Tellus id nisl blandit vitae quam magna nisl aliquet aliquam arcu ultricies commodo felisoler massa ipsum erat non sit amet.
In the digital age characterized by unprecedented opportunities for income generation and personal branding, becoming an influencer and making money is a dream for many. From Facebook, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube to Snapchat, making money as an influencer requires strategy, a unique connection with your audience, and authenticity. In this article, we will explore seven pro strategies on how to make money as a macro-influencer or micro-influencer.
Influencers come in different sizes like mega-influencers (over 1 million followers), macro-influencers (500,000-1 million followers), mid-tier influencers (50,000-500,000 followers), micro-influencers (10,000-100,000 followers), and nano-influencers (1,000-10,000 followers). According to Statista, influencer earnings from social media marketing have appreciated by over 30% since 2019 with 2024 earnings estimated to be a record $24 billion. The steps to becoming a social media influencer and earning money include:
There are seven strategies influencers can utilize to monetize your social media following.
The most common method on how to make money as an influencer is sponsored posts. Under this monetization strategy, influencers partner with brands to promote their services or products through their content. Influencers are paid to make single or several posts on their YouTube channels, Instagram stories, TikTok videos, Snapchat posts, or tweets.
Brands seek influencers with content aligning with their target market. Further, to land such deals, influencers must position themselves to be pitched by brands by creating authentic and engaging content. Making online on social media as an influencer through sponsored posts demands meeting the brand requirements through creativity, planning, and multiple revisions; therefore, time commitment is inevitable.
An example of an influencer making money online through sponsored posts is Mr. Beast. Mr. Beast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, has over 500 million social media followers. He boasts over 320 million subscribers on his YouTube channel and over 9 billion views a year. Most of Mr. Beast’s videos are sponsored by brands which saw him make over $85 million on YouTube in 2024. Mr. Beast uses his influence to land brand partnerships and sell digital products on his social media accounts.
Mr. Beast's Sponsored YouTube Video
How Influencers Make Money through Affiliate Marketing
The other secret on how to make money as an influencer is affiliate marketing. How does affiliate marketing work? The affiliate marketer (influencer in this case) pins the link to the sponsoring brand on their social media posts and when a follower clicks the link and completes a purchase, then earns a commission. Affiliate marketing is the easiest way to earn passive income.
For instance, Charlie Chang makes money through affiliate marketing as an influencer from his YouTube channel with over 1.25 million subscribers. His social media niche is real estate and personal finance.
Charlie Chang Using Affiliate Marketing to Make Money on His YouTube Channel
While influencers excel in promoting the products of other brands, some have mastered the art of branding and selling their merchandise. The best tip on how to make money as an influencer through this strategy is to create branded merchandise and then share it with your audience. This is an excellent marketing strategy for TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube influencers who want to make money using their popularity and power.
An example of an influencer making money online through branded merchandise is Mr. Beast. The branded merchandise is sold through Mr. Beast store but he advertises the products on all his social media platforms.
Mr. Beast Promoting His Branded Merchandise on His YouTube Channel
Other than sponsored posts, affiliate marketing, and selling branded merchandise, influencers also earn money through digital courses and workshops. Another outstanding tip on how to make money as an influencer from digital courses and workshops is creating content in one niche. For instance, beauty influencers that create beauty content can create courses on how to use different products then earn after the audience subscribes to watch or study them.
An example of an influencer earning money through digital courses and workshops is Miss Excel whose official name is Kat Norton. Miss Excel creates 15-second TikTok dances while showing Microsoft Excel hacks. She also launched her digital course, The Excelerator, where subscribers can access tutorials for as low as $297.
Miss Excel on TikTok
Other than creating original and unique posts, some influencers are experts in their respective niches. Writing and selling eBooks is another strategy on how to make money as an influencer. Such influencers leverage their loyal audience to sell eBooks through platforms such as Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.
For instance, Mark Rober, a former NASA engineer, who has over 61.1 million YouTube subscribers makes money by selling eBooks. Using his expertise as an engineer, Mark Rober wrote the book “Stories From Dark Web” which he sells to his social media audience through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.
Mark Rober's eBook on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
Another effective strategy on how to make money as an influencer is collaborating with brands to promote their services or products. Brands seek influencers with a well-defined niche and approach them to help develop a new product or service. In this case, the influencer earns a commission depending on the agreement between the two parties.
An example of an influencer earning money by collaborating with brands is Kayla Ryan who partnered with L'Oreal Paris to promote their new product named Magic Root Cover Up.
Kayla Ryan on TikTok
The final yet one of the most effective strategies on how to make money as an influencer is offering subscription-based models. Through this technique, influencers create exclusive content or offer unique products to their audience who pay a recurring fee. Examples include offering unique videos, music, articles, or access to your community through subscriptions.
An example of an influencer earning money through a subscription model is Hugwizzy who has over 211,000 YouTube subscribers. Those interested in subscribing to Hugwizzy’s community choose from 3-tiers and pay from $1.99 to $19.99 per month with each level offering unique videos and loyalty badges.
Hughwizzy's YouTube Channel
We have discussed how to become an influencer and how to make money as an influencer. However, finding brands to partner with is not easy.
The question in your mind right now must be how to I increase my engagement rates and optimize content marketing as an influencer? Well, let’s find out below.
It is important to discover the best tips on how to become a successful social media influencer and make money. Becoming successful will be an exciting endeavor; you share your passions, inspire your audience, and then make money. Here are the best strategies on how to become a successful influencer and make money today:
The most important strategy secret to becoming a successful influencer and earning money online is creating high-quality content. Creating authentic and unique content is what makes you successful since you are assured of a loyal audience and through that, brands will approach you due to your capabilities. High-quality content is informative, interesting, and relevant to the niche where it is posted.
If you are making videos, ensure they are edited to excellence and if you are posting content, ensure it is error-free and optimized to the target audience. Undoubtedly, no follower or subscriber wants poor-quality videos and photos on their feed.
A successful influencer understands that his/her audience demands high-quality content posted regularly for continuous engagement. To become successful and make money as an influencer, you have to be consistent with your social media engagement and posting schedule. Your audience should know when you post or go live on social media for optimal engagement.
Another hack to how to become a successful influencer and make money online is creating engaging content. Your audience should always be anxious about your next post or video. To do so, you must have a lot of information at your fingertips and make your content stand out from the rest. How do you create engaging content? To create engaging content, learn about the needs of your audience, be authentic, be creative, provide credible information, demonstrate thought leadership, and provide feedback to your audience.
Another strategy to become successful on social media and make money as an influencer is building a community. Strive to build relationships with your followers and build a family or a community with a shared purpose. With a strong community that engage with your content, brands will approach you to market their products and services.
Therefore, brands look for influencers with very strong influence over their audience to advertise their products and services. The influencers make money using social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. How do you make money on these platforms? Let’s explore together.
Most Downloaded Mobile Apps in 2024 (Statista, 2024)
According to Statista, as of 2024, TikTok remains the most downloaded app globally with over 825.5 million downloads followed by Instagram with approximately 817 million downloads. To make money as an influencer on TikTok, you must use a combination of revenue streams like fundraising drives, accepting tips, sponsorships, and products. To monetize your TikTok account, you have to join the Creator Rewards Program which focuses on 4 key metrics:
Just like Instagram and other social media platforms, the amount of money an influencer makes depends on their profile, specifically the niche, target audience, engagement rates, play duration, and search value. You can make anything from $20 a video up to hundreds of thousands.
Once a factory worker in Italy during the COVID-19 lockdown, Khaby Lame became king in social media by pointing out overcomplicated life hack videos. His style has no language barrier, and he boasts over 162.4 million followers.
Khaby Lame on TikTok
Charli D’Amelio is the queen of TikTok who dances her way to the bank. She began creating content in her Connecticut bedroom with dance moves and created an empire including a clothing line, reality TV shows, and brand partnerships. With over 155.7 million followers, Charli D’Amelio earns approximately $247,000 per video.
Charli D’Amelio on TikTok
As a commander of an army of 94.3 million TikTok followers, Bella Poarch initially served in the U.S. Navy. She created a unique niche by blending gaming culture, unexpected creativity, and perfect timing. She earns $151k per TikTok video.
Bella Poarch on TikTok
Instagram Logo
As noted above, Instagram has approximately 817 million downloads making it the second most downloaded mobile app after TikTok in 2024. Instagram allows influencers to make money through several revenue streams such as:
Just like TikTok, the amount of money influencers make on Instagram depends on the size of their audience and engagement rates. The average amount also depends on influencer activities like:
Here are some tips on how to make money as an influencer on Instagram:
Popularly known to some as the GOAT (greatest of all times) of football, Cristiano Ronaldo is also the king of Instagram. With over 645 million followers, Cristiano is one of the influencers making serious money on Instagram.
Cristiano Ronaldo on Instagram
After his strategic move to Inter Miami Football Club, Lionel Messi’s following skyrocketed making him one of the influencers earning millions on Instagram. With over 504 million followers, Messi earns $2.59 million per Instagram post.
Lionel Messi on Instagram
Selena Gomez is a star on Instagram. Other than being a musician, Selena Gomez makes money through mental health and beauty advocacy on Instagram. As a successful influencer on Instagram, Selena owns Rare Beauty and earns over $2.55 million per post.
Selena Gomez on Instagram
YouTube is another social media platform in which you can make money as an influencer. YouTube allows different content formats like shorts and short and long-form videos. According to Forbes, YouTube pays over $500 million to influencers annually through the YouTube Partner Program whose benefits include:
Here are some hacks you should always have about YouTube monetization:
Mr. Beast has really mastered how to make money as an influencer on YouTube. Mr. Beast has over 500 million social media followers. With over 320 million subscribers on his YouTube channel and over 9 billion views a year, he made over $85 million on YouTube in 2024. Mr. Beast uses his influence to land brand partnerships and sell digital products on his social media accounts.
Mr. Beast on YouTube
As a semi-professional boxer, Jake Paul creates content on music, his daily life with his family, and boxing training videos. Jake boasts 20.9 million followers and in 2024, he earned approximately $45 million.
Jake Paul on YouTube
With 37.1 million followers, Markiplier has also perfected how to make money as an influencer on YouTube. He creates gaming, sci-fi, tech, and humor videos. His convivial content tone makes him maintain a loyal audience which earned him over $38 million in 2024.
Markiplier on YouTube
We have reviewed top tips on how to make money as an influencer on social media platforms. To become a successful influencer and earn good money, choose a niche, create and post high-quality content, engage your audience, and seek opportunities like affiliate marketing, selling branded merchandise, and selling subscriptions for courses and workshops even before brands approach you. With these strategies and dedication, you will evolve into a full-time influencer making millions of dollars on social media. However, it is important to remember that becoming a successful influencer takes a lot of time and dedication.
The amount of money influencers make per post is dependent on factors such as engagement rate, the social media platform, audience size, and audience location. Some earn $20 per post while others make over $2 million per post.
As an influencer, you should create original, engaging, and authentic content for your subscribers and followers. Remember to show professionalism and consistency in posting content.
Advantages of influencer marketing include increased brand awareness, increased social media followers, increased sales, some influencers accept lower advertising costs, and getting feedback on your product from followers.
.jpg)
