Social Media Stars: How Much Do They Really Make? – Business.com

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Brands are spending more on sponsored content from social media influencers ― but how much do these stars make?
Multiple outlets have reported that nearly one in four people on social media consider themselves to be an influencer or content creator. 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. 
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,” Jennifer Glen, an influencer marketing expert and United States general manager of influencer marketing platform Squad.App, told us. “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 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:
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,” said Jules Brim, social media and marketing expert at Marketing Mixology.
As brands turn to more social media marketing avenues, they’re finding that influential content creators receive an excellent return on investment (ROI).
“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.”
Influencer and marketing platform impact.com conducted a study with Adweek to identify current industry trends among social media influencers. The report broke down earnings for each influencer tier based on various popular platforms.
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+
Earnings Estimation Formula: (Number of Followers ÷ 1,000) × (Engagement Rate) × ($20 to $100, depending on niche & quality)
Of course, the numbers cited above are averages. Various factors can affect an influencer’s earnings, including follower count, promotion type and audience engagement:
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.  
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. 
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.
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. 
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.”
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.”
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 Glen. “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 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.
Influencer earnings and strategies vary widely depending on the niche and the platform. For example, fashion and beauty influencers thrive on Instagram and TikTok, where visually striking content and short-form videos drive high engagement and brand collaborations. In contrast, gaming influencers dominate platforms like Twitch and YouTube, monetizing through live streams, ads, subscriptions and donations. Even within the same platform, the type of content matters: a TikTok fitness influencer may leverage workout challenges, while a tech influencer posts in-depth product reviews.
Certain niches command higher rates due to audience purchasing power or brand demand. Luxury, tech and finance influencers often earn more per sponsored post than lifestyle or hobby-focused influencers because of the high-value products and services they promote. Meanwhile, micro- and nano-influencers across any niche can be highly effective for brands seeking targeted audiences and authentic engagement, often delivering strong ROI despite smaller followings.
Platform-specific trends also shape influencer strategies. Instagram excels for curated, visually appealing posts; TikTok rewards viral, short-form content; YouTube offers monetization through ads and long-form videos; and X (formerly Twitter) works best for thought leadership and trend commentary. Understanding these niche and platform differences helps brands and influencers maximize reach, engagement and revenue potential.
Based on the latest industry data reported in Influencer Marketing Hub’s 2025 benchmark report, the influencer marketing sector continues its remarkable expansion trajectory. The global influencer marketing market reached an estimated $32.55 billion in 2025, representing a substantial 35.63 percent growth from the $24 billion recorded in 2024. This exponential growth demonstrates the industry’s sustained momentum, with a remarkable Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 33.11 percent showcasing the sector’s rapid expansion over the past decade. The market’s evolution from just $1.4 billion in 2014 to over $32 billion in 2025 illustrates how influencer marketing has transformed from an experimental tactic to an essential component of modern digital marketing strategies.
Platform preferences and spending patterns reveal significant shifts in how brands allocate their influencer marketing budgets. Instagram remains the most popular platform for influencer marketing, with 57 percent of brands deeming it their preferred social media platform for influencer campaigns, while TikTok follows as a close second, preferred by 52 percent of brands. 
In the United States specifically, influencer marketing spending surpassed $10 billion in 2025, one year earlier than previously predicted, with brands fully committing to influencer marketing as spending rose by 23.7 percent in 2024. Meanwhile, creator tier preferences are shifting dramatically in 2025; high annual spending budgets ($500K+) have decreased by 3.5 percent, emphasizing cost efficiency and reflecting a growing reliance on micro- and nano-influencers.
Some source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.
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