Are restaurant brands overlooking the value of social media influencers? Once seen as young online stars seeking free perks, influencers today view themselves as contracted marketers who usually expect to be paid for their influence rather than compensated with food or merchandise.
PR agency Belle Communication has built Brilli, an influencer insights tool that surveys influencers on trends that they and their followers are seeing or want to see from restaurants and food operators.
This month, a group of influencers has provided insights on what they expect from brand partnerships – from monetary compensation to the degrees of creative freedom.
“Content creation takes time, creativity and deep understanding of an audience,” Kate Finley, founder and CEO of Belle Communication, said. “[Creators] want to be treated like trusted members of the marketing team. The most successful influencer campaigns we see are those that operate with mutual respect.”
Monetary compensation
Although each of the influencers surveyed had a different idea on what fair compensation means and if payment is necessary, they all agree that it depends on the experience of the influencer and if the brand alignment makes sense.
“Creating content takes time, filming, editing, and managing demand from multiple restaurants; some influencers do it for free, but for many of us, this is a full-time job,” Ashlee Sarai (@theashsarai) said. “When I first started, I didn’t charge because I was building my name and figuring out what I wanted to share. But as demand grew, it only made sense to charge for my time, creativity, and access to my audience because that’s what restaurants are ultimately paying for.”
Sarah Margaret Sandlin (@sarahmargareteats) mentioned that compensation usually depends on expected deliverables. If a brand wants exclusivity and multiple reels, then she will charge. But if they just want a story, then she won’t and adds that access to new menu items and private tastings “add value to the partnership.”
Scope of work
The work of an influencer is about more than just posting eye-catching images to social media, and the influencers who answered the survey set their fees based on that.
Ashlee Sarai noted that editing time, storytelling, travel and time spent on-site at an event, and presentation quality are all elements that go into a social video or post.
“It’s not just about filming food; it’s about knowing how to showcase it in a way that grabs attention,” Sarai said. “There’s a lot more that goes into content creation than just pressing record, and my pricing reflects that.”
Budgetary guidelines
When it comes to setting a budget for working with influencers, Finley suggests that beginner companies tap micro-influencers first.
“Focus on building relationships, measuring results and learning what works for your brand,” Finley said. “If you don’t have a budget available, you could offer a comped meal or gift card to begin building a relationship; but you may not be guaranteed posts.”
When it comes to setting a budget both on the creator side and the brand side, there are many factors, Nicole Ludwig (@Nicole.ludwig) said, like “followers, reach, whitelisting, exclusivity, deliverables, how many pieces of content and what kinds of content.”
Fair pay
Fair pay clearly varies based on the size of the influencer’s audience, the size of the brand’s audience, the deliverables, etc. but influencers agree that transparency is crucial.
“Restaurants need to do better research on influencer rates and understand that marketing budgets should include influencer partnerships, just like they would for ads, billboards, or radio spots,” Sarai said. “You can find influencers within different price ranges, but you have to be realistic about your budget. Fair pay means compensating influencers based on their engagement, audience reach, and results, not arbitrary factors.”
Each of the influencers thinks their profession is taken more and more seriously by brands, and the way influencer campaigns are treated and received is evolving.
“In the future, I think restaurants will offer fairer pay to influencers based on things like audience size and content quality,” Sandlin said. “Pay equity will become more important, with fair pay across different levels of influence. Overall, I see influencer marketing becoming more professional and fair in the restaurant industry as this is such a growing market.”
Creative freedom
Each of the creators surveyed mentioned the importance of creative freedom when creating content and being trusted to post videos that showcase the food and brand in the best way using their voice.
“More creative freedom would be great, allowing me to create content that feels more authentic and engaging for my audience,” Sandlin said. “It would be exciting to have opportunities to be involved in menu or product development, offering input on new items or concepts.”
