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Social Media Stars: How Much Do They Really Make?
Brands are spending more on sponsored content from social media influencers ― but how much do these stars make?
A business.com editor verified this analysis to ensure it meets our standards for accuracy, expertise and integrity.
Gretchen Grunburg,Senior Editor
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Table of Contents
The global Creators in the Creator Economy study by Adobe revealed that nearly one in four people can be considered a social media influencer. However, NeoReach reported that roughly half (48 percent) of creator-earners only make $15,000 or less and only 15 percent make $100,000 or more annually. So, how did today’s top-earning social media stars get where they are? Experts say a combination of luck, consistency and personality helps social media stars grow their platforms.
As platforms proliferate, more popular voices than ever are connecting brands to niche consumers via endorsement deals, product placement content and advertising. Influencers with unique voices and messages parlay their followers’ trust into a steady revenue stream. We’ll examine how much money social media stars are raking in, how they convey brand messages and why brands benefit from working with high-level influencers.
Did You Know?
More brands want to get influencers to market their products. According to Influencer Marketing Hu, the influencer marketing industry is projected to reach $32.55 billion this year.
What types of social media influencers are there?
Social media influencers can be broken down into various tiers based on their follower count. Although some media sites slightly vary on the exact follower count, here is a breakdown of the influencer tiers, as reported by impact.com:
Nanoinfluencers: Less than 15,000 followers
Microinfluencers: 15,000 to 75,000 followers
Midtier influencers: 75,000 to 250,000 followers
Macroinfluencers: 250,000 to 1 million followers
Megainfluencers and celebrities: Over 1 million followers
As a general rule, influencers with more followers stand to make more money. However, there is a growing reliance on nanoinfluencers and microinfluencers as brands try to balance cost-efficiency with engagement quality. Microinfluencers and nanoinfluencers have the highest engagement rates.
“The future is looking even more personalized and community-driven, with microinfluencers and nanoinfluencers (those with smaller but super engaged audiences) getting more love because they have that trust factor big celebs often lack,” Jules Brim, social media and marketing expert at Marketing Mixology, told us.
“Brands are increasingly doling out dollars to content creators due to their unique ability to produce relevant, authentic stories that resonate with consumers’ evolving media consumption habits,” said Claudia Page, director of product at Epic Games. “Most everyday brands find it difficult to naturally enter lifestyle conversations because they lack credibility in those spaces.”
Brands are also willing to pay for that credibility. Social media stars can rake it in, but how much they earn is tied to who they are and their demographics, engagement rates, platform and follower counts.
“I’ve seen contracts around $150,000 for two tweets a week for a year, but I’ve also seen clients receive around $1,500 per tweet,” said Benjamin Oduro, manager at Hines and Hunt Entertainment. “Also, social media stars are now obtaining more television jobs, appearance bookings, etc.”
Average influencer pay per post
Influencer and marketing platform impact.com conducted a study with Adweek to identify current industry trends among social media influencers. The study revealed that Instagram is the most popular influencer platform (92 percent), followed by TikTok (43 percent), Facebook (41 percent), Pinterest (20 percent), YouTube (15 percent) and Snapchat (4 percent).
The report broke down earnings for each influencer tier based on various popular platforms.
Average Influencer Pay Per Post
Instagram
TikTok
YouTube
Facebook
Snapchat
Nano
$500– $2,000
$500– $2,000
$1,000– $2,500
$500–$1,500
$200–$1,000
Micro
$2,000– $8,000
$2,000– $8,000
$2,500– $9,000
$1,500– $6,000
$1,000–$5,000
Mid-tier
$8,000– $20,000
$8,000– $20,000
$9,000– $25,000
$6,000– $15,000
$5,000– $20,000
Macro
$20,000– $45,000
$20,000– $45,000
$25,000– $49,000
$15,000– $40,000
$20,000– $35,000
Mega/Celebrity
$45,000+
$45,000+
$49,000+
$40,000+
$35,000+
What affects social media stars’ earnings?
Of course, the numbers cited above are averages. Various factors can affect an influencer’s earnings, including follower count, promotion type and audience engagement:
Follower count: Influencers’ audience size is a crucial factor in their earnings. Influencers with extremely large followings can earn significantly more per post. For example, Influencer Marketing Hub reported that Selena Gomez has 422 million Instagram followers and charges roughly $2.5 million per post. However, follower count is just one piece of this puzzle, as some smaller niche influencers can turn a lucrative profit.
Promotion type: The more involved the influencer is in promoting the product, the higher the rate. So, a sponsored post where the influencer writes a blurb encouraging followers to try the product may be charged a lower rate, while a video demonstration of the product would command a higher rate.
Audience engagement: Perhaps one of the biggest factors affecting an influencer’s earnings is audience engagement. Influencers with highly engaged audiences can charge more and this is especially true for long-term brand deals. According to Brim, brands want to work with influencers who can spark conversations, get people clicking and convince their audience to buy the stuff they are selling. A super-engaged following can be more valuable than a huge, silent crowd.
Influencers help businesses grow, so brands are willing to pay for their support. Here are the specific avenues social media stars use to make money online.
Influencers make money with sponsored promotions.
Sponsored promotions are when a brand pays a social media star to create content on its behalf to share with their followers. Sponsored promotions include product placements, brand stories, event coverage, product reviews and more. Some influencers receive small payouts and free merchandise for sponsored content. High-level social media stars can receive enormous paychecks as compensation.
“Companies pay influencers to promote their products because, let’s be honest, people trust their favorite influencers more than traditional ads,” said Brim. “Whether it’s a skincare guru raving about the best moisturizer ever or a fitness influencer pushing protein shakes, these posts can rake in serious cash. The bigger and more engaged the audience, the bigger the paycheck.”
Sponsored promotions are a way for brands to partner with social media stars to boost brand awareness online. Instagram is a popular platform for sponsored content featuring photos and videos on an influencer’s account to help build brand authority.
Influencers make money by managing social media accounts.
Savvy social media influencers are in demand to act as a brand’s social media manager. Celebrities, new brands and trending businesses capitalize on social media stars’ traction and trained eyes to manage their social accounts and market their products. There’s often crossover between the influencer’s social accounts and the brand’s social platforms. The influencer’s success is measured by visitor counts and customer query responses.
Influencers make money via YouTube channel ads.
Social media stars with a vibrant YouTube community often make money via paid ads. Followers watch these ads when they visit the influencer’s YouTube channel. Additionally, social media stars can make money through sponsored content brand videos they display on their YouTube channel.
Influencers make money through affiliate links.
Affiliate marketing links are a passive source of income for social media stars. Followers can buy featured products, visit specific pages or sign up on featured sites. Brands and marketers use these links to track where traffic is coming from and who is driving the traffic.
Social media stars earn a portion of the revenue generated by affiliate links. It’s best to choose affiliate links for products that appeal to the influencer’s audience and match their aesthetic.
“[Affiliate marketing] is a win-win – followers get a discount, brands make sales and influencers collect a cut of the action,” said Brim. “Some influencers make thousands a month just from affiliate links alone. It’s worth mentioning that influencers and celebrities must declare the affiliate links so it’s clear to their audience they are getting a kickback from their purchases.”
Influencers make money by becoming brand ambassadors.
Brand ambassadors are influencers who have signed an exclusive contract with a brand. They essentially become a spokesperson for the brand. Brand ambassador contracts generally cover a specified period where the influencer promotes the brand on various platforms and via various online and offline methods. Influencers are usually paid a lump sum upfront.
“Expect to see more long-term partnerships instead of one-off ad posts,” said Brim. “Brands want ongoing relationships where influencers become true ambassadors.”
Did You Know?
Brand ambassadors promote a brand's products or services to increase online awareness, strengthen a company's reputation and boost revenue from consumers.
Influencers make money through merchandising.
Social media influencers can also sell their own merchandise online. Selling products to their followers is highly targeted and parlays their fame and expertise into revenue. Their merchandise can be something they’re famous for.
“Many influencers grow their businesses by launching products or companies, moving beyond the walls and boundaries of online,” said Jennifer Glen, an influencer marketing expert and United States general manager of influencer marketing platform Squad.App. “This allows them to attach their name and image to tangible, real-world products that consumers can interact with, buy and see in their local store.”
For example, artists can sell prints of their artwork and interior designers can sell ebooks with design tips. Social media stars can also create products branded with their name, like T-shirts.
Influencers make money from subscriptions, tipping and donations.
Influencers sometimes have a paid content level that offers more exclusive content than they share for free on their social media accounts. Followers can pay monthly to subscribe to this content. Followers also sometimes give one-time tips or donations when the mood strikes them. These gestures are often rewarded with shoutouts or signed merchandise.
Why should brands work with social media influencers?
Social media influence marketing isn’t just beneficial for the influencers. When done correctly, it can have a significant impact on an organization, especially small businesses. The advantages a company receives depend on its marketing goals, budget and the effectiveness of the social media influencer it partners with.
“Brand partnerships with influencers have evolved significantly even just in the last two or three years,” said Glen. “Working with influencers used to be a ‘nice-to-have’ but it is now an essential part of a brand’s marketing mix.”
Influencer marketing can help brands in various ways:
Social media influencers increase reach and brand awareness: By piggybacking on an influencer’s existing audience, a brand can quickly increase its exposure to potential new customers.
Social media influencers help a brand reach a highly targeted audience: By choosing an influencer whose followers match their customer persona, a brand can efficiently market its products to its target audience.
Social media influencers help a brand achieve high engagement rates: An influencer’s followers tend to trust the influencer. If the social media star promotes a product, followers will likely trust that product, resulting in higher engagement and sales.
Social media influencers help a brand improve its SEO: Influencers with many followers have SEO clout. When an influencer posts or shares a link, search engines give it weight; this can help your brand climb in organic rankings.
Social media influencers help boost website traffic: Influencer shares, posts and endorsements can generate significant website traffic as followers check out what their influencer recommends.
Social media influencers help brands get positive ROI: Influencer marketing can have a higher ROI than traditional advertising, especially if you partner with cost-efficient influencers like nanoinfluencers.
Some source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.
Jennifer Dublino is an experienced entrepreneur and astute marketing strategist. With over three decades of industry experience, she has been a guiding force for many businesses, offering invaluable expertise in market research, strategic planning, budget allocation, lead generation and beyond. Earlier in her career, Dublino established, nurtured and successfully sold her own marketing firm.
At business.com, Dublino covers customer retention and relationships, pricing strategies and business growth.
Dublino, who has a bachelor's degree in business administration and an MBA in marketing and finance, also served as the chief operating officer of the Scent Marketing Institute, showcasing her ability to navigate diverse sectors within the marketing landscape. Over the years, Dublino has amassed a comprehensive understanding of business operations across a wide array of areas, ranging from credit card processing to compensation management. Her insights and expertise have earned her recognition, with her contributions quoted in reputable publications such as Reuters, Adweek, AdAge and others.
