Increased usage of social-media led to birth of thousands of influencers who chose content-creation as a profession rather than a side-hustle, as it pays in hefty. A recent report says that social-media influencers in India earn ₹20,000 to ₹2,00,000 monthly on average and 12% of influencers in India earn ₹1 lakh to ₹10 lakhs per month.
People’s usage of smartphones has considerably increased in recent years. Indians spend 4 hours 5 mins per day on average on smartphones. In this, 50% of time goes to social media apps. Marketers and brands see this as a great opportunity to connect with the social-media influencers to pitch in their products via those influencers.
As a result, Influencer-marketing is expected to witness an unrealistic growth of 44% in two years. Currently to be at ₹2,344 crores, the influencer-marketing will reach ₹3,375 Crores in India by 2026, says EY report.
Consequently, 3 out of 4 brand strategies are expected to include influencer marketing due to its potential. As brands need engagement rate and the quality of the target audience, they tend to recline towards influencers, who are known for their engagement with followers.
Influencers in India
India is now a place to 2.5 million+ influencers with a substantial majority on Instagram, followed by YouTube. Instagram and YouTube were the top platforms which influencers engage in primely. On basis of the followers count, influencers are classified into four – nano, micro, macro and mega influencers. Each type of influencer has their own unique advantage, and engagement rate, which made them worthwhile though they have few hundreds to thousands of followers.
Nano influencers are those with less followers count from 1K to 10K followers. They have the highest engagement rate of any influencer type at 3-4% and they offer authentic recommendations and build close relationships with followers. Nano influencers earn from ₹500 to ₹5000 per content in Instagram.
Influencers with 10K to 100K followers come under micro influencers. They maintain reliability and high engagement, often specializing in their own specific niches. This specialization allows for tailored sponsorships, making it easier for brands to connect with their dedicated audience. With engagement rate at 2.5%, micro influencers earn somewhere between ₹3K to ₹1 Lakh per content, based on their engagement rate, followers count, collaboration type and niche they are involved in.
Macro influencers boasts 100K to 1 million followers and are prominent figures in social media, including bloggers, vloggers and podcasters. Despite lower engagement rates than nano and micro, they excel at creating brand awareness and capturing consumer attention. Brands can leverage their popularity to expand their reach and enhance their market reputation. Macro influencers earn hefty, from ₹50K to ₹5 Lakhs per content on Instagram. Again, this depends on the followers count, collaboration type, engagement rate and niche.
Mega influencers comprise of celebrities and public figures who have immense influence over their audience. With followers count above 1 million, mega influencers partners with big brands and top companies for the social media marketing. Virat Kohli collaborating with Puma is one such example. Mega influencers earn the maximum out of the all four, at about ₹2 lakhs and above per content on Instagram.
| Influencers | Number of Followers | Total Influencers in Country | Engagement Rate | Earnings / Content |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nano | 1,000 – 10,000 | 500K+ | ~4% | ₹500 to ₹5000 |
| Micro | 10,000 to 1 Lakh | 331K+ | ~2.5% | ₹3K to ₹1 Lakh |
| Macro | 1 lakh to 1 Million | 92K+ | ~1.5% | ₹50K to ₹5 Lakhs |
| Mega | 1 Million+ | 7K+ | ~2% | ₹2 lakhs+ |
Which influencer earn the most in Instagram?
Though the income of influencers depends on follower count, engagement rate and other quantitative metrics, few qualitative aspects too largely decide their earnings. For instance, the niche an influencer is in is a big factor for generating income. As per the reports by EY, lifestyle, fashion and beauty will drive the growth of influencer marketing significantly. The next following up are automobile, e-commerce and FMCG sectors.
On a broader view, what it means is that the conversion rate of products of these sectors is much conceiving in the influencer marketing. 72% of users say that they make purchase decisions based on something they saw on Instagram.
You might also like this to read: 5 Reasons why Virtual Influencers earn more than real human influencers
This therefore provides us two important conclusions – One, influencer marketing is expanding in India and is going to be even bigger in the coming years. This infers that it’s a big opportunity to be a social-media influencer now in India.
Second, as influencers has the highest engagement rate and better reach to the customers geographically and personally, marketers can take advantage out of it for pitching their products or services.
Which influencer has made you buy any product / use any service? Tell us in the comments..
(For more such interesting informational, technology and innovation stuffs, keep reading The Inner Detail).
Kindly add ‘The Inner Detail’ to your Google News Feed by following us!
