Based on the success of its previous research, Intellifluence, the largest of the warm contact influencer networks, is releasing the results of its 2023 influencer compensation study.

“A lot has happened in the past two years, so we felt the timing was right to look at the data again,” said Joe Sinkwitz, CEO and Co-Founder of Intellifluence. “In 2021, when the initial survey was conducted, we were a bit surprised to see how compensation stopped following a linear path after a certain audience size, suggesting a shift in the supply and demand curve for celebrity type influence. That curve helped to explain why larger accounts are able to charge significantly more than the standard $0.01-0.2 per follower rate that still pervades the industry. I want to be clear that we’re still seeing that behavior. However, due to a change in how we approached the questioning and our ability to compare actual transaction data with surveyed results on an individualized basis, we were able to access information that no other network seems to have been able to assess. The psychology of smaller, peer-level influencers seems to suggest a disconnect between the perceived possible earnings of lower tier aspirational influencers (i.e., 1million audience size) and the actuality of earnings power derived from the rates charged by those influencers whom have reached over 1million in audience size. In other words, there appears to be a belief, which was apparent across social networks surveyed, that the earnings which will become available once attaining 1million followers are significantly higher than the reality of what those at such a level are currently charging.”

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Intellifluence as a large warm contact network provides match-making technology that makes it easy for brands to connect with and run marketing fulfillment campaigns with influencers over all facets of social media who have opted-in to work with brands.

“There are some other important economic lessons currently playing out that need to be discussed,” Sinkwitz continued. “No matter what the stated rates were in the survey responses, regardless of influencer audience size, we found that over the past 12 months influencers were habitually accepting pitches beneath their listed minimums. This could be attributed to a variety of factors, but appears to be of the economic stress variety as influencers are willing to make the trade for cash-in-hand rather than have a productivity hit while waiting for pitches that may not come at the rates they desire. Over the long arc we do believe overall rates will continue to rise due to inflationary factors and increased demand for influencer services as a whole, however the industry needs to be aware that influencer compensation is more fluid and cash flow driven than it is a set rate. In times of excess demand rates will spike, and deservedly so for hardworking creators; in times of marketing budget constraints, however, these rates will temporarily drop as a loss in billable hours cannot be recovered. It would be wise for the industry to pay closer attention to, especially if the US and global recession estimates turn out to be accurate. Regardless of how the rates change throughout 2023, we’ll continue helping our influencers keep 100% of what they agree to charge brands.”

Moving forward Intellifluence intends to incorporate the new survey data into its existing machine learning driven pricing guidance software.

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