Brands asking for your rates and sending you into a mini panic mode? I’ve been there. You’re in the right place if you’ve been feeling confused, overwhelmed, or just unsure about how much to charge for a sponsored TikTok post.
Unfortunately, figuring out your influencer rates is one of the most confusing and stressful parts of being an influencer. And with TikTok being such a new platform, there’s so much misinformation online about how much you should be charging for brand deals.
So through my 6+ years of experience as a full-time influencer and influencer coach, AND after landing 4 and 5-figure deals with companies like Mazda, American Express, and Adobe, I’m guiding you through EVERY single piece of information you need to consider when pricing your TikToks.
That way, you never undercharge again!
AND, this post includes a free TikTok rate calculator you can use to help you price your next sponsored TikTok.
No more chit-chat. Let’s jump right into the juice, starting with the easy stuff!
P.S. Make sure you also read my blog on how the TikTok algorithm works!
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Written by influencer coach Dani The Explorer
1-5% Formula for How Much to Charge for TikTok Posts
When determining how much to charge for a sponsored TikTok post, start by charging 1% to 5% per thousand followers:
Your Followers x (1% to 5%) = $Your Rate
“How do you choose what percentage factor to use?” That’s based on your engagement rate and your average number of views.
You can calculate your TikTok engagement rate by adding the engagements (number of likes, comments, shares, saves), dividing that number by your number of followers, then multiplying by 100:
((Total Engagement) / # of Followers) x 100 = %Engagement Rate
The average TikTok engagement rate is about 6%.
So my suggestion is to determine whether or not you have low, average, or high engagement. Then, look at the number of views you get on average.
With this information, see if you should stay on the low side of our 1% to 5% formula or the high side.
Here’s that catch: brands don’t care how many followers you have.
And you’re not going to be able to successfully justify your rates by telling a brand, “Well, I have this number of followers, so that means you should pay me this much.”
They don’t care. They care about the TYPE of followers you have.
In other words, are your followers their IDEAL customers and likely to make a purchase?
Therefore, this formula is where we START with our rates.
Additionally, you need to consider all kinds of sneaky extras when determining your rates for a sponsored TikTok post.
Determining Your TikTok Sponsored Post Price
When you’re calculating your rates for a sponsored TikTok post, you MUST consider these factors too:
- Deliverables
- Time
- Expenses
- Usage Rights
- Boosting
- Exclusivity
- Campaign Extras
P.S. My free influencer rate calculator will help you calculate all of this!
#1 TikTok Deliverables
Deliverables are the items you’re giving the brand.
For instance, are you giving them one TikTok or two TikToks? Are you posting on Stories?
How about a TikTok Carousel?
Will you ALSO be giving them a sponsored Instagram post?
These are all things you have to charge for and therefore set rates for!
Don’t worry; in the next major sections, we’ll discuss charging by post type!
#2 Time
When determining how much to charge for a sponsored TikTok post, you should also consider how much time you spend on content creation.
I recommend tracking your time, so you know how long it takes to make TikToks. I use a free service like Toggl Track to time my days!
When you do this, you can set an hourly rate for yourself and factor that into your pricing.
Time can also refer to how long the video is—is your TikTok 30 seconds or a minute?
Typically, influencers charge more for longer videos.
Read Next: How Much to Charge for a Sponsored Instagram Post
#3 Campaign Expenses
Considering the cost of expenses is SO important for determining your sponsored TikTok post rates!
Will you be traveling? Hiring an assistant?
You’ll pay these expenses to make the post—and guess what? Free products don’t pay these bills; money does…
SO FACTOR THEM INTO YOUR RATES.
#4 Licensing and Usage Rights
Licensing and usage rights are the permissions you grant the brand.
Think of licensing and usage rights like a rental agreement.
For example, will you let the brand repost your content on their other social media channels?
Can they also use your TikTok on their website?
Can they use your TikTok on ads?
In the marketing world, these permissions don’t come for free, so you need to charge for them.
A simple rule of thumb for digital rights and licensing is to charge a 20% fee for every 30 day period.
And pro-tip: NEVER grant a company full, irrevocable rights to use your TikToks as they see fit. These permissions cost THOUSANDS of dollars that companies typically do not want to spend.
Read Next: How to Make Money as a Content Creator
#5 Whitelisting or Boosting
Whitelisting, otherwise known as boosting, is when a company takes content from YOUR page and puts money behind it. The catch?
This boosted content will look like an AD coming from YOUR page.
Companies choose to boost influencer posts because the ads look more organic.
Think about it: if you saw an ad coming from your favorite creator’s profile, you’re more likely to trust it over the same ad from the company’s TikTok profile.
I like to tell my influencer course clients that they need to think of boosting like a celebrity endorsement.
Brands benefit from your name, likeness, and reputation—they need to pay for that.
The rates for boosting rights range from an additional 50 to 100% fee for every 30 day period.
Remember, even though a boosted TikTok will get you “more exposure,” exposure doesn’t pay the bills.
#6 Exclusivity Clauses
An exclusivity clause is when a brand says you cannot work with competitors for a specific time period.
Let’s say, for example, you sign a sponsored TikTok partnership contract with Nike for $2,000, and they tell you that you CANNOT work with competitors for three months.
A month later, Adidas slides in your DMs offering you $20,000 starting IMMEDIATELY.
Too bad! Because you’re in the middle of your Nike contract, you cannot legally accept the Adidas offer.
When determining your TikTok pricing for exclusivity, consider the loss of potential income you will experience from having an exclusivity clause. Charge for that loss.
Influencer Favorite: Brand Pitch Email Templates—get my fill-in-the-blank email templates for pitching brands for paid sponsorships!
#7 Campaign Extras
Extras can be anything else the brand is asking for.
With sponsored TikToks, that can be something like having to use a specific song, a branded hashtag, or writing your caption in a certain way.
For these items, determine a small fee you can add to your overall rate.
Free TikTok Rate Calculator
Okay, so before we continue, I want to introduce you to my free TikTok rate calculator.
Free Influencer Rate Calculator
Okay, so before we continue, I want to introduce you to my free influencer rate calculator.
This calculator takes into consideration everything we just covered up until this point:
In the next sections, we’ll break down charging for different kinds of TikToks!
P.S. Use an influencer rate card template like the one in my Influencer Starter Pack to show off your prices in a professional way!
How Much to Charge by TikTok Post Type
Think about all the different things you can do with a sponsored TikTok post—Stories, photo carousels, etc.
And when your content varies, so should your rates. So let’s talk about how to charge for these things!
Charging for a 30-second Sponsored TikTok Post
We’ve already covered this! To find your rate for the standard, 30-second TikTok post, use the 1%-5% formula:
Your Followers x 1% to 5% = $Your Rate
When in doubt, try to charge more when you can.
I’ve also seen creators use a tiered pricing method that pays you based on the number of views.
Considering everything we discussed regarding TikTok influencer rates, I’m not too fond of this method.
It needs to take into account all the extras you should be charging for. And I mention this in my influencer course too.
But if you must, consider your tiers like our 1% rule. Therefore, you’d charge 1% of the total views.
A tier for our TikTok influencer with 10,000 followers might look like:
- 1,000 to 5,000 views = $50
- 5,001 to 10,000 views = $100
- 10,001 to 50,000 views = $500
- 50,001 to 100,000 = $1,000
- 100,001 to 500,000 = $5,000
- 500,000 to 1,000,000 = $10,000
Charging for a Long Sponsored TikTok Post
Is your TikTok going over the 30-second mark? Set a rate for every additional 30 seconds the company is asking for.
For instance, if you decide you want to charge $150 for every additional 30 seconds a video goes and the company wants a 1-minute, 30-second video, you can find your TikTok rate like this:
1-minute, 30-seconds = 90 seconds
90 seconds / 30 seconds = 3 ; that’s 2 additional 30-second increments
2 additional increments x $150 fee = $300 additional fee.
Charging for a Sponsored TikTok Carousel Post
Carousel posts are new to TikTok, so who knows how important/ impactful they’ll be in the future.
But, for now, I suggest charging per slide.
Set a rate per image based on the image quality you’re providing and how much engagement your carousels usually get.
For example, if your rate per slide was $100 and a company wanted five slides, you would charge them $500.
Charging for a Sponsored TikTok Story
There are a couple of ways you can determine how much to charge for a TikTok story:
- Charge a flat fee per story slide (like you do with the Carousel post)
- Charge 1% of your average Story views
Try both ways and see what rate works best for you and your needs!
Charging for a Link in Your Bio
The pricing for a Link in your bio is entirely up to you and the value you place on your profile.
I would never charge under $100 for ANYTHING, but again, this is up to your discretion.
Remember, your bio is prime real-estate on your profile, so it’s 100% worth getting money for any links placed there!
Read Next: 6 Reasons You Aren’t Landing Brand Deals
Charging for a Sponsored TikTok Live
For TikTok Lives, find an hourly rate for yourself and charge that rate.
Lives are time-consuming and exhausting, so make sure your hourly rate reflects what you believe is fair compensation for the time you’ll spend getting ready, prepping for the live, and anything else leading up to the event.
Read Next: How the TikTok Algorithm Work & How to Beat It
Charging for a Sponsored Giveaway
Yes, you should be charging for giveaways too.
Typically even with a sponsored giveaway, you’ll ask your followers to follow the brand’s profile. That means you’ll be sending them CUSTOMERS they can market to.
I would use our 1-5% formula to charge for this.
Something else to consider is whether or not the brand will be collecting emails from folks who enter the giveaway—will you be getting those emails too?
Charging for a Pinned TikTok or Playlist Feature
You can absolutely charge brands for a feature on your TikTok Playlist or for pinning a TikTok to the top of your profile.
For these, follow the same advice we discussed for charging for a link in your bio!
Should You Have an Influencer Rate Card?
First, what is a rate card?
A rate card is a PDF that displays how much you charge for content creator services.
It’s a great way to send your pricing to brands, especially when you pitch to brands.
You can get the one I like to use by grabbing my Influencer Starter Pack.
Pssst: You should also be sending brands an influencer media kit!
Final Tips for Charging for Sponsored TikTok Content
Let’s wrap this post up with some parting tips for finding your rates.
Avoid Free Product Exchanges
Truthfully, if you’re starting to get brands to reach out to you asking if you’ll post about their products in exchange for a TikTok, that’s a CLEAR sign it’s time to start charging.
Being an influencer and content creator IS a real job, and you should be getting paid for the attention and exposure you bring to brands.
Think about all the time and effort that goes into creating TikToks for brands (or just in general). You’re spending hours a company WON’T have to pay their employees to create content.
Read Next: How to Turn a Gifted Collab into a Paid Partnership
Always Negotiate
When a brand reaches out to you about a sponsored post, they expect you to negotiate. It’s part of the brand deal process!
That said, never take the first offer.
When you can, always ask for more money or see what else you can get.
Need help negotiating brand deals? Grab my fill-in-the-blank brand pitch email templates for influencers.
Learn Actual Pricing Methods
You shouldn’t be guessing what to charge for sponsored TikToks.
So if you need help figuring out how to set your rates and how to justify those rates to brands, then it’s time to hone in on your skillset.
Pricing your sponsored content shouldn’t stress you out! AND your sponsored content should be fueling your lifestyle (paying your bills, giving you more freedom, etc.)
In class, we’ll walk through an actual brand contract and go over the what, why, and how behind your rates.
You’ll walk away knowing exactly what you should charge for brand deals!
Have a Media Kit
A successful influencer media kit template will show brands who you are and will also show them the results you can bring.
In other words, a media kit must convey your value.
They’re an essential part of pitching to brands, so if you still need one, make sure you get one!
Your Next Steps
I hope this blog on how much to charge for a sponsored TikTok post was helpful for you! My biggest piece of advice is to know your worth AND consider expanding your reach to multiple platforms.
That can actually help you charge more for brand deals and can strengthen your influence.
For your next steps, check out my other influencer guides:
