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,” providing insights into how influencers earn money, the varying degrees of income, and the impact of fraudulent activity. 

The survey showed that close to half of the Instagram influencers surveyed reported that they earn money from their Instagram accounts (49%). Slightly under half also reported an increase in income after the onset of the COVID pandemic (47%). On average, influencers earn $2,970 per month from their Instagram account, with micro-influencers (1K-10K followers) averaging $1,420 per month and mega-influencers (over 1M followers) averaging $15,536 per month.

Only 4% of participants questioned live on income from an account, but 26% of respondents hope to in the future. Brand promotion accounts for the majority of influencer income (40%) with most working with brands for barter and money (56%). Additionally, results showed that fraud continues to be prevalent with almost half of influencers (47%) reported 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 around the world 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 survey include:

• Mega-influencers earn $187 per hour compared to the average influencer at $31 per hour. The average influencer surveyed makes $31 an hour, with beauty influencers earning 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 accounts for most influencer income (40%). Close to a quarter of influencers are building a personal brand and attracting customers to their businesses through Instagram (22%), participating in affiliate programs (15%), and selling courses (4%). Subscription services were noted as an additional source of income by 8% of influencers.

• 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% of influencers work with brands through barter and 23% for money. The majority disclose advertising arrangements (61%) but 12% of respondents admitted to not disclosing sponsorships. 

• 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 as an online survey in June 2021 and analysed responses from 1,865 people who self-identified as influencers and have Instagram accounts with over 1K followers (verified by HypeAuditor).

Among those surveyed, 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 of influencer marketing campaigns. 

About HypeAuditor:

Founded in 2018, HypeAuditor is a leader in AI-powered analytics for transparent and fraud-free influencer marketing. Its platform includes Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube analytics, as well as a suite of discovery tools and reporting features that integrate an advanced AI-based, fraud-detection system that safeguards authenticity in influencer marketing. HypeAuditor applies artificial intelligence and machine learning to determine behavioral patterns, identifying fake followers, and ascertaining engagement on influencer accounts and sponsored posts. The HypeAuditor platform has more than 500,000 users, and key customers include Dior, GroupM, Influence4You, L’Oréal, Ogilvy, TAKUMI, Traackr, and Unilever. To learn more, visit HypeAuditor.com