Hybrid Influencer Payments: How to Introduce Performance-Based Incentives in Your Negotiations
May 22, 2025
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9 min
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In a hybrid payment model, you pay influencers a fixed fee and a performance-based fee according to how many conversions (sales, sign-ups, clicks, engagement, etc.) they bring in. In short, it’s the marriage of influencer and affiliate marketing.
And the hybrid model is popular: 52% of marketers in our survey say they combine fixed fees with performance-based incentives to negotiate with influencers. If you’re wondering how you can use this tactic to secure your influencer marketing investment and get a better deal, I’ve got you covered.
Below, I share expert tips on:
- How to combine fixed fees and performance-based incentives
- How to handle influencer concerns about performance-based fees
- Best practices when using a hybrid payment model
How to combine fixed fees with performance-based incentives
If an influencer is out of budget, negotiating a lower fixed fee while proposing additional performance-based incentives ensures you don’t stretch your wallet without securing your investment. As an added benefit, Nacho Selma says tying the payment to performance motivates the creator to meet campaign goals:
The hybrid model not only helps me stay within budget but also motivates the influencer to put in more effort, as their earnings increase based on the campaign’s success.
But what “performance” do you measure? It depends on your influencer campaign goals:
- If you want to boost brand awareness, measure engagement metrics on the collaboration content.
- If you want to increase website traffic, measure website clicks using a UTM link.
- If you want direct conversions, measure sales using a coupon code or UTM links.
Which payment “incentive” you provide will also shift depending on the performance goals. For instance, if you want to drive sales, simply offer a cut of each sale that the influencer brings in (on top of their fixed fee). Fernanda Marques uses this approach in her influencer collaborations:
We established affiliate levels in which influencers receive a standard payment for their content and can earn more through commissions on sales.
If you’re measuring performance using engagement metrics or website visitors, you can set up a custom tiered-commission structure. For example, if an influencer’s YouTube video reaches 100K views, they get $200 extra; if it goes beyond 200K views, they get an additional $300.
And don’t be afraid to get creative with incentives. If you sell expensive products, for example, you could offer exclusive creator discounts (again, based on performance) in addition to the fixed fee. The affiliate program for Nykaa – a beauty, fashion, and wellness retailer – extends event invitations, offers early access to new product launches, and provides product samples as incentives to creators.
How to handle influencer pushback on performance-based incentives
When you first float the idea of performance-based pay, influencers might be sceptical, and that’s because they can’t calculate exactly how much money they’ll earn with it. Remember, creators are at the mercy of social media algorithms, which will affect how their paid posts perform. But by and large, the hybrid payment model tends to benefit both the marketer and the influencer.
That doesn’t mean you’ll never get any pushback. 3 out of 4 influencer marketers said that they’ve had pushback from influencers when using this negotiation tactic.
In fact, when we polled marketers, 65% of them said that a hybrid fixed-fee + performance based incentive has discouraged influencers from working with their brand. Only 15% of them said that an influencer’s inflexibility to accept this kind of pricing model would discourage them from working with that influencer.
So how do you get around that hesitancy?
1: Highlight how influencers can earn more using performance-based incentives
If an influencer is resistant to your idea of performance-based fees, it might be because they don’t see the total earning potential, especially when compared to the secure, fixed fees – so show them! An anonymous marketer in our survey agrees:
When influencers understand that commissions or bonuses can lead to a higher total income based on their results, they’re more likely to accept the hybrid deal.
Cheyanne Pettyjohn, for example, displays exactly how much more her long-term influencer partners earn with the hybrid payment model compared to short-term partnerships:
My approach is to show them the data on our program upfront. Faced with the numbers, the influencer can see how a long-term partnership tends to generate more revenue over time than multiple short-term partnerships.
Valerija Somi also suggests providing influencers with real-world examples to show how successful this method is:
Demonstrate how a hybrid payment structure would benefit them in the long run, especially with affiliate commission. You can even show them examples from similar influencers who highly benefited from this form of payment.
2: Be transparent about how you’ll calculate an influencer’s performance
When approached with a hybrid offer, an influencer might be wondering:
- After how many days will you count the total engagement, clicks, or sales from an influencer post?
- How will you measure these metrics?
- How can they verify and stay up-to-date on their own performance?
Anticipate these questions so you can answer them up front. By being as transparent as possible in how you’ll measure a creator’s success and what they can do to increase their income, you’ll strengthen your influencer relationships and build trust. The opposite is also true; Cheyanne Pettyjohn explains why:
If you do not explain your reasoning and show the data behind why a hybrid partnership works best for your company and the influencer, the latter will be left to assume you are trying to devalue their work and ultimately, pay them less.
The best way to maintain this transparency is to track performance metrics (like clicks, views, and sales) using reliable tools. Nicole Ampo echoes this sentiment:
My best tip for hybrid deals is to use trackable KPIs. This helps measure the influencers’ performance for both fixed-fee and performance-based metrics.
In Modash, for example, you can assign unique links or discount codes for each influencer so you can accurately track how many sales they brought in.
With this feature, it’s easy and quick to share this data with your creators – you can let them know how many times someone used their code or link, the order value it generated, and how you calculated their commission.
3: Increase the commission bracket
If you can afford to, make your hybrid offer more tempting by increasing the commission a creator can earn. Fernanda Marques swears by this method when she gets pushback from influencers with large audiences:
I typically offer them a higher commission bracket instead of increasing their fixed fee. This way, they still receive a guaranteed payment, but they also have the opportunity to earn significantly more if their content performs well.
The best part? When you increase the commission potential, an influencer suddenly has more incentive to meet your KPIs. The more successful a creator’s content is, the more money they get. It’s a win-win.
Best practices when using a hybrid payment model
Here are some best practices to keep in mind before you start combining your fixed fees with performance-based incentives:
1: Ensure the fixed fee you offer is fair
It goes without saying: the guaranteed payment you offer shouldn’t be meager compared to the performance-based fee. As Greta Zacchetti puts it:
Offer a fair fixed fee that reflects the influencer’s effort and reach, combined with competitive performance incentives tied to measurable results like sales or conversions.
If your fixed fee is too low, it might demotivate the influencer, who might then resort to using tactics like buying engagement to inflate views. Don’t let it come to that – instead, offer a fixed fee that the influencer is happy with. Nacho Selma sums it up nicely:
In any type of negotiation, in my opinion, the best strategy is to offer value to the other party; this is ultimately beneficial for both sides.
2: Offer creative freedom
When you’re tying a chunk of an influencer’s income to performance, it’s imperative that you offer them creative freedom. This will allow the creator to maximize the opportunity to earn the incentives without feeling restricted by too many brand guidelines. Greta Zachetti agrees:
In the hybrid model, giving the influencer creative freedom to tailor content for their audience is essential.
Conversely, when you need more control over influencer content, it’s better to ditch the hybrid model and try other negotiation tactics instead.
3: Know when it’s not the right fit
If an influencer is too strongly against performance-based incentives, it might be a red flag. Nacho Selma shares why:
If influencers prefer securing a guaranteed payment and nothing more, it might indicate they don’t fully trust their own potential or the product they’re promoting.
Fernanda Marques points out that you won’t need to push a creator too much to agree to a performance-based deal if they’re confident that the product is useful for their audience:
When influencers believe in the product, and they know their followers will naturally be interested, they feel more confident that commissions will come in without needing to promote overly hard.
Can influencers negotiate to increase the guaranteed payment, or ask for more commissions? Absolutely. But if they flat-out refuse performance-based incentives, it might be a sign that the partnership is a bad fit. If you can, try to find a middle ground to make both parties happy. If you can’t, cut your losses and move on.
When creators win, you win
Combining fixed fees with performance-based incentives isn’t just a clear way to stay on budget – it’s also a strategy that motivates creators to improve your ROI. The reward structure ensures influencers bring their A-game, and when they win more incentives, you win with better results.
In any negotiation, knowledge is power. When you’re certain you’ve chosen a creator with the right audience – and you understand their past performance inside and out – you can negotiate with far greater confidence.
But how do you get that level of insight? By using a tool like Modash – it gives you everything you need to evaluate a creator: audience demographics, sponsored post performance, follower growth, average views, and much more. Sign up for free for 14 days and see for yourself.
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