Instagram, Facebook, YouTube are abuzz with social media influencers. These influencers have an ever-widening reach, with events, brand deals, TV shows and magazine covers their playing fields. Where canny social influencers go, big bucks follow. As per the Influencer Marketing Report, the Indian influencer industry is predicted to be valued at Rs 2,200 crore by 2025 and grow at a 25 percent CAGR, underscoring the fact that the influencer business is getting serious.
But the layperson may still wonder if social influencer can be a lucrative career option because after all, it’s just a hobby. Well, clearly, it’s not so. For those who master the art of influencing, incomes can go well beyond hard-earned corporate jobs.
When the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a 20 percent decline across advertising in India, social media influencers enjoyed a 46 percent increase in their advertising-based revenue, as per a survey published by iCubesWire in March this year.
Money, money, money
“I did it out of pure passion without knowing where it would lead me and if this could even become any reliable source of income at some point. I tried creating content in the cheapest way possible and with any resource I had on hand, like shooting on my phone and using basic editing skills I learned via YouTube without hiring anybody,” said Anisha Dixit who started her journey as an influencer in 2013 and now has over three million subscribers on YouTube.
Dixit added that initially, the finances start flowing when platforms like YouTube or Facebook pays you based on the number of views that your content generates — but that’s not exactly a reliable income source. Here is where the major source for influencers to earn money — brand collaborations — come into the picture.
“Brand collaborations can include barter deals, which include product placements, shoutouts, ambassador programmes, ads, meet & greets, and sponsorships,” explained Aashutosh Katre, Director at content marketing company Yellow Seed.
Like any other job, being a social media influencer also requires passion, strategy and dedication to make the most out of it. Aanchal Agrawal, who started her journey in 2020, now has over 300,000 followers on Instagram. She believes, as an influencer brand, integrations form an integral part of the finances.
“You can make content that you think a brand can easily pick up which is also well-liked by your audience. When I started creating content, I started a series called ‘Dating app etiquettes,’ which I thought would work well if a dating app would want to collaborate with me and that is exactly what happened,” advised Agrawal.
After this, once an influencer gets a loyal fan base, according to Arushi Gupta, Business Head at Influencer.in, another popular way for influencers to earn money is by hosting paid courses, fan membership, licensing of the content they produce, becoming a consultant and offering career courses or setting up one’s own brand.
How much do influencers earn?
On the basis of follower counts, marketing agencies worldwide have divided influencers into nano (1000-10,000 followers), micro (10,000-100,000), macro (100,000-1 million) and mega (over one million).
Micro-influencers in the 5,000-20,000 group accounted for 54.3 percent of Instagram users across India in 2020, according to a report by hypeauditor.com. On Instagram, influencers with over one million followers, also called mega influencers, had only 0.41 percent share.
As per marketing experts an influencer based on the category they cater to, the niche and the deliverables can earn from Rs 15,000-5 lakh from one brand deal.
