Guide
Nano influencer rates
The short answer: one Reel prices at $100 under 5,000 followers and $175 at 5,000 to 10,000 in BravoDM's pricing model, before usage. Nano numbers are small, and brands will tell you they are zero. They are not zero, and this guide is about the line between small and free.
| Followers | Floor | Your number | Strong ask |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5k | $85 | $100 | $125 |
| 5k to 10k | $150 | $175 | $225 |
| 10k to 25k | $325 | $375 | $475 |
The third row is the next size up, printed so you can see what growing buys. Full tables per size live on the 1,000 follower and 5,000 follower rate pages. Baseline settings: Instagram, the Lifestyle niche (1.0x), about-average engagement; a strong niche or engagement step moves every figure up from here.
Product-only deals: when gifted is a fair trade
At the very start, a gifted post can be worth it, as a portfolio piece and a relationship opener. It is a fair trade only under all of these conditions: the product is one you would genuinely buy; the ask is one post, on your timing; and there is no usage, no exclusivity, no whitelisting, and no deadline with penalties. That is a gift with a post attached, not a job.
The trade stops being fair the moment the brief grows teeth. Usage rights mean your work will sell the product in ads; that is the most valuable thing in the whole exchange and product never pays for it. Extra deliverables, a posting deadline, a revision process, exclusivity against other brands: each one is a line on the rate card, and a brand asking for two or more of them is running a paid brief with a gifted costume on.
When cash is realistic at this size
- The brand runs a real program. If it has a creator page, an affiliate scheme, or other creators posting paid work, there is a budget; your size decides the number, not whether one exists.
- Usage is in the brief. Any usage ask converts the deal to paid at any size, priced from the usage rights table.
- The brand comes back. A second brief from the same brand is a working relationship, and working relationships are paid. The polite sentence is in the negotiation templates, under product-only offers.
- Your engagement is visibly strong. The model's engagement steps exist for small accounts whose audiences act: at 1.2x or 1.4x, a nano rate starts looking like the next band's.
Nano influencer rate questions
How much should a nano influencer charge?
In the model at baseline rates, one Reel is $100 under 5,000 followers and $175 at 5,000 to 10,000, with a Story set at $45 and $75. Small numbers, but real ones: a brand getting a video, a set of Stories, and usage is buying a package, and packages price.
Should nano influencers work for product only?
Sometimes, at the very start, under strict conditions: the product is one you would buy anyway, the ask is one post with no usage, no exclusivity, and no whitelisting, and you treat it as a portfolio piece with an end date. The moment a brand wants usage rights, extra deliverables, or a second round, it is a paid deal at whatever size you are. Product never pays for rights.
When does cash become realistic for a small creator?
Earlier than most creators think: when the brand has a real program (it is paying someone), when usage is in the brief, when the brand comes back for a second piece, or when your engagement is visibly strong for your size. Each of those is a brand telling you the content has budget behind it.