How Much Do Influencers Earn?

Move over, astronaut. These days, being an influencer is high on the list of many people's dream jobs - and for good reason. Influencers can work on their own terms, often from the comfort of their own homes, and there's a potential to make big bucks.

Since TikTok is such a creator-led platform and it's more effective to focus on only one social media site, pinpoint your strategy efforts

If you're considering becoming an influencer, it takes more commitment than you might think, but it's definitely doable with plenty of creative content ideas. Here's how much you could earn as a full-time content creator on TikTok.

Before we get into how much you can make, we first need to understand exactly how influencers make money in the first place. There are three main ways.

Brand deals. Influencers with at least 10,000 followers are often asked by brands and businesses to collaborate on campaigns. Influencers either make paid adverts or are sent free PR packages and asked to give their opinion, a review, or a tutorial. While you do have to build a following before you'll be able to bag brand deals, once you work with brands, it can be a pretty lucrative way to build a career.

Creator Fund. One of the easiest and more effective ways to get rich from TikTok is to gain enough followers (10,000) to join the Creator Fund, which automatically pays out to creators for receiving views on their videos. Apart from the content making itself, you don't have to do anything extra to earn money on the Creator Fund once you've joined, so it requires less time and effort than brand deals although it can be less lucrative. If you're only a small creator, it's unlikely you'd be able to earn your entire income from the Creator Fund, but it's a great way to earn alongside other methods.

TikTok Shop. With TikTok shop, you can create a shop on your profile, meaning users won't even have to leave the app to purchase items from you. You can then use your content to advertise those items and encourage others to buy from your TikTok shop.

External Sales. If you run a business outside of being a content creator, you can use that content to market your products and services. It's not a way to made money full-time as an influencer, but it's a good way to double up your influence as a way to market your business.

There's no one-size-fits-all response to the question of how much influencers make, but a study found that influencers earn an average of about $35,000 per year. This might not sound like a lot, but don't forget that many content creators influence alongside their day-to-day role. With that context, $35,000 on top of a full-time wage is an incredible income boost.

Bigger influencers will naturally make more money, with some of TikTok's biggest names pulling in millions of dollars per year. For example, influencers with over one million followers tend to make at least $182,000 per year, all from making content.

The sky is the limit when it comes to how much you can earn from influencing - the bigger you get, the more money brands will be prepared to pay you and the more you'll make from the Creator Fund thanks to an increase in views. While influencer income varies hugely, here are some of the main factors that impact how much you'll earn.

How many followers you have is the number one indicator of how much you'll make from influencing. Brands tend to pay you per post in direct correlation with how many followers you have. Plus, having more followers naturally means you'll enjoy more engagement, boosting how much you take home from the Creator Fund.

The type of content you make matters. You can have plenty of followers and engagement, but if your content is controversial, you're less likely to bag brand deals. Likewise, if you're willing to be directly involved in ads and make creative content around paid brand deals, businesses will be drawn to working with you.

As well as followers, brands look at other metrics before deciding whether or not to work with you. Ensure that as well as a high follower count, your content enjoys plenty of likes, views, and positive comments.

While many content creators still have regular 9-5s alongside their content creator, with the right strategy you can in fact quit your day job and make influencing your full-time career, but it doesn't happen overnight. Becoming a full-time creator involves posting regularly and consistently as well as making a wide range of content while sticking within your niche.

If you've just started on your content creation journey and you're not enjoying as much engagement as you would have hoped for, don't give up! It can take months of even years for people to earn enough from influencing to do it full-time, so don't despair if you don't have overnight success.

Even just one viral video can help cement your status as a bone fide influencer, so make the most of trends to help boost your content to appear on people's FYP. Once you've made it, you can enjoy the perks of this sought-after career, such as being your own boss and getting to do what you love full-time.