.
Alongside this feature, Creator Investment Intelligence includes tools to help teams manage creator investment from the initial quote through to the final deal.
Learn more about Creator Investment Intelligence here.
Ready to bring more structure to creator pricing?
Book a demo with Companion.