Influencer marketing has enjoyed an estimated 50% year on year spend increase since 2016 – there’s no denying, then, that the age of the influencer is now. While operating in this young and fast evolving industry has many perks, a readily available and transparent benchmark isn’t one of them.
The following predicaments are often experienced by both agencies and brands:
**How much should we be paying an influencer for sponsored content? **
This all important negotiation and budgeting stage is all too often a ‘finger in the air’ approach – go in too high and you’re throwing away money .. go too low and you risk souring a relationship, damaging your reputation and losing a possible brand advocate.
What value should we put on the content created by an influencer who we gifted?
When it comes to appraising how successful a gifting campaign has been, and how much it would have cost you to pay those influencers to post that branded content, you’d be equally at a loss.
Companion’s Benchmark Value (BMV) is here to help navigate these otherwise grey areas.
What is BMV? It is a universal benchmark to help you navigate how much an influencer post is really worth. The formula is completely transparent, created by Companion, and it’s there to help in both of the above scenarios.
How is BMV Calculated? We partner with influencer agency Billion Dollar Boy, which has been at the forefront of the industry since its founding in 2014. They have worked with thousands of influencers over this time, negotiating and accumulating a wealth of data which we are able to leverage to create Benchmark Value. The BMV Calculator is an algorithm developed by Head of Companion Irving Shark that allows the user to efficiently translate online metrics into a language everyone can understand: money. The calculator uses the influencers follower count and post engagements to calculate the monetary value of a specific post’s earned media.
When To Use BMV?
BMV is ideal to provide context for the potential costs and budgeting pre-campaign; for example to view the worth of an influencer’s previous posts or even to calculate the value of competitor collaborations. This is a hugely beneficial tool to help you stay ahead when working with a new face or just getting started in influencer marketing.
Post campaign reports are also particularly relevant for BMV. When valuing content which has already been created – for example a post campaign report, or to appraise the value generated by a gifting campaign – being able to apply a reliable measure is a huge asset.
Here are some other factors that may cause content rates to be higher than BMV:
Influencer exclusivity: 6 months vs a few days, category vs product.
Influencer popularity: working with a few brands vs many, prestige vs mass category vertical
Influencer vertical: Luxury vs high street
Content Usage rights: Global vs. Local, Out Of Home vs Social, timing of usage agreements
Brand value/affinity: Luxury product affinity vs mass, organic love of the brand
Value of product: Promoting a car or low price sports brand
Time of year: Seasonal postings, for example Christmas promotions, can get pricey.
Inevitably, no two negotiations will be the same. However, when valuing content which has already been created – for example a post campaign report, or to appraise the value generated by a gifting campaign – being able to apply a reliable measure is a huge asset.
The BMV tool can also be used to value the posts of competitors or see the monetary value of an influencer’s previous collaborations. This can be hugely beneficial when you are pre-campaign, working with a new face or just getting started in influencer marketing.
BMV can also provide context for the cost of a post pre-campaign; for example to view the worth of an influencer’s previous posts or even to calculate the value of competitor collaborations. This is a hugely beneficial tool to help you stay ahead when working with a new face or just getting started in influencer marketing
Although BMV, or any other valuation measure, provides great context for a budget it won’t necessarily tell the whole story for negotiations. There are other variables that may well impact the content rate for a specific influencer or collaboration – so some common sense layered with BMV will ensure you make informed decisions...