How Much Do Influencers Make

November 29, 2022 Paula Bruno

When it comes to influencer marketing, TikTok is slowly stealing Facebook's crown.

With over a billion active monthly users, TikTok has become one of the most influential platforms in the world. This fame has resulted in TikTok celebrities like Charlie D'Amelio and Alison Rae raking in millions of dollars in endorsements and sponsored content every year.

This raises the question: how much do influencers make? While this depends on several factors, recent history has proven that you can make a significant amount of money through social media.

Interested in learning more about how much money influencers can make online? You're in the right place. Here's everything you need to know.

Different Sized Influencers

It's important to understand that influencers can command very different prices from brands depending on their following. Simply put, an influencer with 10 thousand followers won't earn the same as someone with 1 million followers. However, the niche that the influencer is in plays a significant role as well.

This is because different sectors pay different rates for an impression. For example, a customer in the finance world is worth more than a customer in the food and beverage industry. In this way, financial companies tend to spend more on marketing on a per-conversation basis.

Social Media Platforms

Influencers use social media platforms as an asset. However, not all social media platforms work in the same way. Here's a quick look at the most popular platforms and how they can generate revenue for influencers.

YouTube

YouTube is the largest social media platform in the world. With over 2.1 billion monthly users, YouTube dominates the industry both in users and revenue. This is because advertisers around the world pay billions of dollars to YouTube for in-video adverts.

This ad revenue is then split between YouTube and the content creators. The revenue is split according to YouTube's creator policy and can range depending on what country your viewers are in. This means that a view in the United States may be worth more than a view in France.

While YouTube does share its ad revenue, the platform also allows you to partner with brands privately for sponsored content. This is often where influencers make most of their money.

In most cases, YouTube influencers can expect to earn between $3 to $8 per 1,000 views on YouTube.

Instagram

Facebook and Instagram are industry titans within the social media space. While Facebook still boasts over a billion users, Instagram is known for creating and maintaining influencers. This is mainly due to the nature of the platform and the built-in shopping features.

This way, influencers can direct users straight to an online store from their posts or stories. Additionally, Instagram also has business profiles that can act as a complete online store. This means that Instagram is the perfect place for brand partnerships and sponsored content.

As mentioned above, brands pay according to how big of an influencer you are. Small influencers can get around $500 per post, while mega influencers with over 1 million followers can get way over $10,000 per post.

TikTok

As one of the latest social media platforms to steal the spotlight, TikTok is growing at an unprecedented rate. With billions of users around the world, TikTok has helped create some of the world's most famous influencers.

TikTok is a great place to build and promote sponsored content and brand partnerships. However, the social media platform also announced a content partnership agreement that actually pays some of their top creators.

Revenue Streams for Influencers

As stated above, there are tons of different ways you can make money as an influencer. Here are a few of the most popular revenue streams in the space.

Platform Revenue

The most common way to generate revenue from social media is through the platform itself. This may be through an ad revenue split or through direct membership fees.

Branding and Merchandise

Influencers can use social media to build a community. This then opens the door to creating custom products and merchandise to sell directly to your followers.

Affiliate Marketing

Brands around the globe love affiliate marketing as they allow everyone to market their products for them. Influencers are in the best position for this as they can share their links with millions of people with just the click of a button.

Dynamic Influencer Pricing

Influencer rates can vary depending on a variety of circumstances. For example, while platform income is directly related to advertising revenue, brands offer vastly different rates for influencers with 10,000 followers compared to those with 10 million followers. Influencer pay for brand sponsorship deals also vary depending on their engagement rates, and history of sponsorship performance. In addition, the rates within different industries can also vary.

This is because not all conversions are equal. For example, a conversion for a t-shirt brand is very different compared to a conversion on a home loan. Since a single home loan sale is equal to thousands of t-shirt sales, home loan companies are willing to pay for influencers in that niche.

The Benefits of Working with a Marketing Agency

As mentioned above, the rate that influencers can charge for their services can range quite a bit. While this is dependent on a few hard facts like your follower count and engagement rates, having the right team can make a massive difference. This is because an experienced marketing agency will be able to price your services a lot more accurately.

In addition to accurate rates, a professional team has the ability to negotiate on your behalf. Negotiating is not always easy and can also take up a lot of your time. In this way, outsourcing the paperwork to professionals can help you save time and get the best deal possible.

An experienced marketing team can also help search for deals for you. This service alone is well worth the fee that you pay, as the team is actively trying to build new revenue streams for you.