How do you carry out sponsorship rates competitor research?

What to take away

Build a source list before you compare anything

Competitor research fails when it starts with a single screenshot of a rate card. Start by listing the ten creators or agencies closest to your niche, then note where each one publishes numbers. Some post rate cards on their own site. Others reveal pricing only through press coverage or platform media kits. Media kits for YouTube, Instagram and TikTok are the closest thing to a published rate source, and the budget benchmarks published by bodies such as ISBA, the IPA and IAB UK show the market those rates sit in.

For each source, record the publication date. A rate card from eighteen months ago reflects a different market.

Note the platform and format too, since a short vertical video rate and a long-form integration rate are not interchangeable. Pair those figures with your own audience data before you trust them, using our audience research guide.

Save each source as a file, not a bookmark. Screenshots vanish when a creator updates their page, and your memory of what a rate card said is unreliable three months later. A dated PDF or a snapshot in the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine keeps the comparison honest when you revisit it.

Check the company behind the brand

Agencies and brands sometimes inflate their size to justify low offers. Before you accept a competitor's claimed position, look up the buyer. Companies House holds registration and filing history you can search free of charge, which is useful when an agency's stated turnover looks out of step with its accounts.

You can check a brand's registration and filing history before you quote. If the company was incorporated recently, or files dormant accounts, treat its published budget claims with care.

Separate regulated claims from marketing talk

Health, beauty and supplement deals sit under stricter advertising rules than most categories, and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) enforces them through the CAP Code. Each section is narrow: the rules on employment, homework schemes and business opportunities govern only those offers, while health-related and beauty products fall under Section 12, food supplements under the food and nutrition claims section, and medicines and medical devices under additional MHRA rules. Those limits shape what a competitor can legally promise a brand. If a rival claims results the rules would not allow, that claim is not a benchmark.

Where a competitor operates in the United States as well, the FTC's advertising and marketing endorsement pages show how disclosure enforcement differs. Use them to sense-check cross-border claims rather than to price UK work.

Disclosure is a separate rule set to factor in when you compare published rates. The ASA's guidance for influencers on making ads clear, and the CMA's guidance on social media endorsements, both require paid posts to be obviously identifiable as ads. An undisclosed competitor post is not a compliant benchmark, however attractive its rate.

Compare like with like in a table

Use a simple grid. Fill one row per competitor and leave blanks rather than guessing.

All figures above are labelled illustrative examples, not market data. The table earns its keep by exposing gaps: no source date, no row.

Test the numbers against your own audience

A competitor's rate only means something once you know what their audience is worth to a buyer. Pull your own reach, engagement and audience location data, then compare the ratio of rate to reach across your table. If one competitor charges far more per thousand views, look for a reason: niche, exclusivity or a longer usage licence.

Convert everything to one currency and one metric before drawing conclusions. Figures quoted in dollars, euros or as lump-sum bundles need normalising to a cost per thousand views or per deliverable. Otherwise you are comparing a cinema screen with a phone.

The buyer persona guide shows how to match those ratios to the person signing the contract, which is often more useful than the headline rate.

Write down what you still do not know

Every comparison leaves gaps. List them: missing usage terms, unclear exclusivity periods, unknown payment timelines. Give each gap an owner and a date to resolve it.

Ask a colleague to challenge your assumptions before the numbers reach a client.

Common questions

How many competitors should I include?

Eight to twelve is workable for most niches. Fewer than five gives you no pattern, and more than fifteen becomes hard to keep current.

Are published rate cards reliable?

They are reliable as statements of asking price, not as evidence of what buyers pay. Treat them as the top of a range until you find a second source.

How often should I repeat this research?

Quarterly suits most creators. Rates move with platform changes and seasonal budgets, so an annual review leaves you pricing against stale data.

Can I use competitor rates to set my own price?

Use them as a floor check, not a formula. Your costs, audience and licence terms determine the number you quote.