SocialTalk provides automatic financial metrics to help brands and agencies evaluate the value and performance of their influencer campaigns. This article explains how we calculate:
Estimated payment per content
Total media value generated by the campaign
Return on investment (ROI)
How do we calculate how much to pay an influencer?
For each piece of content published (story, post, reel, video), we calculate a payment estimate range based on the influencer’s average impressions and a factor called IMV.
What is IMV?
IMV stands for Impression Media Value. It is a rate based on market benchmarks, and it adjusts depending on:
The social network (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube)
The type of content (post, story, reel, etc.)
The account size (followers, average reach, average engagement)
The IMV always has a minimum and maximum value to provide a safe negotiation range.
Minimum Estimate = Average Impressions × IMV Min
Maximum Estimate = Average Impressions × IMV Max
These values are calculated automatically for each influencer profile, by network and content type.
How do we calculate Media Value?
The Media Value represents the estimated total value generated by an influencer or campaign, based on the impressions they delivered.
Depending on whether the influencer was paid, we calculate:
EMV (Earned Media Value) – for influencers not paid
EMV = Total Impressions × IMV
PMV (Paid Media Value) – for influencers who were paid
PMV = Total Impressions × IMV
MEDIA VALUE = EMV + PMV
How do we calculate ROI?
Individual ROI (per influencer)
Shows the return generated by an influencer relative to how much they were paid:
INDIVIDUAL ROI = ((Media Value – Amount Paid) / Amount Paid) × 100
If the influencer was not paid, we do not calculate ROI — it’s considered fully earned media (EMV).
Campaign ROI
Includes all campaign costs, not just influencer payments.
COST = Total Influencer Payments + Additional Campaign Expenses
So, to calculate a campaign ROI we use the total campaign cost
CAMPAIGN ROI = ((Media Value – Cost) / Cost) × 100
Quick Example:
A campaign has:
100,000 total impressions
Average IMV: €0.01
Amount paid to influencers: €500
Other campaign expenses: €100
Media Value = 100,000 × €0.01 = €1,000
Total Cost = €500 + €100 = €600
ROI = ((€1,000 - €600) / €600) × 100 = 66.7%