Social Norms

It’s time we started to set rates and rules for influencer campaigns.

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The growing impact of social media influencers is a topic making headlines in the UAE media and has generated growing debate among the broader communication industry.

In our rapidly evolving digital world, social media influencers have established themselves as a gateway to content specific audiences in the thousands – and frequently millions. Their direct engagement and relationship with target audiences can be valuable resources for brands that are proactive about advancing relationships and connecting more closely and directly with their customer base.

But as their influence grows, so does their commercial power and impact. And that means that companies need to consider large investments to have these influencers support their brands.

That also means more discussion about the need for a more regulated approach to these influencers to put processes and systems in place to formalise partnerships.

Brands are now partnering with social media influencers more than ever before, and in the past few years, we have seen ‘influencer engagement’ become part of every communication strategy. Budgets are naturally increasing to embrace the costs of influencers, who now regularly charge between $1,500-5,000, with some charging up to $10,000 for a single Instagram post.

So why do they charge? Well, there are many expenses that social media personalities incur while developing a campaign for a brand. The time and effort invested in content development, photography and travelling needs to be accounted for and will be used to determine a fee.