Are influencers overpriced? Only if you're buying them wrong

What are you paying for when you work with a content creator?

$5,000 for a reel. Are you kidding me?

Maybe not, if you know what you're actually paying for.

Influencers get called overpriced all the time. But that's because they're often treated as a media slot rather than a partner.  

When influencer marketing is done well, it doesn’t just get attention. It earns trust. And that’s the bit we need to talk about more.

The real value of influence

Influencers are not new. Before we had content creators, we had ambassadors. Athletes. TV hosts. Shortland Street actors. Brands have always paid for proximity to influence. The only thing that’s changed is the channel, the scale, and the creators now doing their thing from a spare bedroom or kitchen table.

What’s also changed is the type of influence being offered. It’s no longer mass reach, one-size-fits-all. It’s niche. Specific. Rooted in trust. You’re not buying access to a network. You’re buying relevance within a particular community. And that’s not something a billboard can get you.

Why PR should be paying attention

For a long time, creators were seen as a nice-to-have. A bit of fun. Good for lipstick launches and holiday giveaways, maybe, but not something you’d include in a proper comms plan. That’s changed.

Creators are no longer an experiment. They’re part of the mix. And if PR is in the business of trust (it is), then influencer marketing should be one of our sharpest tools.

Influence is not about going viral. It’s about being credible. When someone you follow, respect, and trust shares a recommendation, it lands differently.

Even TikTok knows this. During Pride Week, they didn’t issue a bland corporate statement claiming to be diverse, written by a straight, middle-aged exec. They handed the mic to creators already speaking to and within the community. And that made their ‘You belong here’ message actually feel real.

So what are you actually paying for?

Let’s reframe the $5k.

When you work with a creator, you’re not paying for one video.

You’re paying for:

• A relationship they’ve built with their audience over time

• A level of trust and relatability you can’t replicate in traditional ads

• Access to a space or community your brand likely can’t walk into on its own

And it works. Research from Meta found that 79% of Gen Z have taken some sort of shopping action after seeing creator content. Many feel more loyal to brands they discover this way. More than a third say they’ve even recommended those brands to others. That’s influence at work.

Even those of us behind the curtain are not immune. I’ve worked in PR for years, and I’ve still found myself buying things because someone I follow said they were worth it. That’s the power of trust.

But it only works if you get the basics right

Influencer marketing isn’t expensive. Misunderstanding it is. If you treat creators like media placements rather than collaborators, you’ll always be underwhelmed.

Here’s how to make it count:

• Pick the right people. Look for brand fit, not just audience size. Value alignment matters more than follower count.

• Give them a good brief. Know who you’re talking to, what you want to say, and how you’ll measure success.

• Respect their expertise. They know their audience better than you do. Let them shape the message in a way that actually resonates.

• Zoom out on measurement. Conversions matter, yes. But so does sentiment. So does positioning. So does showing up in the right spaces in the right way.

And yes, the world is catching up

Publicis recently put $150 million into Captiv8, one of the world’s biggest influencer tech platforms. That kind of money tells us this isn’t a fringe strategy anymore. But the value was always there—even before the big numbers started rolling in.

The takeaway

Influencers aren't overpriced. But they are often misunderstood. When chosen well, briefed clearly, and treated like the trusted communicators they are, creators can be one of the most effective ways to build brand trust.

If your goal is to be visible and credible, they’re not a luxury. They’re a necessity.

So no, you’re not just paying for a post. You’re buying trust.