How to choose an influencer for a brand campaign

Start from the campaign goal

To build brand awareness, you’ll mainly look for creators who can tell a story to a relevant audience. To explain a complex product, teaching quality and the time given to the topic may become the priority. To drive visits or leads, look at the full journey after the post, without expecting a single stat to prove everything.

First define the audience, the market and the language. An English-speaking audience can be spread across the UK, the US, Canada, the Gulf and other countries. That reach can be an asset or a limit depending on where you actually sell, product delivery and the vocabulary used. Ask for recent audience data when it’s available.

Look at the content and the relationship with the community

Read several recent posts, including past partnerships. Are the themes, values and tone compatible with your brand? Do the comments show on-topic conversations or mostly generic reactions? Can the creator integrate a sponsored message without breaking their usual storytelling?

Engagement rate can help compare similar profiles, but it varies with format, audience size and period. It isn’t enough to establish the quality of a community or to predict a sale. Ask for content examples and, if possible, the relevant results of comparable campaigns, with their context.

Check what matters before the agreement

• Geographic and language breakdown of the audience.
• Share of views coming from followers and consistency of results, if the platform allows it.
• Possible conflicts with competing partners.
• Availability to test the product and ask questions.
• Deliverables, approval, schedule, reuse rights and any paid amplification.

Ask the creator what they would tell their audience. A personal, precise proposal is often worth more than a copy-paste of the production brief. Ad transparency requirements must be checked for each market where the content runs.

Which stats should you ask an influencer for?

Ask for a dated screenshot of the results of several recent posts comparable to the planned deliverable: same platform, same format, similar period and, if possible, paid partnerships. For each post, note impressions where available, unique reach, views, interactions and clicks. A median of several posts limits the effect of a single outlier; it remains an estimate, not a guarantee of reach.

Ask separately for the breakdown by country, language, age and gender available in the platform’s stats, along with the period and population these percentages refer to. The percentage of followers in a country doesn’t show that the same share of the future post’s views will come from that country. Data can also be partial: YouTube states, for example, that its monthly audience is the unique viewers of the last 28 days, while some age, gender or geography reports are based on watch time and may be limited. Clarify the denominator before any calculation.

If your target is a “country + age + gender” combination, ask for the joint share of that target in impressions or views when the tool provides it. Don’t multiply three separate percentages: the groups overlap and their intersection can’t be deduced that way. If the intersection is missing, present a cautious scenario and flag the uncertainty. TikTok describes audience filters and metrics useful for casting, but their availability must be checked on the account and tool used.

Calculate the cost per 1,000 relevant impressions

To prepare the choice, calculate planned collaboration cost ÷ planned impressions in the target × 1,000. Call this result the projected cost per 1,000 relevant impressions: the “real CPM” only exists after distribution, and only if impressions and the share actually served to the target are measurable. The advertising CPM is the media cost per 1,000 impressions; a creator fee often also includes the idea, the production and access to their community. If you only have views, calculate a cost per 1,000 views and call it that.

Fictional example: a creator offers a video for €1,800. The median of their comparable sponsored posts is 60,000 impressions. Suppose genuinely available joint data shows that 45% of those impressions reach the target audience. That gives 27,000 projected relevant impressions. The projected cost is 1,800 ÷ 27,000 × 1,000 = €66.67 per 1,000 relevant impressions, versus €30 if you counted all impressions indiscriminately. The 45% is an example assumption, not a market statistic or a figure obtained by multiplying age, gender and country.

After distribution, recalculate with the final invoice and the relevant impressions observed. If the platform doesn’t reveal that last figure, report the cost per 1,000 total impressions and the available audience information separately, without presenting a fake targeted CPM. Our CPM, ROAS and ROI guide details cost scopes and attribution limits.

Influencer or paid ads: which option is better?

Let’s stick to the fictional example. If an ad campaign on the same target were planned at a €18 media CPM, 27,000 impressions would mean €486 of spend. With €600 of creative, the full budget would be €1,086, or €40.22 per 1,000 planned impressions. That €18 isn’t a market price: it’s an assumption to replace with a quote or a forecast specific to your account. The comparison with the creator’s €1,800 only holds if country, period, format, impression definition and goal are close enough.

If the goal is controllable targeted reach, ads may be cheaper in this example. If the goal is a credible recommendation, an embodied demonstration or reusable content under agreed rights, the influencer can bring something other than an ad impression. To get leads or sales, also compare qualified clicks, prospects, acquisition cost and margin; a lower CPM isn’t enough. A combination of talent-made creative + paid amplification can also be considered, counting all costs and avoiding adding up impressions as if they were unique people.

How to use these figures to negotiate the price

Ask for a detailed quote: concept, shoot, number of posts, revisions, distribution, ad usage rights, duration, territories, any exclusivity and management fees. If two profiles offer a comparable target audience, a gap in projected cost opens a discussion about scope or price; it doesn’t prove the more expensive one is “overcharging”.

First set the maximum acceptable cost for your goal. In the example, if your internal ceiling were €45 per 1,000 relevant impressions, the matching distribution budget would be 27,000 ÷ 1,000 × 45 = €1,215. The €45 ceiling is a fictional brand decision, not a standard. You could propose a different deliverable, negotiate the distribution share of the fee, or accept a higher price if the creative and extra rights justify it. Avoid counting twice the production already included in the fee.

Decide with a short, reasoned list

Compare a few profiles on the same grid: fit, content idea, actually reachable audience, projected cost within the target, reliability and terms. Note the observed data, the assumptions and the unknowns. Several creators can cover complementary angles rather than repeating the same message.

Casting is only one step. A campaign then requires conversations, proportionate approval and an honest reading of the results. Our guide on the steps of an influencer campaign details what comes next.