How Much Should You Charge Brands for Sponsored Content?

There is no honest single rate for "a sponsored post". Two creators with the same follower count can be pricing different jobs: a story that disappears in a day, a film the brand runs as an ad for a year, or a file the brand posts and the creator never does.

This is educational, not a quote for your work and not legal or tax advice.

What actually changes the fee

Price these separately, then add them up:

• Production. Time to plan, film, edit and revise.
• Distribution. A post to your audience is reach the brand does not have to buy elsewhere. No post means you are not selling reach.
• Usage. How long the brand can use the file, and where: their organic feed, their site, retailers, or paid ads.
• Constraints. Exclusivity, a rush deadline, whitelisting, or extra cuts.

Follower count sits inside distribution. It does not set the other lines.

Followers and views

Followers are a ceiling on who could see an organic post. Views are closer to who did.

When you quote, use a recent typical period and say so. "Median views on the last 12 reels" is more useful than your best video. If a brand only talks about followers, you can still answer with views and the deliverable.

A small account can charge a serious production fee for content the brand will run itself. A large account can still be poor value if the audience is unrelated to the product. The guide on smaller followings covers fit. This one covers the number.

Audience and production

Audience relevance changes what the distribution line is worth to that brand. A camping brand may pay more for 8,000 attentive hikers than for 80,000 general followers. You will not always know their alternative. You can know whether your last month of content looks like their customer.

Production changes with the ask. A talking-head video at home is not the same cost as a day of filming, a second location, or a product you have to buy because they will not send it. Revisions are production. Two rounds included, and a fee after that, is easier to defend than "unlimited changes".

Platforms are not one price

Instagram, TikTok and YouTube ask for different lengths, formats and amounts of your time. A YouTube integration inside a longer film is not a TikTok duet. Stories are usually worth less than a feed post because they vanish, unless the brand is buying a specific click or a code.

UGC, meaning content the brand publishes, often has no distribution line at all. You are pricing skill and usage. UGC versus influencer work is the distinction to keep straight before you send a number.

Usage, exclusivity and extras

Organic posting is the narrowest use. Paid usage is different because the brand can put spend behind your face or your demo. Whitelisting, where they run ads from your handle, is different again.

Exclusivity is a restriction on your other income. A month of not working with competing coffee brands is a smaller ask than a year across "all food". Price the category and the time, or decline it.

Extras that creators forget:

• Extra ratios and cuts.
• Raw footage.
• Spark or partnership ads.
• Appearing in the brand's email or on packaging.
• A deadline inside a week.

If it is not in the fee, say it is not included.

What published numbers can and cannot tell you

Marketplace and survey figures are context. They are not your rate.

Collabstr's 2026 report describes its own platform, not the whole creator market. It says the company analysed more than 21,000 collaborations and more than 200,000 creators on Collabstr. On that marketplace, about 80% of engagements cost under $300, about 18% were between $301 and $1,000, and about 2% were above $1,000. Across 472,000-plus packages and those collaborations, average asking prices included about $311 on YouTube, $214 on Instagram, $182 on TikTok and $180 for UGC. Average payouts were lower: about $255, $193, $186 and $154 for those same categories. YouTube's average payout was also down sharply on their earlier figure. Asking price and money actually paid are not the same thing. Read the report for the method and the limits: Collabstr's 2026 influencer marketing report.

Sprout Social's 2025 influencer report, fielded by Cint from 13 to 20 February 2024, surveyed 300 people in the US and UK who identified as influencers, had at least 10,000 followers on one network, and earned at least half their income from brand partnerships. In that group, almost half said they charge between $250 and $1,000 per post. The spread was wide: some reported under $100, and a minority reported $5,000 or more. The report's top band is $5,000+. That sample leaves out smaller creators and people who do not earn most of their living this way. It is what respondents said they charge, not a receipt for what brands paid. Source: Sprout Social, What influencers want from brands (2025).

Do not average those studies into "the going rate". Different years, different populations, and a marketplace's payouts are not a survey of full-time influencers.

An example calculation

This is an illustration with made-up assumptions. It is not a benchmark.

Assume a creator in the UK is asked for one 30-second product video, filmed at home, with two rounds of changes. They are not posting it. The brand wants to use it on the brand's website and organic social for 90 days. Paid ads are not included.

They estimate six hours at a labour rate they have chosen, £35 an hour, which is £210. They add £40 because they are buying a prop the brand will not send. For 90 days of organic use they add £75, a figure they picked because the file will keep working after the edit is done, not because a table told them to. Paid ads, if added later, would be another line.

The illustration total is £325 for that package. Change the hours, the currency or the usage and the number changes. A creator who posts the video as well would add a distribution line based on their own recent views, not on this example.

A US creator can do the same sum in dollars. Do not convert this example into a US market rate.

How to present a rate card

A rate card is a menu, not a vow that every cell is available.

Keep it to one page:

• Two or three packages, such as "one short video, no posting" and "one post plus 30 days of organic use".
• What is included: edits, formats, deadline.
• What is not included: paid usage, exclusivity, rush delivery.
• A note that you will quote a custom brief.
• The date. Rates go stale.

Put the card in a media kit if you have one, or send it when a brand asks. You do not have to lead every first pitch with a price. The pitching guide suggests when to hold the number back.

There is not yet a Pitch to Brands rate calculator. Do not wait for one. A short written package is enough.

Negotiating

When a brand names a budget, compare it with your lines. If they can pay production but not usage, offer a smaller licence: organic only, 30 days, no ads. If they need the ads, the fee goes up or you decline.

Useful sentences:

• "That fee covers the video and two edits. Paid usage is separate. I can price 30 days of ads if you need it."
• "I can do the organic post at that budget. Whitelisting is not included."
• "I can't take exclusivity across the category for that fee."

Do not invent a competing offer. Do not apologise for charging for usage.

Pricing mistakes

• One fee for "anything the brand wants to do with it".
• Copying a viral infographic that has no date, sample or geography.
• Quoting your best video as if it were typical.
• Forgetting tax. Whether you need to add VAT or set aside income tax depends on your circumstances. Ask a qualified adviser if you are unsure.
• Racing to the bottom because a marketplace average was under $300. That average describes one platform's mix of jobs, including very small ones.

Charge for the work in front of you. Then pitch brands that can use that work. The number is easier to defend when the email is about their product, which is the job of a clear pitch.