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Like to admit it or not, you’ve probably followed an influencer or two in your life. Even my mom, who “isn’t on social media,” is following quilting “experts,” aka “influencers,” on YouTube. They’re here and even though a TikTok ban might be happening, they’re still likely to stay-on one platform or another.
So, How Much Does a Social Media Influencer Make?
You might be surprised.
Sure, some of us have heard about insane deals, like Kylie Jenner charging an average of $1.8 million per Instagram post with a partner.
But ZipRecruiter says the mean salary is $57,928, or about $28 an hour, as of mid-March 2024.
How do Social Media Influencers Earn Money?
Most likely, it’s by working with brands through “collabs” and getting paid per post as part of an influencer marketing strategy.
It’s not just about how many followers you have that is factored into how much a brand will pay you for a post. It’s your reach, influencer engagement, the industry you’re targeting, the type of content you’re putting out (a post versus a video or a carousel, for example), exclusivity, demand, and usage rights.
It’s all a bit more complicated than it seems initially. That’s why many influencers with large followings work with agents who can facilitate the relationship between an influencer and the opportunity they’re presented with.
Wondering Where Your Social Media Influence Would Fall?
Here’s what the categories are:
- Nano-influencers: 1,000-10,000 followers
- Micro-influencers: 10,000-50,000 followers
- Mid-tier influencers: 50,000-500,000 followers
- Macro-influencers: 500,000-1,000,000 followers
- Mega-influencers: 1,000,000-plus followers
An Instagram influencer with about 10,000 to 25,000 followers usually earns about $100 to $250 per sponsored post.
Trending towards a mega-influencer status on Insta? You’ll likely be paid between $5,000 and $25,000 per Instagram post.
The highest-paid social media influencer? Cristiano Ronaldo. Yes, that Ronaldo. And he’s been at the top of this list for three years in a row.
The football star gets paid $3.2 million a post.
YouTube influencer Safiya Nygaard has over 10 million followers on that platform alone and has been said to get over $200,000 per post across platforms.
So remind your significant other (or boss?) of that fact the next time they ask if you’re still goofing off on Instagram or TikTok.
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