When Ridge, a metal wallet and accessories company, wanted to expand its reach, it teamed up with the popular YouTuber Marques Brownlee to showcase its minimalist, high-quality modern wallet. Brownlee has millions of enthusiastic subscribers who trust his unvarnished and truthful tech reviews, and by partnering with Ridge, he helped expose a new market of tech-savvy consumers to its products.
Social media influencers have become powerful allies for brands. Whether they’re a massive creator with millions of followers or a micro-influencer with thousands of niche loyalists, their ability to sway opinions and drive action is potent. But exactly how do influencers make money online?
Here’s how many influencers partner with brands, use social media platforms, and interact with their dedicated audiences to earn a living online.
Table of contents
10 ways influencers can make money
- Sponsored content and posts
- Brand partnerships, collaborations, and ambassadorships
- Affiliate marketing
- Ad revenue from blogs, vlogs, and podcasts
- Selling digital products
- Personalized merchandise and branded products
- Paid subscriptions, exclusive content, and memberships
- Events, workshops, and public appearances
- Direct payments from social platforms
- Consulting
Influencers often diversify their income streams, using social media platforms and other monetization strategies to make money. Even micro-influencers or nano-influencers with smaller, niche followings can generate an income through these tactics:
1. Sponsored content and posts
From Instagram influencers to TikTokers, social media personalities can make a portion of their income through sponsored content. Brands pay influencers to create content promoting their products, gaining exposure to the influencer’s audience in return.
For example, Loop Earplugs, a company that makes noise-reducing earplugs, partnered with TikTok creator Anna Muller to showcase how its product helps her go about her day as a busy, sensory-sensitive mom. The video—tagged #LoopPartner—reached Muller’s 1.4 million followers and disclosed the paid collaboration.
The amount social media influencers can earn from sponsored posts depends on their follower count, engagement rate, and niche. Influencers can charge anywhere from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars per sponsored post, with some high-profile influencers commanding even higher fees.
While top social media influencers rake in big brand deals, most online creators earn far more modest incomes. According to Glassdoor, the average annual salary for a content creator in the US is $56,000.
2. Brand partnerships, collaborations, and ambassadorships
Influencers can monetize their online social media presence through long-term brand partnerships, collaborations, and ambassadorships. Influencers and brand ambassadors form ongoing relationships with brands and promote their products or services across their social media accounts. Some partnerships even result in co-created product lines, like when the fitness brand Gymshark partnered with Whitney Simmons to release a signature fitness apparel collection.
Transformer Table, a Montreal-based furniture company, found success when it collaborated with social media influencer Racha Abdel Reda, whose video featuring the company’s expandable table reached more than 131 million views, making the table one of the most viewed product videos on the platform. The video drove sales and inspired co-founders Artem Kuzmichev and Richard Mabley to expand their offering to the Middle East, where many of the viral video’s viewers were based.
“It was just an incredible moment and it’s definitely a huge milestone,” says Richard on an episode of the Shopify Masters podcast. “We’re an action-oriented team. When we see an opportunity, we take it and we go for it. Once we saw Racha’s video, we didn’t wait one second, we sent containers.”
3. Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing influencers earn income by promoting products or services to their followers. Each time they mention a product, they provide a unique affiliate link, and the brand pays them a commission on each sale, lead, or sign-up that’s attributable to the link.
An influencer’s affiliate marketing earnings depend on a brand’s stated commission rate, the promoted product’s price point, and the audience’s size and engagement rate. According to a report from Influencer MarketingHub, 57.55% of respondents earn less than $10,000 a year from affiliate marketing, while only 11.72% earn more than $100,000 per year.
Here are popular affiliate programs influencers can join:
4. Ad revenue from blogs, vlogs, and podcasts
Many social media influencers earn money when viewers interact with ads that third-party ad networks place on their content. Revenue is typically based on factors like views, clicks, or impressions, rather than direct payments from the advertised brands.
To monetize a YouTube channel or blog, influencers typically join an advertising network like Google AdSense or Mediavine, which places ads on their content and pays them a portion of the revenue generated. For example, a fitness influencer might earn income by placing ads on their exercise routine website, while a cooking creator could generate ad revenue from popular recipe videos on their YouTube channel.
5. Selling digital products
Social media influencers can monetize their expertise and personal brand by creating and selling digital products such as e-books, online courses, and templates.
Aja Dang, a social media influencer focused on financial wellness and budgeting, offers a $40 Notion Wedding Planner for prospective brides and grooms and uses Shopify to power her online store.
6. Personalized merchandise and branded products
One of the best influencer marketing tools is to simply expand your brand and offer more to your followers. From t-shirts to tote bags, online audiences often jump at the chance to rep their favorite creator’s merchandise and show their support. Influencers can monetize their audience by creating and selling their own merchandise and branded products, including apparel, accessories, home goods, or other items featuring their personal brand, logo, or quotes.
For example, YouTube sensation MrBeast launched Feastables, his own line of chocolate bars that quickly gained popularity among his fanbase and beyond.
7. Paid subscriptions, exclusive content, and memberships
Social media influencersearn money by offering paid subscriptions, exclusive content, and memberships to the most dedicated members of their fandom. This model allows them to generate a stable, predictable income while offering exclusive content, behind-the-scenes access, and live Q&A sessions.
Influencers can create bespoke memberships or use platforms offering subscription and membership features like:
8. Events, workshops, and public appearances
Online creators can earn money by hosting events, workshops, live podcast recordings, and other public appearances. These range from intimate, in-person workshops and fan meetups to large-scale conferences. Events allow influencers to connect with their online followers on a more personal level.
Social media influencers can charge attendees for tickets, sell merchandise at event stands, and secure event sponsorships from brands that align with their target audience.
9. Direct payments from social platforms
Many social media channels offer built-in monetization programs that reward creators for producing engaging content. This provides an alternative revenue stream to brand deals and allows social media influencers to earn money from views and engagement. For instance, the TikTok Creator Fund pays eligible creators in select countries when they get high views and engagement. The more videos a creator posts and the higher their engagement, the more money they earn.
Creators can also earn on-platform donations and tips directly from their followers, giving fans a way to support their favorite creators and providing an additional source of income.
Social media sites with programs that offer payments, donations, or tips include:
10. Consulting
Many creators are experts in their own right and can earn an income by sharing their expertise. In practice, that might look like managing social media accounts for brands, supporting a brand with digital marketing and content creation, or providing photography and videography services.
A fashion influencer could offer personalized styling services, brand collaboration advice, and social media strategy consulting to established or up-and-coming clothing brands, charging a premium fee for their knowledge.
What factors impact influencers’ rates?
Influencer marketing is a thriving industry, with brands and businesses eager to partner with influential content creators. In 2024, the influencer marketing industry is projected to reach $24 billion.
Beatrice Dixon founded The Honey Pot, a plant-based feminine care company that offers a range of products for vaginal wellness. The brand’s influencer strategy focuses on finding content creators who authentically reflect The Honey Pot’s values and deliver educational, humorous, and relatable content to their audience. Rather than solely focusing on an influencer’s follower count, the team prioritizes working with creators who can produce high-quality content that resonates with their community.
“We focus on finding people who can reflect our values back at us whilst producing meaningfully creative content,” says VP of marketing Giovanna Alfieri during an episode of Shopify Masters. “It’s really hard for agencies to replicate our humor. But what we find is there’s like a large number of micro-influencers that can take that tone and voice very organically, because they’re just naturally funny or they don’t have to think twice about it.”
Whether it’s micro-influencers or macro-influencers, not all influencers command the same rates for their services. Here are different factors that play a role in an influencer’s rate:
- Follower count. Social media influencers with a larger following command a higher rate because they have the potential to reach a bigger audience. An influencer with a million followers might charge several thousand dollars per sponsored post, while a micro-influencer with 5,000 followers may charge a few hundred dollars.
- Engagement rate. An influencer’s engagement rate—their likes, comments, shares, and live viewers—is often more important than their follower count because their followers are more likely to trust their recommendations and take action, allowing them to command more money from brands.
- Niche. Social media influencing in niches like fashion, beauty, or technology relies in part on asking brands for higher rates because their followers are more likely to show an interest in products or services related to that niche, making them a valuable target audience for brands.
- Scope of project. The scope of a collaboration—including the type of content required (e.g., photo, video, blog post), the number of posts, and the duration of the campaign—all factor in an influencer’s rates. More extensive and complex projects generally generate higher fees than simple, one-off posts.
How do influencers make money FAQ
How exactly do influencers make money?
Influencers make money through sponsored content, affiliate marketing, brand collaborations, advertising revenue, merchandise sales, paid subscriptions, events, consulting services, and platform-specific earnings.
How many followers do you need to become a paid influencer?
To become a paid influencer, the number of followers required varies depending on the niche, platform, and engagement rate. Having at least 1,000 followers is a good starting point.
How much money do influencers make?
Influencers’ earnings can range from a few hundred dollars to millions per year, depending on factors like their follower count, engagement rate, niche, platform, and monetization strategies.
