Influencers earn money in a variety of ways, from sponsorships to selling products.
The amount creators receive on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube depends on a variety of factors, from content categories to which platforms an influencer stands out on.
For many influencers, the best way to get paid is through deals with brands.
Check out how Lenage is building his business and making money on TikTok
In addition to deals with brands, influencers can also receive compensation directly from the platform. YouTube has the most developed program for this called the Partner Program. Eight YouTubers who produce long-form videos shared how much YouTube paid them for every 1,000 views, and their responses ranged from $1.61 to $29.30.
TikTok pays influencers directly through its Creator Fund and Creativity Program, and its ad revenue sharing program, Pulse.
Influencers said the program often leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to rewards. Six influencers shared how much TikTok pays them in a day through its Creator Fund. The range was $0.05 to $189.
TikTok's Pulse program was recently launched and is similar to YouTube's partner program. Influencers say TikTok paid them anywhere from a penny to $17 per 1,000 views.
Read more about how much TikTok pays per 1,000 views, according to 8 creators
The company is currently testing a new fund called the Creativity Program, which will pay creators “higher average gross revenue” based on the number of views they get for videos longer than one minute. Influencers can only participate in either the Creator Fund or the Creativity Program, but not both, a spokesperson told Insider.
Insider spoke with dozens of other influencers on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok about how much they each make from videos, sponsorships, and other revenue sources.
Here's a breakdown of our coverage:
To earn directly from TikTok's Creator Fund or Creativity Program, users must be 18 years of age or older, meet the 10,000 follower count criteria, and have at least 100,000 video views in the past 30 days. must be. To join TikTok Pulse, creators must have at least 100,000 followers.
Learn more about how much TikTok creators make from Creator Fund.
Many influencers rely on sponsored content to earn money, from a series of Instagram posts and Stories to dedicated YouTube videos promoting a company.
Pricing for this type of brand deal varies based on the influencer's engagement rate, platform, usage rights, and other factors.
Here's our breakdown of how much influencers make from brand deals and sponsorships.
Many sponsorship opportunities come from brands emailing influencers or their management companies directly.
YouTube creators promote their brands in a variety of ways, from entire videos dedicated to talking about their company or product to 30-second mentions. According to some influencers, mention length can affect how much a creator is charged.
Here's how much 4 YouTubers earned from brand deals.
Since 2020, Instagram has launched more than 10 revenue tools for creators. Aside from receiving compensation directly from the platform, one of the main ways many influencers make money on Instagram is by promoting their brands through sponsored in-feed posts, Stories, and Reels. .
Here's how much money 21 Instagram influencers made from brand deals.
- Alexa Collins, lifestyle influencer with 1.2 million followers
- JaLisa Vaughn-Jefferson, lifestyle influencer with 291,000 followers
- Macy Mariano, travel and fashion influencer with 102,000 followers
- Jehava Brown, travel and lifestyle influencer with 70,000 followers
- Nick Cutsumpas, plant influencer with 63,700 followers
- Emma Cortez, full-time lifestyle and fashion micro-influencer with 47,000 followers
- Ashley Jones, fashion and lifestyle influencer with 45,000 followers
- Kirsty Yip, food influencer with 42,000 followers on Instagram
- Tomi Obebe, lifestyle blogger and influencer with 40,000 followers
- Emma Cortez, lifestyle influencer and podcast host with 38,000 followers
- Aisha Beau Frisbee, a full-time lifestyle creator with 34,000 followers on Instagram
- Britney Turner, lifestyle influencer with 27,000 followers
- Caitlin Patton, lifestyle influencer with 22,000 followers
- Mary Margaret Boudreau, fashion influencer with 20,000 followers
- Lillian Chan, micro-influencer with 20,000 followers
- Gigi Kovach, part-time lifestyle blogger with 13,500 followers
- Tyler Chanel, sustainability influencer with 12,000 followers
- Jalin Biden, nano-influencer on Instagram and TikTok with less than 10,000 followers
- Khadijah Lacey Taylor, fashion and lifestyle influencer with 9,800 followers
- Laura DeMartino, a nano-influencer with 5,200 followers on Instagram
- Amber Broder, part-time skincare influencer with 2,300 followers
While many brands are increasing their spending on TikTok, it's been difficult for some influencers to build a stable business from the platform.
The app's short video format has taken social media by storm, but some creators say they've struggled to build lasting bonds with fans and grow their business. Still, brand deals have provided a lucrative income stream for many TikTok creators.
Here's how much 20 TikTokers made from brand deals.
- Alex Ojeda, water park influencer with 8 million followers
- The McFarlands, a family-friendly TikTok account with 2.6 million followers
- Dana Hasson, fashion influencer with 2.3 million followers
- Tiffany Chen, food influencer with 2.3 million followers
- Nate White, fashion designer with 1.8 million followers
- Young Yuh, skincare influencer with 1.6 million followers
- Harry Raftus, Canadian creator with 1.2 million followers
- Vi Luong, a how-to video creator with 1.1 million followers
- Deanna Giulietti, content creator with over 1 million TikTok followers
- The HoneyHouse is a creator collaboration group with 1 million followers
- Matt Upham, Software Engineer with 522,000 followers
- Naomi Melanie Lineage, TikTok influencer with 506,000 followers
- Tejas Hullur, content creator and entrepreneur with 500,000 followers
- Carolina Freixa, part-time creator with 447,000 followers
- Rahan Alemi, model and student with 385,000 followers
- Symphony Clarke, a frugal creator with 208,000 followers
- Natasha Greene, lifestyle and food influencer with 204,000 followers
- Erin Confortini, personal finance influencer with 180,000 followers
- Manasi Arya, Gen Z artist with 40,100 followers
- Pooja Tripathi, actress, author and comedian with 33,500 followers
One of the most popular ways to make money as a TikToker is by promoting songs with videos. Music marketers and record labels regularly pay TikTok users to post on the app to help spread the word about new songs.
Learn more about how TikTok creators make money from promoting their songs.
Some influencers use platforms like LiketoKnow.it and Collective Voice (formerly ShopStyle) to generate affiliate links and brand-provided discount codes to earn a percentage of sales. (Learn more about the top 9 affiliate platforms for influencers.)
Learn more about how much influencers make from affiliate marketing below.
In 2020, Instagram announced “Badges” that allow fans to tip creators who live stream on the app. Two years later, Instagram added “Gifts” to her Instagram Reels. This allows fans to send “gifts” to influencers via her Instagram app using her own internal currency called Stars.
Instagram also rolled out a paid content feature called “Subscriptions.” Subscriptions allow creators to share gated content, from exclusive stories to livestreams, in a similar way to Patreon and OnlyFans.
Mehta, which owns Instagram, is not scheduled to receive a cut from these deals until 2024.
read more:
Many YouTube creators make money from ads that play within their videos and receive monthly payments.
Creators participating in the Partner Program can monetize their videos with ads placed by Google.
To apply for the Partner Program and receive payments, creators must have at least 1,000 YouTube subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the past year. Google will then pay the creator his 55% of the revenue earned from the ads served by the channel.
Nowadays, creators can also earn money from short videos on YouTube. Creators whose short videos have reached 10 million views in 90 days and their 1,000 subscribers can apply to join the Partner Program.
Here's a breakdown of how much YouTubers make in a month with the partner program.
- Nuseir Yassin, founder and creator of Nas Daily, 9 million subscribers
- Ali Abdal, British YouTuber with 3.6 million subscribers
- Tiffany Ma, lifestyle creator with 1.8 million subscribers
- Andrei Zik is a personal finance creator with 1.7 million subscribers.
- Nate O'Brien, personal finance creator with 1 million subscribers
- Manny Ortiz, full-time photography YouTuber with 600,000 subscribers
- Kelly Stamps, minimalist lifestyle creator with 600,000 subscribers
- Charlie Chan, personal finance creator with 350,000 subscribers
- Joshua Mayo, personal finance influencer with 269,000 subscribers
- Charlie Prangley, web and graphic design creator with 200,000 subscribers
- Erin Winters, business creator with 200,000 subscribers
- ASMR creator “Semi Decoco” with 150,000 registered users
- Levi Hildebrand, Zero Waste Creator with 125,000 subscribers
- Sarah Lavender, ASMR YouTuber with over 100,000 subscribers
- Chloe Tan, College Life Creator with 80,000 subscribers
- Marissa Lida, Personal Finance Creator with 50,000 subscribers
- Macy Schmidt, lifestyle influencer with 50,000 subscribers
- Nay Cook-Nelson, YouTube Shorts Creator, 40,000 subscribers
- Erica Boucher, creator of the DIY candle making channel with 31,000 subscribers
- Aisha Beau Frisbey, full-time lifestyle creator with 30,000 YouTube subscribers
- Reni Odetoyinbo, personal finance influencer with 19,300 subscribers
- Jake Tealke, full-time YouTuber with 18,000 subscribers
- Megan Pruitt, college influencer with 6,800 subscribers
- Jen Lauren, part-time lifestyle influencer, 5,200
The core metric for creator monetization on YouTube is called revenue per mil (RPM). This rate shows how much money a creator makes for every 1,000 video views (after YouTube's 45% cut). No creator consistently earns the same fee. This depends on factors such as the audience your video attracts and advertisers.
Below is a breakdown of how much some YouTubers make at 1,000 views (RPM), 100,000 views, 1 million views, and the maximum amount earned from a single video.