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This post is about influencers and how influencers make money.
I often get asked is content creating worth it. Ummm hell yea! Instagram and influencers go hand in hand. The social-media platform has become a primary stage for influencers launching their careers. And people don’t need millions of followers to earn money on Instagram. A lot of brands turn to smaller creators like “nano” or “micro” influencers with under 100,000 followers, so establishing a career as a creator is no longer a pipe dream.
But it’s not so straightforward to start earning money on Instagram. Unlike YouTube, Instagram doesn’t yet have a comparable payment system in place like YouTube’s Partner Program. You have to put in work on your aesthetic. You can post what you want, but you want to make sure your content flows and is on brand.
Typically, influencers rely on sponsored content to make a living. From posting a picture to the main feed with #ad, to sharing swipe-up links in a series of Stories, sponsored content takes on many different shapes. That is the biggest money maker from Instagram for me. My thing is – I am going to post regardless, so to make money from a post is a sweet deal.
For instance, there are plenty of influencers that charge upwards of $1000 just for an IG story. There are micro influencers that start their story price at $100 and go up from there. If influencers negotiate well, brand deals can lead to big paychecks. I have a manager now and they negotiate very well for me. I used to do all of my negotiating myself and trust me – it’s a lot of work!
Sponsored content, however, isn’t the only income generator for these influencers — although it is generally the most lucrative. Influencers also make money on Instagram through commissions on affiliate links, selling merchandise, monetization tools that the platform has rolled out. If you haven’t, make sure you check out “bonuses”. IG will pay you for making reels. Every view on my reels increases my payout. When I found out about bonuses, I was like oh damn let me get to posting reels.
Plenty of influencers are making a lucrative living from social media. They use the platforms as a launching pad for their own major entrepreneurial ventures. There are mad opportunities on social media and money is out there. I have multiple streams of income, so any brand sponsorships I have are a bonus and I don’t depend solely on them to cover my expenses. Below are different ways you can make money on social media.
Sponsored Content / Campaigns:
Sponsored content on social media is familiar to most audiences, brands, and creators by now, and it remains one of the top ways in which influencers make money.
With product placement, reviews, event coverage, and more, influencers partner with brands to promote brand awareness as well as specific products and services through social media in exchange for payment or products.
Influencer marketing on Instagram alone is over a 2 billion Dollar industry. But it’s far from the only home of sponsored content on social media. Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, blogs, and livestreaming platforms all see their own form of sponsored posts, photos, and videos.
Affiliate Links:
Affiliate links are often a bit more passive than most forms of brand partnerships. These links give followers and audiences an opportunity to purchase featured products, download apps, visit specific web pages, or sign up for services. I love using my Amazon links. I post them and links from Reward Style all over. Amazon links are perfect because who doesn’t shop weekly on Amazon! Whenever anyone asks me where I got something, I just send them my affiliate link which then stays on their device for a while, so I get commission when they order from Amazon.
Brands and marketers use these links to track where traffic is coming from and who’s driving, then often reward those traffic drivers.
Amazon’s affiliate link program is likely the most well-known, and gives influencers a portion of the revenue made from sales generated via affiliate links. By posting affiliate links for products that are relevant to their followers’ interests on social media or alongside their regular content, influencers can promote products without dedicating entire posts or videos to the products themselves.
Ad Revenue Share:
Many influencers also draw a significant portion of their revenue from shares of ad revenue. Services like Google’s AdWords allow bloggers to capture a share of advertising revenue from things like sidebar and banner ads. With enough traffic, bloggers can earn a decent amount of money through AdWords. I use these ads on my blog but I don’t use too many because I don’t want the look of my blog to be spammy looking.
Also, AdSense allows YouTubers to capture a portion of revenue from programmatic ads (like pre roll ads, along with sponsored banners and sidebars).
Individual Business Ventures:
I never considered myself an influencer nor did I ever aspire to be one. Personally, I don’t like when people call me that lol. I prefer entrepreneur. After all I started as one, continue to run my businesses and content creating is really a business. You get paid and have to file taxes just like any other working person. I gained a following initially from my business, Melanie Marie. I started my business in 2009 and I created my blog/content creating in 2016. Successful influencers might also make money by striking out on their own, forming their own companies, merchandise, apps, and more.
YouTube:
Listen, people are killing it on YouTube via running ads on their channel. You have to be consistent with YouTube. I have been working on being more consistent and now I am determined. I currently have about 4 videos in my queue ready to upload to my channel.
TikTok and Instagram Bonuses / Gifts:
Both of these platforms offer incentives to post. Creators are able to earn money just from putting up a post they normally would anyway. These platforms are pushing this because they want to switch to more video content.
You can also accept gifts when you are on LIVE. Friends of mine have made thousands from “tips” when they are live. It’s really crazy but so amazing.
In short- yes, content creating is SO SO worth it. It’s funny to me when people make fun of people shooting content in the street or where ever. Meanwhile, that person is laughing all the way to the bank.
Take a look at my post: How I Quit My 9-5 To Work For Myself.
This post was about influencers and how influencers make money.
