Q & A: How Much Should I Charge For A Sponsored Post?
One question I get asked from bloggers over and over again is, “How much should I charge for a sponsored post?”
I’m going to be 100% straight with you and say, “What’s the value you are bringing to the table?”
The value you bring – the skill set, the number of followers and engagement – are all factors that you need to consider when determining how much you should charge for a sponsored post.
How To Determine What You Should Charge For A Sponsored Post
Three key things to keep in mind when determining what you should charge for a sponsored post are:
- How much time is it going to take you AND what is your skill (aka specialist) level?
Calculate the number of hours it takes to come up with the idea, style, photograph, edit, write the post and share on your social media platforms. Also keep in mind your specialist level… is your level of influence pretty darn good, great or phenomenal? This is determined by #2 below.
- How many followers will be exposed to the brand?
This is all about the number of visitors and how much influence or engagement (aka interaction) you have with your followers.
- How much is the brand willing to pay AND what are you willing to accept?
Some brands may not want to pay what you’re charging for your time and influence (#1 and #2 above) and that’s okay. There’s going to be brands out there that want to pay you $100 and there’s going to be bloggers out there that will take it, BUT that doesn’t mean YOU should take it!
I think Sam Ushiro (@aww.sam) said it best, “I Don’t Pay My Rent In Socks.”
How To Calculate Your Sponsored Post Rate
Here’s a formula you can use to calculate your sponsored post rate:
The number of hours it will take to create, style, photograph, edit, write and market the post on your social media platforms X your hourly ‘specialist level’ rate = the bare minimum you should charge for a sponsored post.
Your hourly specialist level rate takes into count the number of followers and influence you have. Here are some standard rates based on followers/pageviews:
Pageviews Hourly Rate
10,000 $50
10,000 – 50,000 $50 – $75
50,000 – 200,000 $75 – $200
For example: Let’s say you have 50,000 pageviews /month and it will take you 10 hours of work. The calculation would be: 10 hours x $75 per hour = $750
If you don’t know your monthly pageviews, make sure you’ve installed Google Analytics (here’s a tutorial) – it’s the industry standard!
Real life bloggers and what they charge per sponsored post:
Sam Ushiro of @aww.sam charges a base price of $1,500, but the price goes up from there depending on how much work is required. (Info pulled from here)
Danielle Bernstein, of @weworewhat with over 1.5 million followers, has said she makes anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000 per post. (Info pulled from here)
Justina Blakeney of @thejungalow shared on her blog that she charges $5,000-$10,000 per sponsored post on her blog (but that this number increases as her followers increase).
Another good rule of thumb a number of bloggers use is $100 per 10,000 followers.
There’s not an exact formula or one price fits all on how much to charge for a sponsored post, but it’s good to have a base price in mind…
And to always keep in mind that your time, influence and following are worth something!
Have a question you want answered? Leave a comment below. Most of my blog posts come from readers’ questions.
*Main image of our beautiful client The Body Type Stylist. Photo taken by Your Marketing BFF
