I paid an influencer 3,000 for one campaign: how many units must that campaign sell to pay for itself?
Enter the fee as the campaign's fixed cost, and the promoted product's price and variable cost as they are. At a price of 89 and a cost of 49, the campaign alone must sell 75 units to earn back 3,000, and if the influencer's code gives followers a discount, that rises to 97 units.
Why the fee is a fixed cost here
You paid it once, and it stays the same whether the post sells one unit or a thousand. That is exactly what a fixed cost is, only for the campaign rather than the month. Keep it apart from your rent and subscriptions in this calculation: the question is whether the campaign paid for itself, not whether the whole store covered its costs.
The calculation at full price
- Fixed costs: 3,000, the influencer's fee.
- Selling price per unit: 89.
- Variable cost per unit: 49, covering product, packaging, any shipping you pay and payment fees.
The Break-even calculator shows a contribution of 40, a break-even of exactly 75 units, and 6,675 of revenue at that point. Unit 76 is the first one the campaign actually profits from.
When the influencer's code gives a discount
Most influencer deals come with a follower discount code, and that discount comes straight out of the contribution. If the price after the code is 80, roughly 10% off, the contribution drops to 31, the exact break-even becomes 96.77, rounded up to 97 units, with revenue of 7,760 and a profit of just 7 at that volume. Nine off the price added 22 units to the campaign's target.
Count only the orders the campaign brought
- The cleanest way to tie orders to the post is a code used by this influencer alone, or a link with tracking tags.
- Do not count orders that would have come anyway on those days. Compare with your average ordinary days before the campaign.
- If the post brings followers who buy later, that is real value, but the calculator does not measure it. It shows the minimum the campaign must deliver directly.
To measure return on ad spend and its break-even as a ratio, use the ROAS calculator; to track clicks and cost per order on paid ads, use the Campaign performance calculator.
Common questions
Should the fee also go into my normal monthly costs?
Not in the campaign calculation: keep it alone to judge the campaign. In a full-month calculation, yes, since you paid it that month.
The influencer promoted two products at different prices. What now?
The calculator assumes one product. Use the average price and average cost of the orders that came through the code.
Does the tool predict how much the influencer will sell?
No. It gives the number the campaign has to beat, not what it will achieve.