Brands pay men a lot more money per sponsored Instagram post as influencers, but women dominate the industry

• In a recent report, Izea, a company that connects marketers with influencers, found that men make a lot more money per sponsored social-media post – yet women are dominating the industry.
• In its analysis, Izea looked at prices paid for sponsored blog posts, Instagram posts, Facebook posts, Tweets, and YouTube videos between 2014 and 2019 on its platform.
• Brands are set to spend up to $15 billion on influencer marketing by 2022, according to Business Insider Intelligence research, and sponsored content is an important revenue stream for influencers. 
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Women dominate the influencer industry, which is projected to be worth up to $15 billion by 2022, but marketers are paying men more for each piece of sponsored content.

In a recent report, Izea, a company that connects marketers and influencers, studied negotiated rates for sponsored social-media posts from 2014 to 2019 on its platform. Izea’s data spanned “tens of millions” of deals across “tens of thousands of influencers,” from micro-influencers to celebrities, the company said.

Izea found that men earn a lot more per piece sponsored content on average than women on platforms like Facebook, blogs, YouTube, and Instagram. Over the last five years, women have dominated the influencer industry, and have averaged about 87% of all deals, according to the report. But within those five years, women were paid 45% less than men across all social platforms per post, Izea found. 

“Influencer marketing started with ‘mommy bloggers’ more than a decade ago, and females still dominate the landscape today,” said Ted Murphy, founder and CEO of Izea. “However, the sheer volume of female influencers vying for brand dollars reduces their pricing leverage compared to their male counterparts. Scarcity and demand largely drive price and unfortunately appear to be working against female influencers, particularly those who identify as Caucasian.” 

Here’s the breakdown of average sponsored social media post by gender, from 2014 to 2019, according to Izea:

• 2014: 
  • Men: $69
  • Women: $75
• 2015:
  • Men: $290
  • Women: $143
• 2016:
  • Men: $583
  • Women: $299
• 2017:
  • Men: $1,411
  • Women: $753
• 2018:
  • Men: $1,384
  • Women: $926
• 2019:
  • Men: $2,152
  • Women: $1,138

The average rate paid for sponsored content on Instagram for men and women

Sponsored content on Instagram is an important revenue stream for influencers — for many, the single most important.

According to top influencers who have spoken with Business Insider, brand sponsorships are the most common and often the most lucrative form of revenue on Instagram.

An influencer sponsorship on Instagram, in which a brand pays an influencer to promote their product, can be in the form of a one-off deal (like a single in-grid post) or a package, which often includes a feed photo, a story slide, and mentions on other platforms like YouTube.

Several female Instagram influencers interviewed by Business Insider said creators who are starting out typically charge brands $100 per 10,000 followers.

Izea looked at the average rates paid for sponsored content on Instagram for men and women. In 2019, the average rate marketers paid men was around $2,365, and for women, the average rate was about $1,519, according to the report.

Here’s the average rate marketers paid for sponsored content on Instagram from 2014 to 2019 by gender, according to IZEA:

• 2014: 
  • Men: $141
  • Women: $133

• 2015:
  • Men: $1,337
  • Women: $248
• 2016:
  • Men: $1,689
  • Women: $692
• 2017:
  • Men: $1,670
  • Women: $1,046
• 2018:
  • Male: $1,333
  • Female: $1,101
• 2019:
  • Men: $2,365
  • Women: $1,519

Influencers charge rates based on factors like their engagement, follower count, and the number of likes or comments an average photo receives (some brands have specific metrics they ask for after a sponsorship is completed, like the number of saves and comment sentiment). 

Landing sponsorship deals can be tricky, and some influencers have certain techniques for reaching brands, like sending them direct messages on Instagram. Others work with a manager or agent to help them secure opportunities (managers and agents take about a 10% to 20% cut).

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For more on the business of influencers, according to YouTube and Instagram stars, check out these Business Insider Prime posts: 

• How much money do YouTube stars earn in a year? 4 creators reveal what the platform paid them in 2019: We spoke with four YouTube creators — Shelby Church, Kevin David, Sienna Santer, and Andrei Jikh — who broke down how much money YouTube paid them.

• The 17 hottest brands in influencer marketing that work with creators on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms: Business Insider is recognizing the leading brands in influencer marketing that have built lasting partnerships with creators across social media.

• A college TikTok influencer with 1.6 million followers explains how much money she makes — and her 3 main sources of income: Cosette Rinab, a USC junior, broke down the ways she earns money as a creator on TikTok with 1.6 million followers.