Influencer budget estimator
Mix creator tiers, posts and usage rights. See an illustrative campaign range in CAD before you brief anyone.
Per-post benchmark ranges used: nano $50-250, micro $250-1,500, mid $1,500-5,000, macro $5,000-20,000. Extended rights ×1.25, paid usage ×1.5, agency management ~20%. These are commonly cited planning ranges, not Four Cents Media rates. Niche, format and exclusivity move them a lot.
How the estimate is built
The calculator multiplies the creators you enter in each tier by a per-post benchmark band, then by the number of posts, then by a rights multiplier, adds a flat seeding allowance, and adds a management percentage if an agency runs it. Every figure it uses is printed under the result so you can argue with it. The bands are commonly cited planning ranges for Canada and the US, rounded: nano $50 to $250 per post, micro $250 to $1,500, mid-tier $1,500 to $5,000, macro $5,000 to $20,000. Extended organic rights multiply by 1.25, paid usage by 1.5, seeding adds $60 per creator for product and shipping, and agency management adds roughly 20% on top of everything else.
How to read the range
The range is wide on purpose, because the drivers that matter most are not on the form. Niche moves a rate more than tier does: finance, B2B, legal and health cost considerably more than lifestyle for the same audience size. Format matters: a produced video costs more than a story frame. Exclusivity is a separate cost again. Use the low end to sanity-check whether a plan is possible at all, the high end to set a ceiling, and the cost-per-post line to compare a micro-heavy mix with a macro-heavy one on equal terms. When you want a number rather than a range, that is what a brief is for.
A worked example, illustrative
Six micro creators, two posts each, organic rights only, product seeded, run in-house. Creator fees: 6 × $250 to $1,500 × 2 posts = $3,000 to $18,000. Seeding: 6 × $60 = $360. Total $3,360 to $18,360, or $280 to $1,530 per post. Switch the rights to paid usage and the fee range becomes $4,500 to $27,000, because you are now buying a licence to run the content as ads, not only a post. Move the same budget to two mid-tier creators and you get four posts instead of twelve, less to learn from, and a narrower spread of faces.
What is usually missing from first budgets
- Usage rights beyond the organic post, especially for paid social. The base fee covers the creator posting to their own audience and nothing else.
- Whitelisting, which is a separate permission from usage rights and is priced per creator per month.
- Product cost and shipping, which adds up fast in seeding programs and is why the $60 allowance is a floor, not a typical figure.
- Management time: sourcing, contracting, approvals and reporting take real hours whether in-house or agency.
- Tracking: unique codes, landing pages or affiliate links so the campaign can be measured at all.
- A reserve for a second round with the creators who performed, which is where most of the return usually is.
Posts on a creator's audience, or content for your own ads?
The estimator prices posts, because that is what most people search for. For many small brands the better first buy is content: creators make video for your ad account and product pages, you own it, and it keeps working after the campaign ends. That is priced differently, as a fixed package rather than per post. Our published packages start at $1,250 for six finished assets with perpetual digital usage included, which is a useful comparison against the estimator's range for a small organic campaign. UGC versus influencer marketing explains what each one buys.
| You need | Buy | Price shape |
|---|---|---|
| Reach and endorsement on someone else's audience | Posts, priced per creator per post | This estimator, then a plan with named creators |
| Video that performs in your own ad account | Commissioned content you own | Fixed package, from $1,250 for six assets |
| Both | A package, with posting to the creator's own audience added per creator | Package price plus a quoted line per creator |
Micro-heavy or macro-heavy?
For most Canadian brands starting out, a micro-heavy mix gives more content, more tests and better cost per engagement. Macro creators buy reach and credibility in one go but leave less room to learn, and most agencies will not run a campaign at that tier under five figures. We usually recommend the former for a first campaign, then concentrating spend once results show where it works. We do not work with mega creators at all.
How much do influencers charge per post in Canada?
Commonly cited ranges run from under a few hundred dollars for nano creators to five figures for macro accounts, per post, before usage rights. Analyses of completed deals put medians well below opening rate cards. Niche and format matter as much as follower count. See our guide on influencer marketing cost in Canada for the full breakdown.
Does this include agency fees?
Only if you select agency-managed, which adds an illustrative 20% on top of creator fees and seeding. Agencies also price by retainer or project. Our own pricing is a fixed price for the finished work rather than a percentage, and it is published.
What are usage rights and why do they cost extra?
The base fee covers the creator posting to their own audience. Reusing that content on your channels or in paid ads is a separate licence, usually priced by duration and channel. Ask for it at the start; retrofitting it after the content is made means renegotiating when the creator has all the leverage.
Can we run a campaign for under $5,000?
Yes, typically with nano and micro creators and product seeding. Expect fewer guarantees and more hands-on management, but it is a reasonable way to test. What a $1,000, $2,500 and $5,000 budget actually buys, and will not buy, is set out on the for-brands page.
Is the estimate what Four Cents Media would charge?
No. It is a market planning range. What we charge is one fixed price for a finished thing, published on the pricing page, and a plan with named creators and that price is free.
Numbers are a start. A brief is better.
Send us the job and we will come back with a fixed quote and a plan, not a range.