LONDON: Taghreed Oraibi could not quite believe it when she received a quote from a social media “influencer” a few weeks ago.
The Dubai-based public relations director works with many bloggers, Instagram users and Snapchat stars, whom big brands are increasingly targeting as a way to promote their products.
In a country like the UAE, paid influencers typically command fees of between $1,000 (SR3,750) and $5,000 to write a single social media post, Oraibi said.
But even she was surprised upon receiving a quote from one influencer asking for a cool AED175,000 — that’s almost $50,000 or SR180,000 — for what would have been “a couple of hours” of work.
“There is an element of greediness in this,” Oraibi, who works for PR firm BPG Cohn & Wolfe in Dubai, told Arab News.
“This money does not justify what they do, to be honest. I mean, $5,000 for one Instagram post?” 

Product trial
The trend in brands using social media influencers has been growing in the Gulf region for some time. But the fees commanded by some are getting out of hand, the PR expert said.
Oraibi declined to name the influencer who had sent her the AED 175,000 quote.
But the asking fee, she said, was for attending an event, doing a product trial, and then doing two Snapchat uploads and four Instagram posts.
“The whole concept of the $5,000 post is just not sinking in. But I think the highest (quote) I received is the Dh175,000,” said Oraibi. “That would be the most ridiculous thing I’ve received so far.”
But it’s a free market. And many brands clearly see the value in using influencers to flog their wares. As with generally costlier celebrity endorsements, brands hope that consumers will rush out and buy if, say, their favorite beauty blogger or Facebook fashion writer endorses a particular product. And so paying $5,000 for a post on an influencer’s Instagram feed could, theoretically, make good business sense.
There is certainly evidence that using influencers works. A recent BPG Cohn & Wolfe survey of 1,000 UAE residents — which was led by Oraibi and conducted with YouGov — found that the majority of respondents are more likely to buy fashion and beauty products based on what influencers say.
“There was an increased usage of influencers in the region. And the purpose of the study that we did was to just validate whether the money marketeers and our clients is investing is going in the right direction or not. Because thousands and millions of dirhams were put into using influencers,” said Oraibi.
But the costs charged by these social-media bigshots are still often incommensurate with the work they put in, Oraibi added.

Lot of effort
“Sometimes the PR agency is responsible for creating the content, and doing basically 80 percent of the work. And then all (the influencer has) to do is just post a photo and a caption,” she said.
“Charging that amount of money for such a task is ridiculous. Yes I understand that, sometimes, bloggers incur a lot of effort and time and expenses in creating content. And these are the ones who I would accept paying this amount of money for.”
Maurice Hamilton, CEO of The SMC Group, an agency that specializes in celebrity and digital influencer endorsements, says that his company helps negotiate prices for influencer endorsements.
“Pricing is typically based on what brands are prepared to pay, the clever ones are utilising expert negotiators like us,” he said.
“Guidelines are important but pricing is very much an individual thing. Ballparks based on the scope of work, are what we typically advise our clients on.”
One issue surrounding influencers is that many in the Arabian Gulf region do not actually declare when they are being paid to post. But Hamilton said it is important that influencers are transparent about this.
“I think it’s important for influencers to inform their audience when they’ve been contracted to promote something. Posting a small tag or ‘paid advertising’ credit could assist in informing the audience,” he said.
Yet others believe that greater transparency would create problems given what influencers are supposed to stand for.
Harris Breslow, an associate professor in the Department of Mass Communication at the American University of Sharjah, says that influencers face the danger of being deserted by their audiences if they are discovered as paid advocates of brands.
“I’m not sure that transparency would help. In many situations influencers are valued precisely for their authenticity and the lack of fees that they charge. This is true of travel and foodie influencers, for example… charging a fee tends to change the influencer’s status in the eyes of his or her target audience, and particularly with millennials. It is the authenticity that creates the value to the influencer, not what he or she can charge,” Breslow said.

Fashion events
“There are exceptions — both in terms of individuals and in terms of influencer types. Fashion influencers, for example, tend to be forgiven their tendency to charge for appearances, as it’s understood that fashion events are always already commercial.”
Oraibi says that part of the reason the fees charged by influencers are “getting out of control” is that the field is relatively new, and unregulated. But having more established fees and disclosure guidelines would be a good start, she added.
As for the AED 175,000 quote, Oraibi says they are “pushing back” at that.
“I definitely agree that it’s a supply and demand thing. And if brands put their foot down and stop paying these ridiculous amounts of money, then I think we will at least take a first step into finding a solution,” she said.
“Outsiders are accusing us of creating monsters,” she added.
“Yes, some (influencers) are difficult and challenging to work with; some of them are lovely and very professional. So no, I don’t think they’re monsters. I just think there is no direction or regulation in this industry.”