How to price influencer deals: a rate-card framework
A repeatable way to price creator deals, from a baseline rate per deliverable to the multipliers for usage, exclusivity, and turnaround.
Pricing is where a lot of agencies leave money on the table or scare brands off. Quote off the cuff and you will be inconsistent across your roster and across deals. The fix is a rate card: a baseline price per deliverable, plus a short set of multipliers you apply on top. Once it exists, anyone on your team can price a deal the same way.
Start with a baseline per deliverable
Set a base price for each content type a creator produces. The base assumes the simplest possible deal, one piece of content, organic posting, no special usage rights. Common deliverables to price:
- A feed post
- A short-form video (Reel, TikTok, Short)
- A story frame or set of frames
- A long-form video or integration
- A bundle, where several of the above are sold together
The base is anchored to reach and engagement, not follower count alone. A creator with 80,000 highly engaged followers can be worth more than one with 300,000 passive ones. Use recent median views and engagement, not the one viral outlier.
Apply multipliers, not guesses
Once you have a base, the deal-specific factors become multipliers on top. This keeps pricing consistent and easy to explain to a brand.
Usage rights. If the brand wants to reuse the content in their own ads or channels, that is worth far more than an organic post. Whitelisting and paid amplification commonly add 50 to 100 percent or more, scaled to the length of the usage window.
Exclusivity. If the creator cannot work with competing brands for a period, you are selling their unavailability. Price the exclusivity window separately, scaled to how broad the category lockout is and how long it lasts.
Turnaround. A rush timeline costs the creator other work and adds pressure. A tight deadline is a legitimate premium.
Volume and term. A multi-month always-on partnership can carry a per-post discount in exchange for guaranteed volume. Discounts are fine when they buy you predictability.
Production complexity. Scripted concepts, travel, props, or a shoot with a brand crew all add real cost. Bill them as line items, not buried in the base.
Build the rate card once
Put it in a simple table per creator: base price by deliverable, then the standard multipliers. A worked example for one deliverable might read like this in plain terms. The base for a short-form video is the starting point. Add the usage premium if the brand wants paid rights. Add the exclusivity fee if there is a category lockout. Add a rush premium if the timeline is tight. The total is the quote.
When pricing lives in a table rather than your head, you stop under-charging your best creators and you stop quoting different numbers to different brands for the same work.
Quote with a floor, negotiate from there
Brands will negotiate. Decide your floor before you send the quote, so you never discount into a deal that is not worth doing. A clean way to give ground without cutting the headline price is to remove scope. If the brand wants a lower number, drop the usage rights or shorten the exclusivity rather than discounting the base. The price stays defensible and the creator keeps more rights.
Revisit the card as the creator grows
A rate card is a living document. Reprice when a creator's median views step up, when they move into a more valuable niche, or when demand for them outstrips supply. A standing rule of thumb is to review rates every quarter and after any breakout moment.
Keep the brand-facing version clean
The brand should see a clear quote tied to deliverables and rights, not your internal multipliers. Present the package, the rights included, and the timeline. The internal math is yours. The external proposal is simple.
bluo keeps each creator's rates and packages on their profile and turns them into a clean, brand-ready proposal in a few clicks. Explore media kits.