As an impact marketer, you know how to connect with people. You may feel like you’re putting those relationships at risk when you’re bargaining with creator partners because you want to keep influencers happy while also getting the best deal for your brand for reliable online visibility.
Should you be honest about your budget and lay all your cards on the table? Or wait for the rate of their anchor? What if the celebrity doesn’t want to work with you because you offer them too little?
Group products together to get each one cheaper.
Including more than one product in a single partnership is the most common way for influencers to negotiate. It’s so common that over 90% of the 38 influencer marketers we asked about price discussion said they use bundles.
The idea is simple: you ask the influencer how much product X would cost, and then you ask if they could include deliverables Y and Z for the same price. That way, both of you benefit: the celebrity gets paid what they want, and you get more content for less money per delivery. Good news for everyone.
One more benefit of this strategy is that it helps your campaign reach more people when you combine outputs for more than one platform, like an Instagram Reel and a TikTok video.
You might want to talk about a “minimum view guarantee.”
If combining products is easy, then getting a minimum view promise is going to be harder. You ask an influencer to get a certain amount of views on a video, like 20,000 views on a paid reel. This is called a minimum view guarantee (MVG). Brands are likely interested in this type of deal because it lowers the risk of influencer marketing by promising a certain number of people will see their content.
Offer bonuses for good work and lower set fees
Not to worry, you can still win them over with a bonus based on how well they do their job. Some influencers won’t be willing to take a slightly lower set fee in exchange for the chance to make more money if they reach a certain goal.
For negotiations based on facts, use influential analysis tools.
But before you give them a blank check, you should still think about how valuable they might be as a partner. On the outside, they might look great, but their audience may still be growing or not fully fit with your ICP. Or it’s possible that their paid material doesn’t always work. No matter what, you need to talk things out in order for the partnership to make sense.
Conclusion
To get good at negotiating with influencers, you don’t have to read a million LinkedIn posts or listen to 10,000 hours of business talks
There aren’t any tricks or short-cuts to getting it right; all you have to do is be honest and treat peers with respect. You can get a better price without making anyone feel bad if you offer a group deal, a long-term relationship, or rewards that don’t involve money.
