HypeAuditor, the AI analytics platform for brands seeking fair, transparent, and effective influencer marketing, has released the global results of its first Influencer Income Survey.
The survey provides insights into how both micro and mega influencers earn money, the varying degrees of income, and the impact of fraudulent activity.
HypeAuditor Influencer Income Survey results
The HypeAuditor survey showed that close to half of the Instagram influencers surveyed reported that they earn money from their Instagram accounts (49%).
47% of respondents reported an increase in income after the onset of the COVID pandemic.
On average, influencers earn $2,970 per month from their Instagram account.
Micro influencers with 1K-10K followers averaged $1,420 monthly while mega influencers with over 1M followers averaged $15,536 monthly from their Instagram account.
4% of responders live off income from an account and 26% hope to do so in the future.
Brand promotion, regardless of influencer reach, is responsible for the majority of influencer income (40%) with most working with brands for barter and money (56%).
Fraud continues to be prevalent with 47% reporting being impacted by fraudulent activity and 50% experiencing an increase in fraudulent activity since the onset of the pandemic.
“We estimate that over 50 million people globally consider themselves creators, despite the creator economy only being born a decade ago,” said Alex Frolov, CEO of HypeAuditor.
“Our main goal with this survey is to provide a deeper understanding of the creator ecosystem as it is quickly becoming one the fastest-growing types of small business worldwide.”
Additional key findings of the HypeAuditor survey
Earnings per hour
Mega-influencers earn $187 per hour compared to the average influencer at $31 per hour.
The average beauty influencers earn the most, averaging $60 per hour. Mega-influencers earn from $187 per hour (in relation to the time spent on maintaining the account).
Brand promotion
Brand promotion accounts for most influencer income (40%). Influencers are building personal brands and attracting customers to their businesses through Instagram (22%).
They are also participating in affiliate programs (15%) and selling courses (4%). Subscription services were noted as an additional source of income by 8% of influencers.
Influencer’s livelihoods
Only 4% of respondents live on income from an Instagram account but 26% hope to in the future. On average, these influencers receive $5,912 from their account per month.
Most work with brands for barter and money (56%).
21% work with brands through barter and 23% for money. The majority disclose advertising arrangements (61%) but 12% of respondents admitted to not disclosing sponsorships.
Work routine
Influencers spend approximately 24 hours a week on maintaining an account. Most of the time is devoted to posts, stories and communication with followers.
The least amount of time is spent on team management, marketing strategy and communication with partners.
Influencers who earn money from their account spend 28.7 hours per week on average, while those who do not earn any money through their account spend 20.9 hours on average.
HypeAuditor’s study was conducted online in June 2021 with 1,865 people, self-identified as influencers with Instagram accounts and over 1K followers verified by HypeAuditor.
46% were women and 33% were men. Responses from influencers in the 25-34 age category made up 28% of the results followed by the 18-24 age category with 23%.
Influencers with 1K to 10K followers made up 50% of the results and influencers with 10K to 50K followers made up 32% of the results. Lifestyle influencers were the most popular surveyed coming in at 24%, followed by fashion with 12%.
HypeAuditor provides a comprehensive set of tools for brands to discover and analyse influencers on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, verify their authenticity, and track the results.
