How Much Do Instagram Stars Earn from Their Posts?

Author: Marta Premužak

July 21, 2023

‘Who knows, knows,’ as the saying goes. And so it is with the most famous ones who have managed to turn social media into an additional source of income – and not just any income. The most famous athletes, actors, and singers on popular Instagram earn staggering amounts per post.

Namely, Instagram is not just one of the largest platforms that has not been threatened for years; it is also one of the most profitable networks for content creators. Although it has a smaller number of users than Facebook and YouTube, its higher engagement rate has secured it the largest figures when it comes to advertising. According to data for this year, the average ad prices on Instagram are estimated at $3.56 per click, placing this network ahead of all others except LinkedIn.

Thus, for some celebrities, who also have the most followers, they earn millions through this social network. Visual Capitalist summarized how much the most followed stars on Instagram approximately earn per sponsored post.

Headaches from the amounts per sponsored post

Interestingly, although logic dictates that the most followed individuals earn the most money from sponsored posts, this is only partially true. In conducting the research, the company HopperHQ used publicly available data from 2022, which showed that while the number of followers was the most influential factor, some stars still earned despite having fewer followers.

The most followed person on Facebook and Instagram for some time now has been football star Cristiano Ronaldo. He also leads the list of individuals who earned the most from sponsored content last year. It is estimated that one of the biggest football stars, former Manchester United and Real Madrid player, earns around $2.4 million per sponsored post, which is more than all highly followed individuals on Instagram. At the time of calculation, Ronaldo had a total of 442 million followers.

Kylie Jenner, the ‘youngest self-made billionaire,’ is second on the list with earnings of $1.8 million. Jenner, who is a member of the famous Kardashian–Jenner family, holds five of the 20 most followed Instagram accounts. She is also the youngest person on this list of big Instagram earners.

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Interestingly, the currently globally popular singer Taylor Swift is only in 12th place, with earnings per post of ‘only’ $1.1 million. Although the data refers to last year, the result is still somewhat surprising considering the phenomenon of her conquering world arenas and stadiums on her latest tour. Her good friend and singer Selena Gomez is the fourth highest-paid per post. According to Visual Capitalist data, she earns about $1.7 million per such post.

Earnings per follower

Although it is estimated that almost all the most followed individuals ‘cost’ more than those with fewer followers, one person who stands out is Katy Perry. Namely, in terms of the number of followers, she is only in 16th place, but she is first on the list of the highest-paid individuals per follower. It is estimated that Perry better utilizes Instagram’s reach and earns more than some of her more followed colleagues. Even though she has tens of millions fewer followers, it has been calculated that she earns more per follower than all 20 of the top earners.

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Earnings per follower are rounded to just under a cent each, but tens of millions of followers have a significant impact. Along with Perry, Neymar and Miley Cyrus had significant earnings per follower.

But the new year can bring many changes. The list of individuals with the most followers is changing rapidly. In the meantime, Lionel Messi has become the second most followed, and Selena Gomez has surpassed Kylie Jenner as the most followed woman. How will this affect potential earnings this year?