How much to charge for a sponsored Instagram post?

A brand reaches out and you don't know how much to charge for an Instagram post? Too low, you undersell yourself; too high, you scare them off. This guide gives you concrete methods to set your Instagram influencer rate: the base rule, the ranges by account size, the CPM method, the factors that drive the price up, and a step-by-step worked example.

The €10 per 1,000 followers rule: the starting point

The most widespread benchmark for a feed post: about €10 per 1,000 followers. A 25,000-follower account would therefore start around €250 per post. Simple, fast… and very insufficient: this rule ignores your engagement, your niche, and what the brand is actually asking of you. Treat it as a discussion floor, never as a final price.

How much should you charge based on your account size?

Crossing the base rule with generally accepted market practices, here are orders of magnitude per feed post — to adjust based on your engagement and your niche:

• Nano (1,000 to 10,000 followers): roughly €50 to €150 per post, sometimes topped up with gifted product.
• Micro (10,000 to 100,000): roughly €150 to €1,000.
• Macro (100,000 to 1 million): roughly €1,000 to several thousand euros.
• Mega (over 1 million): case by case, often negotiated through an agent.

These ranges are deliberately wide: at equal size, a highly engaged account in a niche that monetizes well (finance, B2B, real estate…) can charge two to three times more than a general lifestyle account.

The CPM method: charge for your real reach

Brands often think in CPM (cost per 1,000 people reached), just like in advertising. The formula:

Rate = (average reach of a post ÷ 1,000) × CPM

Example: your average post reaches 8,000 accounts and you apply a €20 CPM: (8,000 ÷ 1,000) × 20 = €160. CPMs in the wild vary widely by niche and format — the key takeaway is that this method protects you if you have many inactive followers… and rewards you if your reach exceeds your follower count.

Step-by-step worked example: from base price to final quote

Take a fictional but realistic 25,000-follower account in sports nutrition:

• Base: 25,000 followers × €10 per 1,000 = €250.
• Engagement: its rate is 5%, well above the micro-account benchmark (2 to 3%): +40%, so €350.
• Usage rights: the brand wants to rerun the content as ads for 3 months: +30%, so €455.
• Exclusivity: no competitor for 30 days: +15%, for a final quote around €520.

More than double the base rule — and yet every line of the quote can be justified to the brand. That's the whole point of itemizing your price instead of announcing a number pulled out of thin air.

Which factors change your rate?

• Your engagement rate — factor number one. Measure it with our engagement rate calculator before any negotiation: above your category's benchmark, it's an argument to charge more.
• Your niche — finance, B2B, or luxury pay more than general lifestyle, because each converted customer is worth more there.
• Usage rights — if the brand reruns your content as ads, charge a premium (often +20 to +50% depending on duration).
• Exclusivity — turning down competitors for several weeks has an opportunity cost: make them pay for it.
• Production complexity — a scripted Reel with a shoot takes far more work than a product photo.
• The brief and approvals — the more constraints and back-and-forth the brand imposes, the higher the rate.

Post, story, or Reel: how do you adjust your price?

Each format has its own value. Commonly used benchmarks, starting from your feed post price:

• Single story: about a third to half the price of a post — ephemeral, but the link sticker drives direct, measurable traffic.
• 3-story sequence: close to the price of a post, because it tells a real story (discovery, demonstration, link).
• Reel: often 1.5 to 2 times the price of a post — higher reach and discovery, heavier production.

Our example account at €350 per post (excluding rights) could therefore offer the story around €120 to €175, and the Reel between €500 and €700.

Bundles and retainers: sell campaigns, not posts

Brands are after repetition, not a one-shot — a message seen several times converts better. Offering a bundle raises your average deal size while giving a perceived discount: for example "1 Reel + 1 post + 3 stories" at a price slightly below the sum of the formats, or a 3-month ambassador retainer with 2 pieces of content per month. You lock in recurring revenue, the brand gets consistency: everyone wins.

How to negotiate without underselling yourself

Prepare a mini media kit (audience, engagement rate, examples of collaborations), announce a range rather than a bare price, and itemize every premium (rights, exclusivity) to justify the total. Our Instagram influencer rate calculator combines your size and your engagement to give you a range per post, story, and Reel: use it as an objective negotiation base. And if your audience is still too small to interest brands, focus first on gaining qualified Instagram followers.

The mistakes that cost you money

• Quoting a price before knowing the brief: always ask about the format, the rights, and the deadlines before putting a number on it.
• Forgetting usage rights: a brand rerunning your Reel as ads for 6 months with no premium is value given away for free.
• Working without anything in writing: a recap email (deliverables, dates, amount, payment terms) is enough to avoid 90% of disputes.
• Neglecting your stats: without a screenshot of your reach and your engagement, you have no negotiation leverage with the brand.

Should you accept a free product as payment?

At the very beginning, a product exchange can make sense if the product has real value and fits your niche. As soon as your audience passes a few thousand engaged followers, your content has a production cost and your recommendation has value: ask for payment, possibly topped up with the product.

Do you need a legal status to invoice a brand?

Yes: to issue an invoice you need a legal framework — in France, the micro-entrepreneur status is the simplest way to start. It's quick to set up and it reassures brands: many only work with creators who can invoice properly.

Should a sponsored story be priced individually?

You can, but the 3-story sequence is often more relevant: it leaves time to present the product, bring the proof, and place the link. Priced individually, stick to the benchmark of a third to half the price of your post.

Your DMs are sometimes worth more than your sponsorships

A successful sponsored post makes your DMs explode: questions about the product, collab requests, prospects for your own offers. Those conversations are often more profitable than the sponsorship itself — provided you reply fast. Settyn replies to your DMs in under 30 seconds, 24/7, qualifies your prospects and books appointments for you, through the official Meta APIs. From €97/month, with 7 days free and no commitment. To structure what comes next, read how to generate leads on Instagram and turn your followers into clients.