How Much Do Travel Influencers Charge on Instagram?

Do you want to know How Much Do Influencers Make? We reveal below our rates post for Instagram based on our previous travel campaigns. 

Working as a travel “influencer” or content creator through paid Instagram sponsorship has allowed me to fulfill a dream of working remotely while traveling the world. 

And many have asked: how much do you charge as a travel influencer to be able to make a living and travel the world?

Prior to being laid off from my 9-5 full-time job in Chicago in 2017, I started a travel blog in hopes that one day it will be my vehicle to becoming a full-time digital nomad. 

Little did I know that my travel-related content on Instagram will eventually lead me to grow my followers and engagement on Instagram, and eventually land opportunities to charge per post through brand sponsorship on Instagram.

Since 2017, I’ve had a few solid years of experience in how to monetize Instagram through paid travel campaigns, among other press trips. 

And in this post, you will have a better idea of how to charge per Instagram post with travel or other brand campaigns. 

What You Need to Know First Before You Charge For Sponsored Instagram Posts

Truth be told, there really isn’t a formal definition of a travel Influencer.

Nowadays, many other influencers on Instagram come from different niches – beauty, fitness, lifestyle, fashion, food – can be labeled as a ‘travel influencer’ given the amount of travel content they post on their Instagram page. 

In other words, any type of Instagram influencer can be considered a travel influencer if they have enough content (and followers) in the travel space. 

This is good news for any influencers who are in different Instagram niches – you still have an opportunity charge for a sponsored Instagram post even if travel is not your main niche. 

From my past travel campaigns, I’ve met many Instagram influencers in other niches (mostly lifestyle and beauty niche) who are getting paid to travel, even if they are not originally branded or positioned as a travel influencer. 

The reason that different types of influencers can land paid Instagram sponsorship is the growth of influencer marketing. 

According to Influencer Marketing Hub, the influencer marketing industry reached the $4.6 billion benchmark in 2018, a $3 billion increase compared to 2016.

Social media, most especially Instagram, has fast become one of the most effective ways to reach a brand’s target audience. And brands look to Instagram influencers and other content creators to organically reach a brand new, targeted audience. 

However, travel influencers (or Instagram influencers in general) normally face the challenge of negotiating on working with brands on how much to charge per Instagram post, considering there is no industry standard when it comes to influencer fees. 

There are a lot of variables that come into play on deciding how much to set your fees as a travel influencer: the campaign’s objective, the types and amount of deliverables, the duration of the campaign, and many others. 

Before deciding on how much to charge per Instagram post, travel influencers need to consider the budget of the campaign. If it’s a big-budgeted campaign, travel influencers will have more leverage to raise their fees per post on Instagram. If it’s a low budgeted campaign, travel influencers may not be able to charge on their normal rate.

Before we dive into how much we charge for an Instagram post, we want to make clear that there is no industry standard, cookie-cutter rates or fees for all influencers. The following rates below are just guidelines for you to test and pitch to brands if you are not sure how much to charge brands for your campaigns. 

How Much Can You Charge Per Post On Instagram:

As a travel influencer, think of your sponsored social media post as an ad placement. 

There are quite a lot of reports online about the following guideline on how to charge for a sponsored Instagram post:

Charging $10 per 1,000 followers.

In other words, you are charging 1% per one thousand followers. 

This is a good starting point. However, don’t let this formula be the defining guideline on how much you can charge for sponsored Instagram posts. 

At the end of the day, you would need to consider the effort it takes for you to create content (shooting plus editing), the strength of your engagement, the duration of the campaign, and the number of deliverables required by the brand). 

In short, you can use the formula above to guide how much you can charge per Instagram post, but make sure that you are able to assess and make adjustments depending on the project. 

A Breakdown On How Much To Charge For An Instagram Post Per Content:

Travel influencers need to be savvy when it comes to setting their rates post for Instagram. 

Before setting your fees, understand that each sponsored Instagram post will have different rates depending on the type of deliverables that are agreed on. 

Below are estimates based on the additional charge of a single Instagram (static) Post.

We base the rate below from an Instagram (static) rate post of $2,000 — the following would be an estimated additional charge on top of that base amount.

Sponsored Instagram Static Post: Image

The static Instagram image post is a standard deliverable content for travel influencers. Brands love images as a sponsored post because it is authentic and allows the travel influencer to inject their creativity and tell a story that resonates with their audience. 

Sample base cost (IG Static Post): $2000

Sponsored Instagram Static Post: Video 

The sponsored Instagram video is also a standard content for many travel influencers. Just like an image, brands love video content because of how the visuals and sounds can tell a powerful and authentic story. Travel influencers typically charge a higher rate when it comes to including sponsored videos as part of the deal. 

Increased rates for videos should be no surprise. The effort with production and cost to produce the content gives you leverage to increase your rate by 40–50%.

Sample rate with video: up to $3000 per video.

Carousel Post:

A carousel sponsored post allows different types of content that is very much focused on the caption to tell a story behind the multiple images and videos. 

Carousel sponsored post typically does well with engagement because Instagram users tend to stay on the content length, which signals Instagram that you have quality content, and will more likely be shown to more users. 

We usually include an additional 30-40% on top of our base rate.

Sample rate with carousel post: up to $2800 per carousel post

Sponsored Story Post with Swipe Up or Tag:

Nowadays, it’s quite rare to land an Instagram sponsored post without including stories as part of the content deliverables. 

Instagram sponsored stories to work well for brands because it is cost-effective, and it allows for brands to drive direct traffic to their website or Instagram account for brand awareness.

The downside for brands is that sponsored stories on Instagram are limited time in terms of visibility of the content, which plays to the amount of how much you can charge if ever your brand deal only includes Instagram stories. 

We generally add 20% to our standard base rate for each carousel post.

Sample rate with Story Post with Swipe Up or tag: up to $400 in addition to our standard base rate.

IGTV:

IGTV is another video feature on Instagram that’s been gaining momentum in recent years.

This feature on Instagram allows travel influencers to tell their story in a video format for more than the standard one-minute length. If IGTV is part of the content deliverables, travel influencers can leverage charging a higher fee because of the amount of editing time it can take for the video itself. 

The rates for IGTV will vary depending on the video length required by the brand.

We typically charge an extra 70-100% from our base rate for IGTV’s

Sample rate with IGTV from standard base rate: up to an additional $2000.

Link in Bio:

Link in bio allows brands to have higher visibility in the travel influencer’s Instagram account, and also the ability to drive direct traffic to their website.

For travel influencers, the link in bio gives them an opportunity to charge a fee in addition to the standard feed posts, because of the link in bio higher level of visibility for the brand. 

We add 40% in addition to our standard rate to keep the link in bio for 24-hours in our profile.

Sample rate with Link in Bio from standard base rate: up to $2800 

Sponsored Giveaway:

I’m sure you’ve seen a sponsored giveaway post one way or another. 

For this type of sponsored post, the influencer will ‘giveaway’ a chance for their followers to win an item (or several items) under the condition that they engage with the post (like and comment), and following the Instagram account of the brand sponsoring the post. 

Sponsored giveaway rates are a wide range and depend on the campaign itself. If the brand is interested in a sponsored giveaway, don’t be afraid to ask the brand directly on their budget for this specific campaign and negotiate if needed. 

Other Factors Travel Influencers Need to Consider That Affects How Much To Charge Per Instagram Post:

Exclusivity

If the deal stipulates that the brand partnership is exclusive, travel influencers have the leverage to increase the rate of the partnership.

An example would be brand partnerships with hotels. 

Considering that travel influencers post plenty of content in fancy luxury hotels, an exclusive brand partnership with a hotel brand can specify that the travel influencer will not be able to work with competitive brands. 

Travel influencers may consider charging a whole lot more if the exclusivity goes beyond 1-2 weeks. 

Date of Deliverable 

If there’s a tight deadline, travel influencers will be in the position to charge extra, considering the timeline to complete the work. 

Brand Affinity

Many Instagram influencers with big following reject certain projects that don’t align with their brand or brand. 

In an effort to keep their content as authentic as possible, many influencers make it a point to take Instagram sponsorship campaigns that are aligned with their content. 

However, if an opportunity comes around where a travel influencer gets a proposal for a campaign that is not entirely “on-brand,” they are in a position to charge more per Instagram post. 

Understanding Brands When It Comes to Negotiating Rates

For brands to consider the ROI of the partnership with travel influencers, they will look at the following factors:

The Target Audience:

Brands will consider if the target audience of the influencer is aligned with their own or with the campaign. Demographics such as country, age, and sex can play a role in determining how much travel influencers can charge for Instagram sponsorship.

The Engagement:

A travel influencer who may not have a lot of followers on Instagram may justify how much they can charge per Instagram post if the engagement is high relative to the number of followers. 

So often we see an Instagram follower who may NOT have “a lot” of followers (relatively speaking), but receive equal if not stronger, than a fellow Instagrammer with a “lot” of followers but weak engagements (likes and comments). 

Quality of Content:

The rate on how much the travel influencer can charge per Instagram post also depends on the professional, high-quality content they produce. Travel influencers who have a strong reputation as an excellent content creator usually ask for a higher fee. 

What to Expect After The Deliverables

Part of the job with sponsored Instagram campaigns is sometimes not knowing when you are going to get paid.  

Generally, travel influencers are usually paid out 30 days after all deliverables are posted online. 

However, depending on the brand, there are cases when the payment could be delayed for more than thirty days. 

When negotiating for Instagram sponsorships, ensure that it is clearly stipulated that payments will be on time and not exceed the agreed date.

How Many Followers Do You Need to Get Paid?

There used to be a time when only influencers need to at least have 100K followers to be even considered by brands for an Instagram sponsorship.

Nowadays, it seems like everybody with a solid following has a shot with landing an Instagram sponsorship as long as you have a strong engagement with your followers. 

Now, you might feel overwhelmed with these numbers and with the market seemingly saturated with influencers with millions of followers. If you think it’s too late for you to get in the game, think again. 

While the total following does play an important role, brands are now more likely to focus on how engaged their audiences are, along with the ultimate trust that their followers have in them.

How Much do Micro-influencers Charge for Sponsored Instagram Posts?

Micro-influencers usually are the strongest in these aspects. They have 60% higher engagement, and are 6.7 times more efficient per engagement than influencers with bigger followings, making them

more cost-effective. They have specific niche audiences who are deeply connected to them.

Having a smaller audience means more hands-on, personal interaction, which translates to more trust, which is gold for marketing.

There is a huge opportunity for micro-influencers to earn through social media because there are brands that don’t have a considerable budget to funnel into influencer marketing. Considering that micro-influencers’ follower sizes aren’t as large, they typically don’t demand as much for compensation.

Consider what we said earlier that an influencer with a more significant following and engagement could charge from $5,000 upwards.

Micro-influencers are far more reasonable. According to Bloglovin’s 2016 Global Influencer Survey, 97% of micro-influencers charge less than $500 for a single Instagram post. In fact, 84% of them actually charge less than $250 per post.