Brands and companies can pay influencers anywhere between R500 and R10 000 or more for them to post on Instagram, depending on the influencer and their numbers.
The pandemic introduced self-isolation and social distancing to the world, phenomena that changed a lot about the world order.
One of the creative aspects that were affected was how brands and businesses thought about marketing, since traditional forms of marketing were not viable or possible at the time.
Influencer marketing became one of the new popular methods of marketing during this time. This is because influencers already had a targeted market consuming their content, as everyone was home.
With this change, brands and businesses turned to influencers, and platforms like Instagram, to punt their products or services. Influencers can earn anywhere between R500 and R10 000 or more per post on Instagram.
Why is Instagram popular for influencer marketing?
The most popular of the social media platforms when it comes to influencer marketing is arguably Instagram.
The term influencer marketing refers to the hiring of influential social media personalities by brands and businesses to advertise or endorse their products and services.
Instagram is the popular choice for this job for a number of reasons, but primarily, it is because of the connotations associated with the platform.
Instagram is treated as an aspirational social media platform because of the supposed illusion that the platform sells.
Moreover, the platform allows influencers and content creators to create various posts, whether they are posts that go on their timeline or stories, and they can be in the form of an image, video, reel, and the latest fad, mini-vlogs.
How much does Instagram pay in South Africa?
Reportedly, an influencer or content creator in South Africa can get paid anywhere between R500 and R10 000 or more for a sponsored post on Instagram.
The shared estimates have been the common practice since 2018, when the advent of the influencer marketing industry in South Africa began to formalise.
This was because the market was not as saturated as it is now, with popular names at the time being, Mihlali Ndamase, Kay Yarms, and Thandi Gama.
However, in recent years, there has been a formalisation of sorts of influencer marketing and how payment is determined.
Most influencers and content creators have a rate card with all their details, which platforms they are active on as influencers or content creators, the number of their following, the engagement rate, interactions, and the average number of likes they get on posts.
All these factors contribute to the final rate they will charge.
Below we share the standardised breakdown of the type of influencers on Instagram and the ballpark estimates of how much they can charge per post.
Mega-influencers
Mega-influencers are regarded the highest paid influencers on Instagram. This is as these influencers have a massive following of over hundreds of thousands or millions of followers.
In South Africa, most mega-influencers are celebrities and influencers like Mihlali Ndamase and Lasizwe Dambuza.
Their selling point is not necessarily that they have in-depth knowledge about the products or services they promote , but rather, their large and avid following, and their reach.
Mega-influencers are commonly paid per campaign and they can get paid in hundreds of thousands of rands, like a case where Lerato Kganyago allegedly charged R500 000 for posting campaign work on her social media platforms.
Macro-influencers
Macro-influencers have not broken the million followers mark, but generally have over 100 000 followers on Instagram. Macro-influencers can get paid anywhere between R10 000 to R25 000 for campaign work dedicated to Instagram.
Macro-influencers are hired by brands and companies that are looking for influencers with credibility in terms of an in-depth knowledge of the product or service they sell.
Therefore, most macro-influencers promote products and services targeted at their already established following, which often has a specific demographic.
Micro and nano-influencers:
Micro influencers are influencers and content creators who have over 10 000 followers on Instagram, but have yet to surpass the 100 000 followers’ mark.
They can get paid between R5 000 and R10 000 or more, depending on their niche and the commerciality of the product or service they are promoting.
Micro-influencers are hired by companies or brands looking for a niche, where their followers regard the influencer or content creator as someone normal, like one of them.
This is similar to nano-influencers, who have a following of less than 5 000 followers on Instagram.
Nano influencers either work for free in order to establish business relationships with companies and brands as they grow their following, or they can charge the minimum of R500 or less per paid post on Instagram.
The aim of nano-influencers is to build a trusted and formidable following so that they can charge more competitively after breaking into the higher influencer brackets.
Final thoughts
Instagram is regarded as one of the most popular social media platforms in terms of influencer marketing due to how effective it is.
As such, there has been a saturation in the influencer and content creator market, with many looking to create careers from social media posting.
In South Africa, an influencer and content creator can make anywhere between R500 and R10 000 or more for posting on Instagram, whether it is a story, reel, mini vlog, or a post on their timeline.
The price will be determined by the amount of followers, engagement, interactions, and likes the influencer receives per post.