When to Raise Your Rates for Brand Partnerships

If you came here, it’s because you know your worth! That is awesome. As influencers, we deserve to be compensated for our work. Think about it – if the brand didn’t have you working on their sponsored content, they’d likely be creating traditional ads. For traditional ads, the brand would need to hire a photographer, models, stylists, hair and makeup, editors, graphic designers, marketers, and more. All those costs add up QUICK! You do it all. The brand should ABSOLUTELY compensate you for your time and efforts. So, when is it time to consider raising your rates? Let’s jump in!

P.S. for more help determining your rates as a content creator, check out this post! You can also learn more about how I’ve increased my fees for brand collaborations in this post.

When brands are accepting your rate with minimal negotiation

Are brands accepting your rates quickly without negotiating at all? If so, you’re probably charging too little! Unless you’ve found a really amazing brand that is fairly compensating creators, which is possible (but rare), go ahead and try raising your rates!

When you have a TON of brand collaborations

Are you finding it hard to manage all of the brand collaborations you have going on? This can be a sign that you’ve taken on too much! Consider raising your rates to help you to manage your time. After all, you can take on fewer collaborations and potentially make the same amount of money if you do raise your rates.

During busy seasons

You can offset busy seasons by increasing your rates as a content creator. I fully intend on increasing my rates during Q4 (the holiday season). During the holidays, brands have a HUGE budget for influencer marketing and want to increase sales of their products. This can be a great time to increase your rates as many brands will be likely to pay your increased rate as they have increased budget.

Consider your costs as a creator

What are your monthly costs as a creator? Do you need to buy props or an outfit to create content for a brand? Maybe you pay for G-Suite to help you manage your email inbox? Are you planning to shoot at a specific location that has a fee to get in? Do you need to drive there or take public transit? Consider these aspects when coming up with your rates!

I rented this gorgeous dress from FASHION PASS! You can take $15 your first month with my code: HELLOEMILYERIN

Know that your rate CAN vary depending on the brand

By that same vein, know that your rates can change depending on the brand. Is the brand a smaller business? Are they just starting out? Or are they a larger corporation with a larger marketing budget? I will often work with smaller or local businesses on a smaller budget vs. my typical rates when working with a larger corporation.

After chatting with content creator friends

Your content creator friends can help you determine your rates! Many of the times I’ve raised my rates, its because content creator pals of mine (whether local or ones I’ve met online) have chatted with me about payment from brands. Only chat about what you are personally comfortable with, but consider asking friends if they are comfortable sharing how much they’ve been paid for a campaign or even ballpark it for you. Especially if you are working with the same or similar brands!

Monthly or quarterly

Consider adjusting your rates on a regular basis. Typically, I’ll increase mine on monthly basis. Keeping things on a planned schedule can help you stay on track with your own income goals over time!

So how much should I raise my rates?

I aim to raise my rates by $50-$100 each month, or if I encounter some of the above factors. Give it a try – if you increased by too much, you’ll likely get some feedback. I find that the sweet spot is when brands negotiate with you but eventually come close to your proposed quote.

I highly encourage you to give it a try! If you are feeling nervous about asking a brand to pay you, think about how much value you are providing to them! I am passionate about the topic of knowing your worth as a content creator and sharing that information with brands. You can check out my journey as a content creator in this post, where I dive in to how I transformed my gifted partnerships into paid ones and shared some of my “big breaks!” I’d also suggest checking out this page “f*** you pay me” which is like Glassdoor for influencers. So, what do you think? Will you try to raise your rates soon?