What are TikTok influencer rates in 2025?

The social media influencer marketing industry is predicted to grow its market size to nearly $22.2 billion in 2025. That’s over a 35% increase from 2022. For TikTokers, now can be the prime time to rethink your influencer rates. But how much should you really charge? 

If you’re an online creator, you’ve probably noticed there are no universal rules for setting influencer rates. With so much misinformation online, I’ve decided to reach out to Ignatii Strukalev, Head of Influencer Marketing at Meadow AI and a true expert in the field. 

Together, we’ve discussed different factors affecting fee rates, payment structures, and mistakes to avoid in your social media journey. As a cherry on top, Ignatii shared his tips and predictions for influencer marketing trends for 2025 — you can use them to leverage your content creator career this year.

Deciding how much you should charge per post as a TikTok influencer 

Does follower count matter? 

Let’s start off with debunking one of the biggest myths of all: your follower count doesn’t actually matter as much as you might think. Brands and agencies may still use this metric to discover influencers, but it is not by any means a deciding factor for collaboration offers. 

Good news for small creators: nano- and micro-influencers are in high demand. With their loyal and engaged audiences, 44% of brands prefer to work with nano-influencers, while only 17% go for macro-influencers. This means even if your follower count is modest, you have plenty of opportunities to shine.

If you don’t know what kind of an influencer you are in terms of follower count, there are five TikTok influencer tiers: 

While a follower count is the first thing brands notice, the quality of your audience matters more than sheer numbers. That’s where reach and engagement rates come into play. 

What are key metrics affecting TikTok influencer rates? 

Influencer marketing is a relatively new domain. No brand follows the same formula when it comes to calculating fees they’re willing to pay. However, there are some basic factors typically playing a part in how much you should charge. 

1. Reach and engagement

Reach is a metric measuring the number of people exposed to your content. Engagement reflects the level of connection you have with the audience. It is evaluated by likes, comments, shares, saves, clicks, etc. Reach is important for spreading brand awareness. However, it is engagement that is typically appreciated the most. High engagement rates signify the content you share resonates with your target audience, making you more credible. 

The more you interact with your audience and the stronger connection you have with it, the higher your influencer rates will be. It is the genuine relationship that drives conversions and a good return on investments for brands. 

One of the reasons TikTok is now the major influencer marketing platform is its high engagement rates. A TikTok account with over a million followers has an average engagement rate of 10,53%. As for nano-influencers, their profiles reach an astonishing 15,04% in engagement. That explains brands’ marked preference for smaller TikTok creators.

2. Audience demographics

Audience demographics reflect what age and gender your followers are and where they are located along with some other insights. This is an important factor since brands are interested in partnering with creators with overlapping audiences. You can learn more about your audience insights on TikTok’s official website. 

How do brands calculate their rates and how should you? 

Many brands calculate their budgets in line with CPM (cost per mile, 1.000 unique users reached). For example, in France, it would be the recommended CPM of up to 25-30 EUR, while in Germany it can reach up to 35 EUR. 
It also may vary based on the product category — for example, fashion, beauty, or lifestyle brands overall are usually able to offer quite lower budgets than big FMCG corporations or companies with digital products from FinTech, Web3, or Crypto-related categories. 
So don’t hesitate to learn more about CPM benchmarks in your country and use this information as a base for your pricing.
However, at the same time, don’t forget about CTR (click-through rate) and CPL (cost per lead), which will always be taken into account by the company to optimize their budgets - the investments always have to be cost-efficient for the brand to be able to work with a creator. Usually, the business can set up the 1st campaign to try it out, but then they would want to optimize the cost in line with the actual results an influencer managed to deliver.

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According to Ignatii, the key campaign objective plays an important role in shaping the price. It’s crucial to distinguish what the brand is trying to achieve — do they have a performance, awareness, or branding focus? 

Performance-oriented partnerships are aimed at achieving measurable results: 1) website visits and 2) purchase. Awareness-focused campaigns use the same CPM-based approach with a higher emphasis on reach/content views. Now, partnerships aimed at Branding and Content Creation are slightly different. 

Ignatii shares that high-quality content is especially important for branding and content creation campaigns. The rise of demand for UGC (user-generated content) is a clear proof of that. In that regard, even as a micro-influencer or someone just getting started, you can still partner with brands. If you’re at this stage at the moment, Ignatii recommends seeing yourself as a photo- or video creator first and researching how much people are charging in this domain to form a competitive offer.

If you’re unsure where to start with your influencer rates, it may be worth checking different online pricing calculators. They work both ways — brands can check how much they might need to spend on a collaboration with a creator, and vice versa, a tool like that can be a good starting point for an influencer to navigate what to charge. 

Calculator results can serve as a nice stress-free baseline for setting prices. However, solid metrics aside, you should also consider content production time and costs and associated efforts. What’s more, some brands may request exclusive rights for your content (could be for a month, a year, or permanently) or legally require you to refrain from collaborating with competitors for a certain period of time. All these factors are less measurable yet should be acknowledged when determining influencer rates. 

As an influencer who is new to the marketing game, one crucial thing to remember is that brands usually have pre-allocated budgets for their campaigns. This means they have a maximum amount they are willing to spend per deliverable. If a brand immediately agrees to your rates without hesitation, it can be an indicator your rates are way below their budget limit. So, you can try and increase the prices next time. 

While we all wish we had definitive formulas when it comes to rates and prices, in marketing, especially influencer marketing, it’s often about learning through trial and error. This is where negotiation skills come in handy. 

Can you negotiate sponsored content deals? 

To be successful in the world of social media is, among other things, to be a good negotiator. As a content creator, you need to know your worth and be able to back it up by numbers we discussed earlier. But how do you know when your rates are too high? 

Of course, there are influencers that tend to request higher prices, but often it becomes a blocker for the brand. Especially when the 1st trial partnership does not bring expected results.

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To justify charging higher rates, you need to be confident you’ll be able to deliver anticipated results and provide real value. Ignat believes that asking for higher rates as a social media influencer is only fair if you can show strong and consistent numbers in the following:

• High overall engagement and active involvement coming from your community; 
• Broad average reach; 
• Your audience’s willingness to explore new brands and products you recommend, which can be demonstrated through clicks on links in your bio or Stories.  
• Match in audience demographics. 

Now, let’s say you’re negotiating your first sponsorship deal. How should you approach it? One thing that’s better than a sponsorship deal is a long-term sponsorship deal. Not only does the latter grant you more financial security, it also fosters trust in the products you promote among your audience. Besides, once you’ve established a long-term partnership, it is easier to negotiate higher rates since you’ll have solid proof of your effectiveness. 

Here’s Ignatii's take on handling your first sponsored content deal: 

1. Be thoughtful and professional in your communication, and know your audience and statistics (brands are expecting to see the statistics before they can discuss details and pricing);

2. Make sure to create qualitative content, so the client is pleased and will be willing to repeat the partnership;

3. Contribute to the result. Choose the best day to post according to the activity pattern of your community to secure the best reach and engagement (brands will pay close attention to the results while considering a follow-up collaboration), and be interested in reaching set targets (e.g. reach);

4. Show genuine interest and willingness to contribute further. For example, even if the 1st results are not there yet, don’t get upset. There is always a solution: you can propose to the client to do a little extra (i.e. a Reminder TikTok Video or an Instagram Story (if you have another channel)). This would be highly appreciated and will be considered a major green flag to continue the partnership further and try it out once again.

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Once you’ve secured a deal, it’s time to consider payment options. Brands want influencer partnerships to be cost-effective and successful. Content creators want to get the most value for their efforts. Just like with anything in marketing, a payment structure is also a subject to discussion and negotiation. 

What is the most beneficial payment structure?

There are three major payment structures:

• CPP (Cost Per Post): A predetermined, fixed payment for a specific post or set of deliverables, agreed upon before the partnership begins.
• CPA (Cost Per Action): Payment is earned based on the actions taken by customers referred by the influencer. For example, actions could be tracked via a personal discount code within a specified period. The influencer receives a commission or percentage of the sales — this one is a popular model used by performance-driven brands.
• Hybrid: A combination of both the CPP and CPA models, where the influencer receives a lower fixed CPP payment (e.g., 50% of the standard rate), with the remaining earnings based on the number of customers they attract.

It is fair to say that since brands are interested in performance first, more and more are approaching influencers with CPA offers. However, not many creators are willing to work with a pure CPA approach — either they are relatively small, or the content quality may decline. 
The best way to go would be a performance-driven approach with CPP shaped and optimized in line with CPL (Cost Per Lead = Cost Per Sale). For that, both brands and influencers need to have access to technology and data-driven insights, and here is where Meadow AI comes into play enabling our partners with such. 
Also, the hybrid model might be beneficial for both parties as it gives certain security for both the influencer (fixed guaranteed payment) and the company (efficiency of their marketing cost spending proportional to their revenue).

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If it’s your first time collaborating with a brand, the best way to go about it is with a CPP model. If you’re both satisfied with the results and interested in a long-term partnership, suggest a hybrid model. 

Mistakes to avoid and expert tips

Last but not least, let’s cover some common mistakes influencers make and tips Ignatii would give to content creators as someone who works on the other side of things. 

• Make sure you don’t request prices randomly. Nothing screams unprofessional more than not being able to back up your rates with real data. 
• Your first collaboration sets the tone for the entire relationship with the client. Invest in providing good results and showing interest in mutual success.   
• Stay on top of current marketing trends and benchmarks in the region you’re active in to increase relevance. For example, in-app shopping, including TikTok Shop, is predicted to be a massive trend in 2025, according to Forbes. This could be another field to explore and make money from for you as an influencer. 

Speaking of trends, Ignatii shared some invaluable industry predictions for 2025 that will help you remain marketable. 

What are the hottest influencer marketing trends in 2025? 

The influencer marketing landscape is shifting dramatically every day. However, some trends are here to stay and influence the industry this year. 

1. The rise of social commerce. First off, what is it? To put it simply, it’s a love child of social media and e-commerce. In-app shopping has already become a massive trend and will undoubtedly dominate the market in 2025. In the context of today’s article, I’m talking about the TikTok Shop, of course. 

2. Authenticity and trust should be your number one priority. To put it simply, the higher the trust, the higher the income. Authentic and genuine content has never been more valued than now. Building trust within your community helps your content deliver strong collaboration results. 

3. As a natural progression from the previous trend, niche and micro-influencers are all the rage since they tend to have the most loyal and engaged audiences. Even with fewer followers, TikTokers who create high-quality content are able to go viral. Brands know this and prefer working with smaller creators over big celebs. 

4. Uncertain future of TikTok in certain regions. The potential ban of TikTok in the US has made headlines recently. If it happens, it could impact the way international brands implement their influencer marketing strategies. However, it also opens up new opportunities – something we’ll cover in the last trend for today.

5. Collaborating across platforms. If you're currently only posting on TikTok, it's time to rethink your strategy. Marketers are increasingly looking for cross-platform partnerships as they boost product exposure, trust and reach. Consider starting to post on other social media channels to secure your influencer career.

Being a content creator is demanding — you have to keep track of your metrics, create high quality content consistently and master soft skills along the way. However, if you’re strategic about your career, it can be highly rewarding. Remember influencer marketing is all about building meaningful relationships both with your audience and with brands. Invest in your skills and connections first, and your social media journey will pay off in the long run.