The ‘real’ cost of influencer videos nobody talks about.

When brands budget for influencer campaigns, most people only think about the talent fee. But the real cost? Way higher.

Here’s what it looks like:

• $400 to $500 - influencer fee
• $50 - $100 - product cost + shipping
• 2 to 3 weeks - waiting for filming, edits, approvals
• $100 $200 - editing (if you don’t get perfect raw files)

And after all that… you still hope the content is even usable for ads.

We ran the numbers for last quarter: Our real cost per usable influencer ad was $750+. Now imagine trying to test 10 different creatives at that cost.

That’s why we switched to AI-generated UGC, now our cost per creative is $5–$10. No shipping. No waiting. Instant variations for A/B testing.

Sure, AI UGC isn’t the same as a real person when it comes to long-term brand building. But for paid ads and rapid testing, it’s hard to justify the old influencer route.

Has anyone else done the full math on their influencer campaigns? You might be shocked at what you’re paying.