What drives the cost of influencer marketing?

1. In short: the cost depends on what the assignment includes, and much of that is the company’s own choice.

There is no standard Swedish price for influencer marketing. The Swedish measurement in kronor that we have found covers the whole market. IRM carries it out for IAB Sverige with a survey of the actors that sell collaborations [1], and IRM’s statistics show how much is invested but not who advertises or for how much [2]. So what a single collaboration costs cannot be read from them.

The price of a collaboration follows instead from what is included. According to Mediemyndigheten, the agreement often sets scope, message and timing, and the advertiser usually specifies the number and type of posts [2]. On top of that come the right to use the material afterwards, any exclusivity, review rounds, paid ads with the video, intermediaries, the payment model, the creator’s tax situation and the company’s own work. Figure 1 gathers them.

Most of the table is something the company can shape in the brief and the agreement. Our judgement is that quotes become easier to compare when each part is stated on its own.

The rest of the article takes the drivers one at a time: section 2 rights and exclusivity, 3 production and review, 4 paid ads and intermediaries, 5 the payment model, tax and VAT, and 6 the company’s own work. Section 7 explains why price lists differ, and section 8 describes the sources.

2. The right to use the video is a separate part of the assignment, because the copyright stays with the creator unless something else is agreed.

Usage rights

Whoever has created a work, for example a cinematographic or photographic work, holds the copyright in it. The copyright can be transferred in whole or in part, but receiving a copy of the work is not the same as receiving the copyright. Unless otherwise agreed, the person who has received the right may not change the work or pass the right on [3]. On our reading of the statute, paying for a video does not in itself give the right to use it any way you like.

The Act also says that an author who transfers their copyright to someone who will use it in business is entitled to reasonable remuneration. If the remuneration later turns out to be disproportionately low compared with the buyer’s revenue from the work, the author is entitled to further reasonable remuneration [3]. Our judgement is that the rights therefore belong in the price from the start.

Mediemyndigheten gives an example of how broad an assignment can be: after a trip, a creator edited around a hundred photos that the advertiser could then use on social media, in print and in email [2]. IAB Sverige writes that the collaboration often yields content that can be reused in other channels [11]. We have found no independent Swedish source on how long a usage right usually lasts. Our judgement is that channels, period and the right to re-edit should be in the agreement.

Exclusivity

Exclusivity here means that the creator gives up collaborations with competitors for a period. A Swedish agreement template for collaborations with influencers covers a possible non-compete clause, that is, whether the creator is to be wholly or partly limited to marketing only the company in question [4]. A Swedish price guide from a quote-matching service writes that two creators with the same number of followers can charge very different fees, depending among other things on whether they are exclusive to a category [12]. Both are commercial sources, and we have found no independent Swedish source on how exclusivity is priced.

Our judgement is that exclusivity affects the cost because it limits the creator’s other income, and more so the broader the category and the longer the period. So decide whether it is needed at all, and if so for which category and for how long.

3. The number of videos, formats and review rounds decides how much work the assignment takes.

A collaboration is both production and distribution. IRM, which measures the Swedish market, counts production revenue as part of sponsorship, because production is hard to separate from distribution [13].

The number and type of deliverables can be the basis of the fee. In TikTok’s own tool, TikTok One, the creator’s flat fee is based on the number and types of deliverables. The page does not say whether the tool is available in Sweden [5]. Mediemyndigheten describes how the advertiser usually specifies the number and type of posts, and how several of the big creators have started to have their own production companies, involved from script to filming [2]. An assignment can also carry costs outside the video itself. In Mediemyndigheten’s example from the travel and hospitality sector, hotels and restaurants are booked and paid for by the advertiser [2].

Our judgement is that the number of videos, their length, the formats and any raw footage should be in the brief, so that the quote and the delivery refer to the same thing.

Review rounds

We have found no independent Swedish source on how many review rounds are reasonable. In TikTok One the company can ask for up to five edits once the video has passed the platform’s review [6]. This applies only to projects in that tool. Our judgement is that every round costs time for both the creator and the company, so the number of rounds and the response times should be settled before the work starts.

Edits that concern the advertising label or incorrect claims are a different matter. Konsumentverket writes that the company that hired an influencer carries the main responsibility for the marketing and cannot contract it away [14]. In our judgement such edits should therefore always be possible to require, however many rounds are included.

4. Paid ads with the creator’s video and intermediaries’ fees are separate cost items.

Paid amplification

A company can also pay to show the creator’s video as an ad. On TikTok the format is called Spark Ads. There the company can publish ads using posts that creators have made, with their authorisation, and the ads are bought, for example, at auction [7]. On our reading of TikTok’s description, the ad budget is therefore a separate item from the payment to the creator.

The authorisation lasts for a set time. TikTok writes that the length of the authorisation can be adjusted to the campaign’s needs to keep costs down, and the periods available are 7, 30, 60 or 365 days [7, 15]. In TikTok One the creator’s variable payment can also depend on the advertiser’s ad spend [5]. So how long and where the video may run as an ad affects both the ad cost and how large a usage right is needed, as in section 2.

Intermediaries

There is often an intermediary between the company and the creator. Mediemyndigheten describes three kinds. A talent agency represents the creator, often works exclusively with its talent and negotiates agreements, so collaborations normally go through the agency. A network brokers collaborations with a less exclusive relationship, and an affiliate network handles tracking, commissions and payments [2]. IAB Sverige describes what an agency on the advertiser’s side does: strategy, selection of creators, project management, quality assurance and analysis [11].

The European Parliament’s study writes that influencer marketing platforms have different business models depending on whether their clients are advertisers or creators [8]. Researchers describe agencies as intermediaries whose bargaining power grows with their size [16]. How the intermediary is paid is not always visible to the buyer. In a US study by the advertisers’ association ANA, about half of marketers had full visibility into exactly what the creators were paid, and many lacked full visibility into what the agency was paid [17]. Our judgement is that a quote is easier to assess when the creator’s payment and the intermediary’s fee are stated separately.

5. The payment model spreads the risk, and the creator’s tax situation affects what the company pays on top of the fee.

Flat fee or pay by results

The payment can be a flat fee, a commission or pay by results. The European Parliament’s study describes fees and commission, where the commission is often traced through discount codes [8]. TikTok describes a model with a flat fee for the video plus a variable part based on the video’s performance [5]. With a flat fee the company knows in advance what it pays but not what it gets. With commission or pay by results the cost follows the outcome, and part of the risk moves to the creator. Where the risk lands is our judgement, not a measurement.

A model can also be built as a pot, where the company sets a budget that is split by results. The campaign’s total cost is then fixed in advance, while what each creator gets depends on the outcome. Whatever the model, both sides need to agree on how the result is measured before the campaign starts.

Tax and VAT

What the company pays on top of the fee depends on the creator’s tax situation. Skatteverket, the Swedish Tax Agency, writes that the rules differ depending on whether the creator is approved for F-skatt (registered for business tax). If the creator has F-skatt or a limited company, it is the creator, not the company, who is responsible for reporting the income and paying taxes and contributions. If the creator has A-skatt (taxed as an employee), the company usually has to pay employer contributions and may have to withhold tax [9]. Employer contributions can apply even when the payment is products or services. As a rule they are calculated on the whole payment including VAT, but if the creator is liable for VAT they may instead be calculated on the value excluding VAT [9].

VAT depends on the creator’s business. According to Skatteverket, a business in Sweden with a turnover of at most SEK 120,000 in a calendar year in most cases does not need to register for VAT, a limit that has applied since 2025. When the turnover goes over the limit, the business must charge VAT from the sale that took it over the limit [18]. So a VAT-registered creator adds VAT to the fee, while a creator under the limit invoices without VAT. Two creators with the same fee can therefore send different invoices, so it should be clear whether the fee is stated with or without VAT. Our judgement is that F-skatt and VAT should be checked before the agreement is signed. How VAT affects your own company, for example whether you can deduct it, is a question for an accountant.

6. The brief, review and follow-up cost the company time, even when they appear on no invoice.

Part of the cost sits with the company itself. According to Mediemyndigheten, the advertiser usually gives the creator guidelines, for example key messages, visual or language requirements, required tags, links or discount codes and the number and type of posts [2]. Someone at the company has to draw them up.

The review cannot be handed off entirely. Konsumentverket writes that the company that hired an influencer carries the main responsibility for the marketing and cannot contract it away [14]. A breach cannot be undone by changing the marketing afterwards, which is why it is important for companies to have a working advertising review function [10]. On our reading this means that someone at the company, or at an agency working for it, needs to check the content and the label before posting.

Follow-up costs too. IAB Sverige names reach, views, engagement, conversions and brand effect as key measures, and writes that the result should be followed up continuously during the campaign [11]. When the creator has A-skatt, the company must also, as a rule, report the payment in its employer declaration [9].

An agency can take over much of the work. According to IAB Sverige, the agency also makes sure the campaign follows laws and guidelines and analyses the result [11]. The cost then moves from the company’s own time to the agency’s fee, but the main responsibility for the marketing stays with the company [14]. Our judgement is that internal time should be counted in the budget, whoever does the work.

7. Published price lists rest on different data, and we have not found any independent Swedish price statistics.

The Swedish figure that exists covers the whole market. Influencer marketing in Sweden turned over just over SEK 1.1 billion in 2025, according to IRM’s measurement for IAB Sverige. The measurement rests on a mapping and a survey of the industry’s actors, filled in with public data and estimates where answers are missing [1]. Of IRM’s earlier report, Mediemyndigheten writes that the data are not comprehensive; among other things, data from Swedish creators who address a global audience are missing [2]. IRM’s general method description for its advertising statistics says that barter is not included, because it is not invoiced sales [13]. Whether the same boundary applies to the influencer measurement is not stated on the public pages. So the figure says something about the size of the market, not about what a collaboration costs.

Price lists from vendors rest on other data. A Swedish price guide from a quote-matching service gives price ranges by follower tier, but does not describe how the ranges were produced. According to the site, the agencies that get assignments through it pay a fee, and the same guide writes that agencies, platforms and direct contact price very differently [12]. Even the European Parliament’s study takes its figures on how the prices of sponsored posts have developed from a US vendor [8].

That is why we reproduce no price figures from vendors, and they should not be read as Swedish market prices. Our judgement is that a price list should be read with five questions: who made it and why, which country and currency it covers, when it was made, how it was produced and what the price includes, for example usage rights, production, VAT and intermediaries. A price for a post without rights cannot be compared with a price that includes a year of paid ads.

8. About this article: a strong basis for the law and the platforms’ terms, no independent basis for prices.

The article was compiled in October 2026 from published sources, read on 15 October 2026. Every source is tagged by what it is. “Independent” marks laws, authorities and research. “TikTok” marks TikTok’s own help pages. “Estimate” marks the industry’s own and commercial sources: the industry bodies IAB Sverige and the US advertisers’ association ANA, which represent the industry, IRM’s measurement made on IAB Sverige’s behalf, a Swedish template site and a Swedish price guide.

What is not covered

The article shows no prices, no price ranges and no prices per follower. We have not found any independent Swedish price statistics, and the Swedish price guide from a quote-matching service that we have read does not explain how its ranges were produced. Nor does the article say how much each cost driver weighs, because no source we have read measures that. Meta’s ad formats using creators’ posts are not covered, because Meta’s own pages could not be read. Advertising labels in detail are covered in the guide to advertising labels. The rules for creators under 18 are not covered.

Limitations

We have not measured how many people search for the topic. How usage rights, exclusivity, review rounds and the payment model affect the cost is in several places our judgement, and it is marked as such in the text. ANA’s study covers US marketers. The description of the Copyright Act and of Konsumentverket’s guidance is not legal advice, and the description of tax and VAT is not tax advice. Ask a lawyer or an accountant about your own case.