How Much Does Game Influencer Marketing in China Cost?

The honest answer is that it costs whatever you decide to spend. The useful answer is what that money actually buys, and that is what this guide breaks down.

Studios usually ask this question expecting a single number. There is not one, because the cost of a creator campaign in China depends on the pricing model, the platforms, the genre and how much work you ask creators to do. What you can pin down is how a budget breaks apart and what each part buys.

The parts of a campaign budget

The first two are where pricing models differ most, so they are worth comparing carefully.

Three ways campaigns are priced

Flat fee per video

You negotiate a price with each creator for an agreed deliverable. It is simple to understand and gives you control over exactly who posts, but you carry the risk: if a video underperforms, you have still paid in full. We compare this model in detail in performance versus flat fee sponsorships.

Agency retainer or management fee

An agency plans and runs the campaign for a retainer or management fee, often on top of creator costs. You get a team doing the work, but the fee is paid whether or not the campaign performs, and it is often hard to see what each part of the budget bought.

Pay per view

You set a rate per thousand verified views and a total budget. Creators choose to take part, and payouts follow the views their content actually delivers. Your cost is tied to results, and if the budget is not fully used, the rest is not charged.

A worked example with real fees

On NIWO the budget you set is the amount that reaches creators. The platform fee is added on top and invoiced together, so the fee never eats into what creators can earn. The fee is 25% between $5,000 and $10,000 of spend and 20% above $10,000, and campaigns from $25,000 are quoted individually. The minimum creator budget is $5,000.

What that budget buys depends on the rate you set. As a purely illustrative example, at a rate of $4 per thousand views an $8,000 creator budget pays for up to 2 million qualifying views. Set the rate higher and the campaign attracts creators faster but buys fewer views. Set it lower and the budget stretches further, but fewer strong creators may take part. Our CPM benchmarks guide covers how to choose a rate for your genre.

If the campaign ends with part of the creator budget unused, that part is never charged. You are billed for what was used plus the platform fee on it.

Costs people forget

• Localisation. Machine translated text is noticed immediately and costs credibility with the players most likely to talk about your game.
• Build access. Keys and a stable build for creators, especially for longer Bilibili content.
• Your team's time. Answering creator questions, reviewing submissions and handling any flags.
• Currency. Creators in China are paid in RMB. On NIWO you are invoiced once in US dollars and NIWO handles conversion and payment, as described in how creator payouts work.

How to decide what to spend

Start from what a result is worth to you. If you know roughly what a wishlist or a store visit is worth and how many views tend to produce one, you have a ceiling for your rate. Then set a first budget large enough for a meaningful number of creators to take part, run it, and measure effective cost per thousand views and what happened downstream. That number, not a market average, is what the next budget should be based on.