Social networks: how much can you really earn by being an influencer?

Influencers can accept different types of compensation: through affiliation, sponsored content, product placement, or even by becoming a brand ambassador. — Photography STRINGER/AFP

Their names are Emma Chamberlain, Chiara Ferragni and Kim Kardashian. The most famous influencers have built up their businesses on social networks. This type of business can be very profitable, even for micro-influencers. But what kind of earnings can be expected at various levels? We got the lowdown.

It's become a business like any other. The influence economy is a big one. The industry of influence marketing is set to be worth US$16.4 billion (RM74.9bil) by the end of 2022. That's what a Kolsquare study revealed, which looked at the average rates for KOLs, the "Key Opinion Leaders", i.e., influencers, to produce content on the social networks Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, TikTok and Twitch.