How Much to Charge for Sponsored Posts
⏱ 7 min read
TL;DR
- What it is: Your sponsored-post rate is a formula, not a feeling: effective reach × CPM × format weight gives you a target, and your floor sits privately below it.
- Who it's for: Creators, newsletter writers, and podcasters setting rates — see the Creator Sponsorship & Media Kit System.
- How it works: Use the views you reliably deliver (not follower count), a CPM that matches your niche, and a weight for the format's depth.
- Bottom line: A rate built from your own numbers survives a brand's pushback. A guessed rate folds at the first "that seems high."
How much should you charge for sponsored posts?
Charge based on the attention you actually deliver: take your effective reach (typical views or impressions per post), divide by 1,000, and multiply by a CPM that fits your niche and by a weight for the format. That gives you a target rate — the number on your media kit. Your floor, the private walk-away line, sits below it. A creator delivering 22,000 real views to a high-value niche at a $90 CPM with a full video integration (3× weight) has a defensible target near $6,800 — no follower-count guesswork involved.
Best for: creators who want the target and floor computed for them, plus offer grading — the Creator Sponsorship & Media Kit System runs this exact math.
"How much to charge for sponsored posts" is the question every creator googles the night before answering a brand email — and most of the answers are either a made-up per-follower rule or "charge what you're worth." Neither survives contact with a real brand, because brands do not pay on follower counts or vibes. They pay on delivered attention, priced per thousand. So that is how you should price it too. This is step one of the pipeline in how to get brand deals as a creator.
The three inputs that set your rate
1. Effective reach — not follower count
Effective reach is the number of people who actually see a typical post: your median views or impressions over recent posts, not your best-ever spike and not your follower total. This is the single most common pricing mistake. A 48,000-follower account that reliably delivers 22,000 views prices on the 22,000 — and that honesty is precisely what makes the rest of the number defensible.
2. CPM — what a thousand of your viewers are worth
CPM is the cost per thousand impressions, and it varies widely by niche and audience. A general-entertainment audience earns a modest CPM; an audience of developers, finance professionals, or B2B buyers can command several times that, because those viewers are worth more to the brands that want them. Pick your CPM from sourced bands for your niche and platform rather than inventing one — the worked sample in the system below uses $90 for a tech-developer YouTube audience, which is a premium niche, not a universal figure.
3. Format weight — depth of the placement
A passing mention and a dedicated integration are not the same product. The deeper the placement, the more attention the brand gets and the more work it costs you, so the format multiplies the base rate. In the system's worked sample, a full YouTube integration carries a 3.0× weight against a baseline mention.
Multiply those out — 22 × $90 × 3.0, with a small quality adjustment — and the sample creator's target lands at $6,831, with a floor of $5,465. Those figures come from the sample profile that ships inside the Creator Sponsorship & Media Kit System; your inputs will produce your own.
Try the core math on your numbers
Sponsored-post rate estimator
Floor (private walk-away line): $0
This is the core of the math — reach × CPM × format weight, with the floor set at 80% of target. The full system adds a quality multiplier for engagement and niche, sourced CPM bands to pick from, and the Fair / Negotiate / Walk grading of inbound offers against these numbers.
Target public, floor private. The target goes on your media kit and anchors every conversation at your number. The floor never appears anywhere — it is the line below which you decline or re-scope, because a deal under your floor sets a bad anchor for every deal after it. How to use both in a live negotiation is covered in brand deal negotiation: fair, negotiate, or walk.
What changes the number
| Factor | Direction | Why |
|---|---|---|
| More deliverables | Raises the ask | Each deliverable is its own placement — price them, don't bundle them free |
| Usage rights (brand runs your content as ads) | Raises the ask | They are buying media beyond your channel; months of usage compound the value |
| Exclusivity (you can't work with competitors) | Raises the ask | You are selling future revenue you now can't take |
| Low recent engagement | Lowers it honestly | Price from what you deliver now — an honest rate today protects the renewal |
Setting your rate, step by step
- Pull your median views across your recent posts, per platform and format. Exclude the outlier spikes.
- Pick a CPM from sourced bands for your niche and platform. Be honest about which band you are in.
- Set format weights for each thing you sell — mention, integration, dedicated video, newsletter slot.
- Compute target and floor per format. Target on the kit; floor written down privately.
- Re-run quarterly. Reach and engagement move; a rate card from last year fails verification just like a padded kit — see the creator media kit brands actually read.
Get your target and floor computed from your own numbers
The Creator Sponsorship & Media Kit System ($79, one-time) ships a runnable Python calculator and the same math as an Excel/Sheets workbook — effective reach, sourced CPM bands, format weights, quality multiplier — plus the media kit guide and negotiation playbook. No invented "creators like you charge 3×" multiplier; every figure traces to an input you entered.
Get the System — $79 →Decision Guide
Compute your rate this way if: you are quoting brands by gut, copying another creator's number, or about to answer a "what are your rates?" email.
Skip it if: you only do product-gifting swaps and have decided paid deals aren't your goal right now.
Best first step: run the estimator above with your real median views. If the number surprises you, that gap is what guessing has been costing.
FAQ
How much should I charge for a sponsored post?
Effective reach ÷ 1,000 × your niche CPM × a format weight. That produces a target for your media kit and a floor below it. The inputs are yours, so the number is defensible.
Is there a standard rate per 1,000 followers?
Per-follower rules are a poor guide because followers are not what brands buy. Two accounts with identical follower counts can deliver wildly different real reach. Price on the views you reliably deliver instead.
What CPM should I use?
It depends on your niche, platform, and audience value. General audiences sit at modest CPMs; developer, finance, and B2B audiences command several times more. Pick from sourced bands for your niche — the system ships bands to choose from — and be honest about which one fits.
What is the difference between my target and my floor?
The target is the public number on your media kit — what the work is worth. The floor is your private walk-away line below it. Offers above target are fair; between floor and target you negotiate; below floor you walk or re-scope.
Should usage rights and exclusivity cost extra?
Yes, always. Usage rights let the brand run your content as paid ads beyond your channel, and exclusivity blocks you from competitor deals. Both are separate products on top of the content itself. In the system's worked sample, adding deliverables, six months of usage, and three months of exclusivity roughly tripled the fair ask.
Do smaller creators really get paid deals?
Yes. A small, highly engaged niche audience can be worth a premium CPM, which is why the math matters more than the size. What kills small-creator deals is guessed pricing and padded kits, not the audience size itself.
What does the $79 system add beyond this calculator?
Sourced CPM bands, the quality multiplier, per-format targets and floors, Fair / Negotiate / Walk grading of inbound offers (including usage and exclusivity in the ask), the media kit builder guide, the negotiation playbook, and an editable sample set — as a runnable Python tool and a matching workbook. See the Creator Sponsorship & Media Kit System.
Stop guessing your rate
A defensible target, a private floor, and a verdict on every offer — computed from your own numbers for $79, once.
Get the Creator Sponsorship & Media Kit System →