MONETISING INSTAGRAM POSTS IS BIG BUSINESS – INSTAGRAM RICH LIST
Instagram’s massive popularity and accelerated growth alone make it a big earner as it gradually becomes one of Facebooks largest ad revenue streams. But it isn’t just Instagram and ultimately parent company Facebook who are making big bucks from the platform. Celebrities and top digital influencers are pulling in some serious cash from the photography based social media giant.
Research released by HopperHQ, an online Instagram scheduling tool, revealed some of the biggest earners per post. For those not in the know, It is common practise for high fan base and strong influencer Instagram accounts to receive sponsorship payments to endorse products via their accounts to their audience. The research suggests that top audience capturing celebrities including Selena Gomez and Kim Kardashian are making upwards of $500,000 per sponsored post. A ludicrous amount of cash for essentially a piece of photographed product placement with a corresponding brand @handle.
Top 10 Celebrity Instagram Earners 2017:
- Selena Gomez – 122 million followers – $550,000 (£424,000) per post
- Kim Kardashian – 100 million followers – $500,000 (£385,000) per post
- Cristiano Ronaldo – 104 million followers – $400,000 (£308,000) per post
- Kylie Jenner – 95 million followers – $400,000 ((£308,000) per post
- Kendall Jenner – 81.7 million followers – $370,000 (£285,000) per post
- Khloe Kardashian – 68 million followers – $250,000 (£192,600) per post
- Kourtney Kardashian – 57.8 million followers – $250,000 (£192,600) per post
- Cara Delevingne – 40.4 million followers – $150,000 (£115,500) per post
- Gigi Hadid 34.7 million followers – $120,000 (£92,457) per post
- Lebron James – 30.7 million followers – $120,000 (£92,457) per post
Top 10 Influencer Instagram Earners 2017:
- Huda Kattan – 20.5 million followers – $18,000 (£13,800) per post
- Cameron Dallas – 19.8 million followers – $17,000 (£13,000) per post
- Jen Selter – 11.3 million followers – $15,000 (£11,500) per post
- Zoella – 11.1 million followers – $14,000 (£10,800) per post
- Nash Grier – 10.2 million followers – $13,000 (£10,000) per post
- Chiara Ferragni – 9.7 million followers – $12,000 (£9,200) per post
- Julie Sarinara – 4.6 million followers – $10,000 (£7, 700) per post
- Aimee Song – 4.6 million followers – $9,000 (£6,900) per post
- Danielle Bernstein – 1.7 million followers – $7,000 (£5,400) per post
- Liz Eswein – 1.3 million followers – $6,000 (£4,600) per post
What is most worrying about this trend isn’t just the insane amount of cash involved but the fact that less than 20% of third party sponsored posts are made clear to the user as an advertisement. The remaining 80% are being passed off as genuine posts and essentially organic true to life endorsements by the individual. Many millennials who make up the vast majority of Instagram’s 700million users choose to follow celebrities and industry influencers for a raw insight in to their real lives, habits and personality. Therefore, they are very impressionable and vulnerable when it comes to unannounced product placement the likes of what we’re seeing increase in popularity.
Facebook have commented that they themselves do not condone 3rd party sponsorship without what appear to be organic posts but that there is in actuality very little that can be done to police the trend accurately.
“Understanding where sponsorships or endorsement deals do or don’t exist is a complex challenge for the industry – online and off – and we are exploring what works best for our community. We encourage everyone in the Instagram community to follow local industry guidelines around transparency with any sponsored content,” – Instagram statement.
With the platform and its engagement only increasing, it’s unlikely we’re going to see a change in this trend anytime soon. For many brands, this type of celebrity endorsement is and will continue to be the backbone of their awareness campaigns and ultimate success.
