How do influencers make money?

Kayla Itsines, Wil Dasovich, Chris GQ Perry — you might not recognize these names, but at least a million people do. That’s because these figures are influencers with some of the largest followings on social media. 

But how does a viral TikTok post or Instagram-sponsored content give influencers enough dough to make up a liveable annual income? 

A survey from Statista listed the following revenue sources for content creators:

• Brand deals (aka sponsored products)
• Ad revenue
• Launching their own brand
• Affiliate links 
• Courses

We’ll cover these revenue sources along with a few others that apply directly to influencers. By the end of this article, you’ll know exactly how influencers make money and how to best leverage them in your brand’s affiliate marketing program. 

What is an influencer?

Influencers are online figures with niche or large followings that drive purchase decisions through product promotions and social engagement. 

Fitness influencers might post about belly-blasting workout moves along with their favorite brands of protein powder. Food influencers might post their original recipes, along with video product reviews about kitchen appliances. 

But what gives them influencer status? These online figures have pull in their niche. Whether they’re experts in the field or just likable online entities, they can persuade, engage, and convince their audiences to action. A follower count of at least 10,000 is a great start, though nano-influencers still make an impact with fewer followers. 

Influencers are often categorized based on their follower count, which can reach thousands of followers to millions. 

• Nano-influencers: Under 10,000 followers
• Micro – influencers: 10,000 to 100,000 followers
• Macro-influencers: 100,000 to 1,000,000 followers
• Mega-influencers: Over 1,000,000 followers
• Celebrity influencers: Kim Kardashian and other stars with millions of followers

How do influencers make money?

Can social influencers really make influencer marketing a full-time job? 

Definitely. 

Some of the highest-paid Instagram influencers bring in millions each year. But even an average influencer can pull off a full-time income. What starts as passive income can really compound with high-quality content, large social media followings, and the right partnerships. 

We’ll walk through some popular ways influencers make money. 

Sponsored posts

Sponsored posts are social media content that influencers are paid to promote. Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn usually require a tag like #ad, #partnership, or #promoted on these for transparency. 

But today’s influencers are skilled at blending the content experience with the sponsorship so much that audiences might not even notice right away that the post is sponsored. 

For example, Charlotte Smythe posts regular social media content about coffee and latte how-tos and products to make them. This sponsored post with MackenzieChilds fits perfectly with her social media channel and aesthetic. 

Content creation for blogs

Influencers can be content creators for both social media and blogs. Blogs aren’t always direct sources of income — rather, they usually drive more traffic to other direct sources of income. 

For example, an influencer might run a niche blog of product reviews with links to affiliate products. Or, they might use a blog to pump up their thought leadership and authority in their space. 

Courses

Education is more accessible now than ever, with online platforms like Coursera and Udemy. Influencers have caught on, packaging some of their more premium content and exclusive knowledge into affordable courses online. 

Mega Amazon marketing influencer Summer Hobart offers a few courses on Udemy: 

While nutrition and wellness nano-influencer Sandra Kruger collabs with Stephanie Harter for a Vegan Nutrition certification course: 

Brand ambassadorships

Celebrity influencers are top contenders for big brand ambassadorships. Look at Alexa Collins and Cardi B — both ambassadors for Fashion Nova. Or David Beckham, a brand ambassador for Adidas and Samsung. 

Ambassadorships go beyond affiliate partnerships and sponsored posts. 

Influencer ambassadors don’t just promote products. On top of promotion, they embody a brand’s corporate values in all their social media activity, not just promotions. 

While celebrity influencers won’t be easy partnerships to score, you can still find suitable brand ambassadors at the micro – influencer level. In fact, you might actually appeal to your audience more!

Forbes reminds us that micro-influencers are more likely to partner with brands they actually use, which channels more authenticity to their audiences. Plus, micro-influencer prices (commissions) will be much lower than the bigger names. 

Affiliate marketing

Influencers leverage affiliate marketing partnerships to make commissions on brand sales. This could be a lucrative revenue source for influencers that:

• Have a loyal following
• Regularly recommend products
• Channel credibility and trust in their posts

Influencer affiliates will usually promote a brand product with unique affiliate links on their posts or story. They could even have a separate story highlight or Linktree highlighting their recommended products for audiences to access anytime. 

Check out lifestyle influencer Pasha Grozdov’s affiliate promo for teeth-whitening strip company Hismile: 

This single post (Reel) was played almost 100,000 times. Any one of those viewers could have helped Pasha score a sweet commission on Hismile products. 

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Events / appearances

“For bookings, please contact X.” 

That’s always in a celebrity or otherwise popular influencer’s social media bio. Influencers might speak at niche conferences or attend celebrity meet-and-greets for a fee. 

For example, travel influencers might attend conferences like Nomad City or Nomad Summit. Brands can really leverage appearances like this by sending physical product freebies and discount codes to thousands of attendees via the influencer. 

Creating their own merchandise/online store

Some influencers become famous for unique phrases or concepts. One monetization strategy is to splat those phrases onto a t-shirt and other merch. 

For example, MD Paul Saladino is also a social media influencer that posts regular content about the carnivore diet. You’d think the doctor salary would bring in enough income, but he’s tapped into many more revenue sources. With an Instagram follower count of over a million, Saladino launched his “The Fundamental Health” podcast and published an animal-based cookbook. 

He also released merchandise that his social media followers can easily purchase by clicking on his website link in his bio: 

Influencers might even sell digital products like one-on-one coaching sessions or ebooks. 

Reselling free products

We just discussed how social media influencers can sell their own custom products to generate income. 

But would you expect them to have gotten those same products for free? Here’s the thing: they definitely won’t advertise that. But it’s a common tactic, especially for influencers with a high following and traffic. 

Ecommerce expert and YouTube influencer Bryan Guerra walks his audience through obtaining free products to later sell through Amazon and other platforms. He recommends using cashback sites and freebies to find free or extremely cheap inventory to resell online. 

It’s pretty hard to measure how many influencers actually do this, since most wouldn’t want to tell their audiences. 

This monetization strategy does come with some negative aspects — enough that we’d maintain that affiliate marketing is a much more effective income source for ethical influencers. Reselling products takes lots of time and research, sifting through freebie sights, packaging, and shipping products. Plus, influencers might risk damaged credibility if their target audience realizes they’re paying for otherwise free products. 

Our advice for brands? Try not to work with influencers who do this. You might devalue your products and risk poor audience perception. 

Subscriptions

Sure, micro-influencers won’t score thousands of subscription sign-ups like the New York Times. 

But sometimes, a loyal audience could help you make serious money with influencer marketing. Take Kimmy.fitness as an example. The England-based fitness trainer posts tons of free workout content on her main social media page:

But she entices her followers to subscribe to her KimmyFitnessOnlineStudio — a subscription-based account with access to more exclusive content and live workout sessions:

We know; 68 followers doesn’t look like a ton. But multiply that by the 35-pound monthly subscription fee? Not too shabby!

Ads

Instagram had almost 4 million posts with an #ad tag in 2021. Ad revenue comes second in content creator revenue sources, even if audiences don’t really like them.

Indeed, one of Instagram’s updates resulted in serious backlash because users were annoyed with content from people they didn’t follow in their feeds, and a surplus of paid ads. 

While audience sentiment is generally negative toward ads, that doesn’t ring the same for TikTok. Maybe it’s the quick, bite-sized nature of a TikTok — but one study showed TikTok ads make a greater audience impact than ads on other platforms. They’re also more effective in planting your brand’s memory into your audience — 29% versus 22% and lower for other platforms. 

Bottom line? Influencers will usually include some sort of ad strategy in their content plan. Just review their channels to ensure they’re smooth, reflect your values, and aren’t overwhelming for your target audience. 

Tips

Before, people left tips for good service. Now, we can leave tips for good content. Influencers have leveraged virtual tipping as a revenue source. Sometimes, they’ll invite followers to leave a small tip if they appreciate the content. 

Vox presents endless examples in their digital tipping roundup, including “sleep streamers” and “Twitch strippers” who raked in thousands of dollars in tips. 

While most scrollers might not leave a tip, the odd few dollars here and there have added up to a suitable revenue source for some influencers. 

Brand merchandise partnerships

This influencer monetization strategy is like pulling a reverse Uno on a traditional affiliate relationship. Here, the brand actually promotes an influencer’s product. Specifically, brands and influencers partner to create a new product. 

For example, Beyonce and Adidas collaborated on a brand new clothing line titled the IVY PARK collection. Adidas has promoted the new collection on their channels, even creating an entirely new social media account dedicated to the product. Chances are, Beyonce’s followers will see her tags and scoop up the products. 

The compensation relationship here might surpass a simple commission, with the influencer taking a dedicated cut of profits. 

How to work with an influencer

Step one? Find influencers you want to work with. 

This requires a fair bit of research on the brand side. No matter your platform, checking your followers, mentions, comments, and branded keywords is a solid place to start. 

Still, you should always start with the social media channel your target audience spends the most time on. If it’s Twitter, explore Twitter chats and lists to see which niche accounts generate the most buzz. If it’s Instagram, try searching for influencers via enhanced tags or local pins. 

Next step; engage and connect. Once you have a list of influencers you’d like to work with, connect with them on their social media platforms. Make sure you’re on their radar so they can access your feed, website, and affiliate landing page. You might even give them a shout or mention them on social media posts with a shared interest. 

Hopefully, you start receiving some affiliate applications after a few weeks of engagement. 

Final step? The pitch. 

What happens if you haven’t garnered interest from key influencers? For the super special players you feel will grow your brand’s following or revenue significantly — send them an influencer pitch. Your pitch should introduce your brand and company, how you appeal to the influencer’s target audience, and what incentives you could offer. 

Tapfiliate content strategist Ashley Howe reminds us to keep pitches “unique, themed, and well-planned.” 

Start working with influencers today

Bottom line? Influencers have tapped into a multitude of revenue sources, and you can attract key promoters for your brand with your affiliate program. With a carefully tailored pitch and competitive offerings, brands can expand their reach and scale their sales with influencers. 

But even a successful influencer won’t help you if you don’t manage your program. The best way to do so is with an affiliate influencer tracking software like Tapfiliate. 

Our dashboard helps you keep track of your commissions, helping you see which influencers bring you the most revenue. On top of that, you can use performance rewards, branded social content, and flexible commission structures to engage not just influencers, but all your affiliate partners. 

It’s time to reap the rewards of the influencer marketing sector. Try Tapfiliate’s free 14-day trial and watch your program grow!