How making money as an influencer has changed in a decade

Influencers are cashing in on diverse income streams like never before.

The influencer business has exploded over the past decade and is now worth $250 billion, according to Forbes.

Ten years ago, one estimate from the influencer marketing agency Billion Dollar Boy placed the industry’s value at just $200 million.

Making money as an influencer has changed a lot since then, both in terms of how much individual creators can make and how.

“It’s gone from creators unlocking ad revenue on platforms like YouTube to a multi-channel industry where brands and influencers collaborate across social media,” said Nirozen Thav, cofounder and CEO of the content licensing company Humant Life.

According to an Izea report in 2014, the average cost of a sponsored post on Instagram increased significantly between 2014 and 2019, from $134.04 to $1,642.77.

During the same period, the price of the average sponsored YouTube video increased from $420 to $6,700.

On Instagram now, creators can earn hundreds of thousands or even millions annually from partnerships.

On YouTube, creators can earn between $1.61 and $29.30 per 1,000 views, B-17 reported, so it remains a lucrative platform for turning views into cash.

Those with over a million subscribers can easily make six figures, and YouTubers with more than that can sometimes earn millions.

Multiple income streams

What’s largely changed in 10 years is how creators can maximize their income, both on and off social media.

Liam Parkinson, the cofounder of Inflverse, a financial management platform for creator agencies, made a name for himself as a content creator on YouTube.

He amassed 750,000 subscribers in 2013 and has seen firsthand how the industry has moved from having a sole reliance on advertising revenue to brand sponsorships and deals.

Today, Parkinson said the “savviest creators” are “leveraging multiple income streams,” including brand partnerships, merch and products, paywalled content with subscriptions, and equity deals, among other things.

Katya Varbanova, an influencer turned CEO of Viral Marketing Stars, told B-17 she started making content in 2015, primarily on former streaming platforms such as Periscope and Busker. The latter sponsored Varbanova’s trip to a Snapchat conference in 2016, paying her $1,000.

Back then, content creators were also happier to receive PR boxes of products as payment for promotion, Varbanova said. Now, they prefer to get paid for their labor.

Varbanova was recently offered $5,000 for one 30-second TikTok video, which the brand could license for three months.

“Brands have become a lot more willing to pay influencers,” she said.

Jacob Lucas, who shares relationship advice on TikTok and Instagram, started making content around five years ago and decided to become a creator full time about a year in.

Lucas told B-17 that views have never made his career lucrative. Rather, he makes money from brand deals, where he charges around £8,000 ($10,379) per video, with wiggle room depending on how much he likes the company or product.

Engagement and authenticity over follower count

Savannah Britt, a PR specialist and the CEO at The Brittprint Agency, told B-17 that follower count used to determine whether an influencer could partner with a company.

But now, some of her clients have been struggling to secure brand deals — even one with over 10 million followers — because of a push toward engagement.

“Brands are seeking creators who are trending right now,” Britt said. “Your pay and window for opportunity are quantified by how hot you are in the present moment.”

Reesa Teesa is a great example, she said, because she essentially blew up overnight and doubled her income when she posted a 50-part post about her toxic ex-husband.

“She seized a moment that optimized a lifetime of opportunity,” Britt said.

There’s also a push for authenticity in creator marketing, with audiences getting tired of relentless ads.

Dominic Smales, the founder and former CEO of the world’s first digital talent management agency Gleam Futures, who has just cofounded the new creator marketing venture GloMotion Studios, told B-17 people turned to the internet in the 2010s because they were bored of legacy media.

“They wanted to be entertained by people that they related to and were new and fresh and unfiltered and all of those kind of things,” he said. “Brands are making it boring again for these audiences.”

Sorting the issues

While the potential for earnings is still high, content creators have long been plagued by being taken advantage of in a rapidly evolving economy and burning out from high demand. Some companies are hoping to change that.

Parkinson hopes to solve how long it takes for creators and their management agencies to get paid with Inflverse.

Brands can take up to three months to pay out. Sometimes, they don’t pay out at all, and the creator can’t do much about it.

“Imagine working a normal 9-5 and your boss telling you that you aren’t getting paid for 90 days, and even at that point, it isn’t guaranteed,” Parkinson said.

According to Varbanova, the content creators who will make the most of the evolving industry are those who take advantage of all the services available to them — especially as some marketers are moving back toward working with mainstream celebrities.

She said they would also be wise to become part or full owners of their own brands and companies, like MrBeast with Feastables, Logan Paul and KSI with Prime, and Charli D’Amelio with D’Amelio Footwear.

That way, creators are “monetizing their influence rather than just relying on brand deals,” Varbanova said.

“That is the future,” she said. “That was always the future of influencing — build a loyal audience and then launch brands and products you designed with that audience in mind.”