Tracking costs in Later Influence helps you measure ROI and calculate industry-standard benchmarks.

In Later, an incentive is any payment or reward given to a creator. When you fulfill incentives, Later automatically reports on:

• CPE (Cost per Engagement) = Cost ÷ engagements
• CPM (Cost per 1,000 impressions) = Cost ÷ impressions ÷ 1000
• CPP (Cost per Post) = Cost ÷ posts

How Costs Are Calculated

• Costs = sum of Fulfilled incentives (in USD).
• Fulfilled = incentive has been marked as completed/paid.
• Transaction fees charged by payment providers are included.
• Only bound content (content tied to a creator in the workflow) is used for calculations.
• Committed or ready-to-pay incentives are not included until fulfilled.

If your program uses another currency, see Incentive Currency Details for specifics.

Incentive Statuses in Reports

• Committed → Incentives assigned but not yet marked ready
• Ready → Incentives marked as ready to be paid
• Paid (Fulfilled) → Incentives fully paid (pre- or post-content)

Where to View Cost Metrics

At the Campaign Level

Performance Report:

1. Go to the Performance tab of the campaign.
2. Click Share in the campaign header to generate a report.
3. View:
   • Total cost (Committed, Ready, Paid)
   • Campaign-level CPE, CPM, ROI

Complete Stage of Workflow:

• Open the Complete stage to see cost and performance per creator.
  
• Includes creator-specific cost, CPE, CPM, CPP

Exports from Workflow:

• From any stage, click the Export icon (upper-right).
• Includes creator-specific CPE, CPM, CPP.

Across All Your Campaigns

Reports → Overview tab:

• View Total Cost of Campaigns, Estimated Cost of Content, CPE, CPM
• Filter by campaign(s) and date range

Incentives tab:

• Customize filters and view totals at the top.
• Export to see:
  • Total cost overall
  • Cost per incentive type
  • Influencer lifetime cost and history

Influencer Profiles

• Open an influencer’s lightbox → History tab.
• Shows:
  • Performance summary
  • Overall CPE, CPM
  • Campaign-specific history

Exports from Search (My Members)

• From Influencers tab, set Data Source = My Members → export.
• Includes influencer’s overall CPE, CPM, CPP

Lifetime Influencer Metrics

• Stored only for influencers in My Members
• Includes influencer’s cost, CPE, CPM, CPP across all campaigns with your brand
• Proprietary: not shared with other brands

Tips

• Use the Reports → Overview tab for a cross-campaign snapshot.
• Apply date filters to compare performance over time.
• Keep incentive statuses updated (Committed → Ready → Paid) for accurate reporting.
• Use My Members to track lifetime creator ROI.

Common Questions

Why don’t I see my campaign costs in Reports?

Costs only appear after incentives are marked Fulfilled (Paid). Incentives in Committed or Ready status are not included.

Do transaction fees count toward costs?

Yes. Any provider fees (e.g., Stripe processing) are included in the total cost.

What currency are costs shown in?

Always in US dollars (USD), regardless of your local currency. See Incentive Currency Details if you need a different view.

Why is my CPE/CPM not updating?

Metrics are tied to bound content. If a post isn’t bound (via hashtag, Posting Link, or manual binding), engagements/impressions won’t count toward CPE/CPM.

Can I report on costs before I pay creators?

Yes — the Committed and Ready incentive statuses let you see upcoming costs, but they don’t count toward ROI until marked Fulfilled.

Where can I see lifetime costs per creator?

Lifetime cost metrics are available only for creators in your My Members database. Go to their profile → History tab for CPE, CPM, CPP.

Is influencer cost data shared across brands?

No. All influencer cost and performance data is proprietary to your account. Other brands can’t see your data, and you can’t see theirs.

Where can I export cost data?

• From a campaign’s Workflow tab (any stage) → influencer-specific costs
• From Reports → Overview tab → campaign or date range totals
• From Incentives tab → total costs and per-incentive breakdown
• From Search (set data source = My Members) → export lifetime influencer cost