There’s a lot of money to be made as an influencer, that’s for sure. Some of the most successful influencers have already been able to increase the number of followers close to billions with the help of Instagram, Tiktok and Youtube. The “Forbes” magazine last gave information about who the biggest influencers are in 2022. The data of the awards of the “Top Creator 2022” refer to the year 2021.
What do influencers earn and who pays them?
There is practically no fixed salary for influencers. Influencers make money in a variety of ways. Be it through donations during live streams, advertising deals in the form of paid posts or other sponsorship money. It depends above all on the level of awareness and the number of followers, how much an influencer collects for its content including advertising.
In the vast majority of cases, influencers first have to do unpaid preparatory work until they have a reach on YouTube, Instagram or Tiktok that is large enough for paid cooperation.
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According to ZDF, a survey of 1,900 content creators, each with over 1,000 followers, showed that only four percent of them can make a living from this activity. A small proportion of influencers ultimately manage to be financially successful.
How do you make money on Tiktok?
The influencer profession has become popular via Youtube and Instagram. In recent years, however, Tiktok has developed into the fastest growing platform for influencers. The information provided by well-known Tiktokers about their income varies greatly. According to NBC News, influencers with a reach of five million followers can earn anywhere from $5,000 to $8,000 on sponsored posts. A share of up to ten percent goes to Tiktok itself.
There are four main ways to earn money on Tiktok:
- Sponsorships and product placements: support brand campaigns and introduce products.
- Affiliate Links: Earn commission on products by providing codes or links.
- Donations: Collect tips during live streams.
- Merchandise: Sell self-made products and fan articles.
The same applies here: The more people follow you, the higher the chance of lucrative advertising partnerships.
Who is the most successful German influencer?
Pamela Reif is currently the most successful German YouTuber. The fitness influencer has almost 9.5 million subscribers with her workouts and fitness videos on YouTube alone. There are also another nine million followers on Instagram.
Younes Zarou takes first place among the most popular German Tiktokers. He has around 50 million followers and over a billion likes.
In addition to the top rankings, there are numerous examples of extremely successful influencers who have been able to steadily increase their awareness across platforms. These include Lisa and Lena Mantler, who have 13.5 million followers on Tiktok and almost 20 million on Instagram. Another example is Julien Bam, who is followed by more than ten million people on YouTube and Instagram.
Who has the most followers worldwide?
However, German influencers can hardly keep up with the world’s top influencers. These have significantly higher numbers of followers, some of which exceed the German top ten by a hundred times. Cristiano Ronaldo ranks first. The soccer star has nearly 800 million followers across all relevant platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Ronaldo follows with Lionel Messi (530 million), also a footballer and singer and actress Selena Gomez (500 million). The current top five are completed by pop star Justin Bieber (477 million) and influencer icon Kylie Jenner (450 million).
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All of these people have one thing in common: Even if they are considered influencers in the broadest sense, they are primarily famous personalities whose success is not based solely on being an influencer. The current “Forbes” ranking of the “Top Creator 2022” sheds light on how it is with full-time influencers worldwide, whose success is based primarily on social media.
The world’s most successful influencers in the 2022 ranking
10th place: Michael Le “JustMaiko” – 56.6 million followers
Tiktoker Michael Le occupies the last place in the “Forbes” ranking of “Top Creator 2022” with 56.6 million followers. Le owes his large following primarily to numerous dance videos with his siblings on Tiktok and participation in the so-called “Collab House” in Los Angeles. Le is also an entrepreneur in the e-sports sector and has some advertising partnerships with well-known brands such as Disney, Prada, Hugo Boss and Ray-Ban. In 2021, according to “Forbes”, he was able to earn around 5.5 million dollars .
9th place: Avani Gregg – 62.1 million followers
Meanwhile, Avani Gregg, known as the “Clown Girl,” has over 61 million followers. She got her nickname on Tiktok because she attracted attention there with her very colorful make-up looks reminiscent of a clown. Gregg booked around 4.75 million US dollars in 2021, mainly through her online presence. Since the immense success on Tiktok, Gregg has continued to try her hand at being a serial actress and published her autobiography.
8th place: Huda Kattan – 63 million followers
With 63 million followers, beauty blogger Huda Kattan is the eighth most successful influencer. Initially active as a blogger and later as an influencer on Instagram, Kattan eventually entered the cosmetics industry herself and launched her own cosmetics line under the “Huda Beauty” brand. The global success of her own brand brought her a whopping 13 million US dollars in 2021.
7th place: Dixie D’Amelio – 89.4 million followers
Dixie D’Amelio is followed by almost 90 million people on social media. After dancing videos on Tiktok, she made a career of singing and appearing in a reality show. Together with her younger sister, she now owns several companies that sell beauty products and shoes, among other things. In 2021, around ten million US dollars jumped out.
6th place: Lele Pons – 93.3 million followers
In 2015, Lele Pons was the first influencer to reach one billion clicks on the now-defunct video service Vine. Today, the Venezuelan still primarily produces comedy clips, but for Instagram and Tiktok. She is followed by around 93.3 million followers. Pons earned approximately $3 million in 2021 through her jewelry collection, a novel publication, and some engagements as a singer and actress.
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5th place: Bella Poarch – 111 million followers
Bella Poarch is the fifth most successful creator. After successfully completing military service with the US Navy, today’s model really got off to a flying start at Tiktok with lipsync videos. 111 million followers now watch it constantly on the various channels, advertising deals with luxury brands or the Call of Duty video game series generated revenue of five million dollars in 2021 alone.
4th place: Addison Rae Easterling – 133 million followers
Addison Rae Easterling has also become famous through Tiktok dance videos. Netflix, Pandora and American Eagle, among others, paid a lot to work with Easterling. A cosmetics line and a reach of 133 million followers brought in $8.5 million in revenue in 2021 and ranked fourth on Forbes’ Top Creators list.
3rd place: “Mr Beast” – 162 million followers
Jimmy Donaldson, better known as “Mr Beast”, secures bronze in the ranking of the most successful Creators 2022. 162 million followers regularly watch the YouTuber with complex and expensive challenges and comedy content. In his YouTube videos, bets are placed with millions in winnings and participants are exposed to extreme situations. He or his guests endure days under adverse conditions without food or are buried alive. Cooperation with numerous companies and slapstick on YouTube brought Donaldson 2021 revenues of around 54 million dollars.
2nd place: Charli D’Amelio – 203.7 million followers
Dixie D’Amelio’s little sister was already the best-earning Tiktoker in 2021, at the tender age of just 18. The teenager made $17.5 million with dance videos and the D’Amelio family empire, which includes several companies. 204 million people follow her channel.
1st place: Khaby Lane – 231.4 million followers
With 231.4 million followers, Khaby Lane leads the “Forbes” ranking of the most successful influencers in 2022. Khaby can also be found on the famous “Forbes 30 under 30” list. Comedy videos on Tiktok and Co. helped in Italy Senegalese living in Senegalese emerged from the unemployment caused by the pandemic and led to large-scale cooperations with the Paris Saint-Germain soccer club and fashion manufacturer Hugo Boss, among others. According to “Forbes”, the annual income of the former factory worker in 2021 was a whopping ten million US dollars.
List of the most successful influencers in the world by followers:
| Place | influencers | follower count |
| 1. | Khaby Lane | 231.4 million followers |
| 2. | Charlie D’Amelio | 203.7 million followers |
| 3. | Mr. Beast | 162 million followers |
| 4. | Addison Rae Easterling | 133 million followers |
| 5. | Bella Poarch | 111 million followers |
| 6. | Lele Pons | 93.3 million followers |
| 7. | Dixie D’Amelio | 89.4 million followers |
| 8th. | Huda Kattan | 63 million followers |
| 9. | Avani Gregg | 62.1 million followers |
| 10 | Michael Le | 56.6 million followers |
Source: Forbes
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