Do Influencers Really Know Their Worth? Breaking Down the Influencer Pay Gap
Uncomfortable discussions are often the most important ones. In this case, fee transparency is essential in the influencer space to ensure creators are being paid what they deserve.
Having recently reported on the pay disparity across the entire partnership marketing industry, we discovered that compared to investment in affiliate and performance channels, budget allocation towards influencer marketing has decreased the least over the past year.
Insight from Hello Partner's Partnership Marketing Salary Report.
So with brands and marketers clearly understanding the benefits of upping their investment in the influencer marketing channel, this suggests that the influencers creating the content that is being invested in should be receiving considerable compensation for their work.
In 2021, SevenSix Agency's ‘Lifting the Lid: The Influencer Pricing Report’ displayed a pricing breakdown for Instagram-based brand partnerships, which has been heavily praised across the industry by brands, agencies and influencers alike. It also highlighted the #InfluencerPayGap, which showed that minority voices are often underpaid or excluded from the industry. This gap is further perpetuated by the lack of transparency in fee structures, which often leave influencers without the information they need to make informed pricing decisions.
Don’t be afraid of fee transparency
A quick Google search will allow you to access official insight into the salaries of long-standing job roles such as doctors, teachers, police officers, and the like. But pay transparency in the influencer space continues to remain taboo. Every individual is within their right to keep their earnings private, but in a lesser established industry, this does mean that there will be people out there who are getting paid less than they deserve for the work they’re achieving.
Charlotte Stavrou (née Williams), Founder of SevenSix Agency, believes that “transparent fee structures are essential to creating an inclusive environment and empowering creators”. With this in mind, the SevenSix team have released an updated report including pricing information for Instagram, TikTok and YouTube – all heavily requested by members of the SevenSix Influencer Network and SevenSix Agency Training clients.
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