Choose creators by real views and CPM, not follower counts
Followers tell you how many people once pressed a button. Views tell you how many people see a post today. How to compare creators on median views, effective CPM and consistency, with a worked example.
Most creator rate cards still start with a follower count. A creator with 200,000 followers asks for more than one with 40,000, and most brands accept the logic. The problem is that follower count is a measure of how many people pressed "follow" at some point in the past. It says little about how many of them see a post this month. (For current price levels by tier and format, see what influencers charge in Spain.)
On Instagram and TikTok, distribution is now driven by recommendation feeds far more than by the follow graph. A post can reach far more people than the account has followers, or far fewer. The useful question is not "how big is this account?" but "how many people will see the post I am paying for, and what does each thousand of them cost me?"
Why follower counts mislead
Three effects make followers a poor buying signal:
- Reach has decoupled from followers. Recommendation feeds push content to people who do not follow the account. Some small creators reach well beyond their base; some large accounts reach a small slice of theirs.
- Followers accumulate, attention does not. An account that grew fast two years ago keeps its follower count long after its audience has moved on.
- Followers can be bought. Inflated or inactive audiences still count as followers. They do not count as views.
None of this means followers are useless. They are a reasonable first filter for size band. They are a poor basis for price.
Use median views of recent posts
Views per post is the closest public signal to what you are buying. Two rules make it reliable.
Look at recent posts only
Take the last 10 to 20 posts, or the last 60 to 90 days, whichever gives you enough posts. Older posts reflect an audience and an algorithm that may no longer exist.
Use the median, not the average
Creator view counts are heavily skewed. One reel that went viral can be ten times the creator's typical post and pull the average up with it. The median, the middle value when you sort the posts, tells you what a normal post does. That is what you should expect from yours.
| Post | Views |
|---|---|
| 1 | 18,000 |
| 2 | 22,000 |
| 3 | 15,000 |
| 4 | 410,000 |
| 5 | 20,000 |
| Average | 97,000 |
| Median | 20,000 |
Illustrative numbers. Buying on the average here would mean paying for a viral hit that probably will not repeat.
Watch the spread too
The gap between a creator's typical post and their best posts tells you about upside. A creator whose top posts are many times their median has a chance of breaking out. A creator whose posts all land close to the median is predictable. Both can be right, depending on whether you need a guaranteed floor or a shot at reach.
Effective CPM: the number that makes creators comparable
CPM, cost per thousand impressions, is the standard unit in paid media. You can compute an effective CPM for a creator deal in the same way:
Effective CPM = fee ÷ (expected views per post × number of posts) × 1,000
It lets you compare a nano creator with a macro creator, and both with your paid social benchmark.
A worked example
Three creators for the same skincare launch in Spain. All figures are illustrative.
| Creator A | Creator B | Creator C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Followers | 380,000 | 65,000 | 24,000 |
| Median views, last 15 posts | 30,000 | 48,000 | 21,000 |
| Fee for 2 reels | EUR 3,000 | EUR 1,400 | EUR 500 |
| Expected views (2 posts) | 60,000 | 96,000 | 42,000 |
| Effective CPM | EUR 50 | EUR 14.60 | EUR 11.90 |
On followers, Creator A looks like the obvious headline buy. On views, Creator B delivers more than A for less than half the price, and Creator C is the most efficient of all. A roster of B and several Cs reaches more people than A alone, for less money. Creators can use the same maths to set a fee; our guide covers the creator side of views-based pricing.
Compare against your own paid benchmark
Effective CPM becomes useful when you put it next to what you pay for reach elsewhere. If a creator costs more per thousand views than your paid social does for the same audience, they need to justify the premium with something else: a stronger fit with the audience, content you can reuse, or proven sales.
CPM is a floor, not the whole decision
Cheap views are not the goal. Before you rank creators on CPM, check three things.
- Audience fit. Views from the wrong country or the wrong interest group are cheap for a reason. Check the market and the topics the creator actually posts about.
- Engagement quality. Comments and saves signal attention. A high view count with almost no interaction can point to passive or low-quality reach.
- Conversion evidence. For sales objectives, views are an input. The real test is attributed revenue. Our creator attribution guide covers how to measure it.
The case for audience signal over follower count goes deeper on fit.
How cyrqle helps
In Find creators, each recommended creator carries estimates you can sort on: estimated reach, on-topic reach, a cost estimate, estimated media value and an estimated return. Where cyrqle holds enough observed views for a creator, the reach estimate uses those views instead of a follower-based assumption. Every "est." figure is an estimate built from public post data, meant for comparing creators against each other, not a quote.
A few lenses map directly to this post:
- best value ranks on engaged reach per euro and estimated return.
- viral upside compares a creator's strong posts with their typical post.
- hidden gems surfaces efficient creators with strong fan intensity and few brand deals so far.
Once a campaign is live, the Posts tab shows each published post's views and engagement, and an effective cost per thousand impressions against a paid-ads benchmark. That closes the loop: you priced on expected views, and you can see what you actually got. See campaigns and reports.
FAQ
What is a good CPM for creator content?
It depends on market, platform, format and category, so be wary of any single number. The useful comparison is your own: set a creator's effective CPM next to what you pay for the same audience in paid social, and ask what the creator adds on top.
Should I ignore follower count completely?
No. Use it as a size filter and a sanity check. Just do not price on it. Price on expected views.
How many posts should I use to estimate views?
Ten to twenty recent posts is usually enough to see a stable median. Fewer than five makes the estimate fragile.
Do views include stories?
Story views are usually only visible to the creator. If stories are a big part of the deal, ask the creator for screenshots of recent story insights, or ask them to connect their account so you can read the numbers directly.
Is the lowest CPM always the best buy?
No. Cheap reach in the wrong audience is waste. Combine CPM with audience fit, engagement quality and, for sales goals, attributed revenue.
Related field notes.
Influencer CPM vs CPA, CPE and flat fee: one campaign priced four ways, who carries the risk under each, and a decision tree matching the model to your goal.
Influencer rates in Mexico for 2026: illustrative peso fee bands by tier, euro equivalents for Spanish brands, effective CPM, and how to pay Mexican creators.
How much to pay micro influencers: price on median views and on-topic reach, set an opening offer and a walk-away point, and compare gifting, fee and hybrid.