Male and Female Influencer Pay Gap Continues to Narrow

IZEA Worldwide, Inc, the premier provider of influencer marketing technology, data, and services for the world’s leading brands, ​​released its third annual The State of Influencer Equality report today. The report found that the average payment per post for non-white influencers continues to trend upward. Hispanic influencers’ pay climbed by 29%, Asian influencers’ pay rose by 23% year over year, and Black influencers’ pay increased by 19%. The rate of deals being awarded to minorities has surpassed their representation in the population, reaching a new peak of 46% share of sponsorship transactions.

First introduced in 2020, the report analyzes influencer earnings observed in IZEA’s online marketplace from 2015 to 2022. The data comprises negotiated rates between marketers and creators spanning the spectrum of micro-influencers to celebrities across all social platforms, including self-reported sex and racial identifiers.

“IZEA is dedicated to championing creators of all backgrounds and demographics, driving the influencer marketing sector toward fairness and inclusivity,” said Ted Murphy, IZEA Founder and CEO. “We’re delighted to see a steady growth in pay for non-white influencers within the IZEA ecosystem, indicating that our efforts are paying off for creators. The pay gap between male and female influencers has continued to reduce to its lowest point of 17% since we began tracking this data.”

Key Findings Include: 

• Over the past eight years, average earnings have dramatically risen for influencers of all races and sexes.
• Over the past five years, persons of color have commanded a premium over their white counterparts, with Asian Americans making an average of 50% more per post than white creators in 2022.
• Female influencers continue to dominate influencer marketing with 77% of all transaction volume in 2022, but their share of deal flow is the lowest since our reporting began in 2015.
• Despite influencers 65 and older commanding the highest premium of all age groups in 2021, adults 55-64 have seen their earnings surge 144%, making them the highest-earning influencer age group in 2022.
• Influencers ages 55-64 make $1 more on average than influencers ages 18-24.
• Influencers with an annual household income of $150,000 or more charge an average of 3.1 times more for a sponsored post than creators earning $50,000 or less per year.
• The percentage of influencer marketing deal flow going to minority influencers (46%) has surpassed their representation in the U.S. population (41%).
• For the second year in a row, the percentage of influencer marketing deal flow going to white (non-Hispanic) influencers (54%) has slipped below their share of the U.S. population (59%).

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2015-2022 Sponsored Post Price Increase by Race: 

• Sponsored post prices charged by Asian American influencers have surged 3,532% from $101 to $3,668 on average.
• Sponsored post prices charged by Black influencers have climbed 2,258% from $129 to $3,042 on average.
• Sponsored post prices charged by Hispanic influencers have hiked 1,788% from $146 to $2,757 on average.
• Sponsored post prices charged by white influencers have increased 1,717% from $135 to $2,453 on average.

Male and Female Influencer Pay Gap 
Since 2019, the pay gap between male and female influencers has narrowed, hitting an all-time low in 2022. In 2019, the pay gap was 62% before narrowing to 27% in 2020, 26% in 2021 and 17% in 2022.

Although female influencers continue to own the majority of influencer marketing deal flow, male influencers’ share of transaction volume rebounded from an all-time low in 2020 of 9% to all-time highs of 15% in 2021 and 21% in 2022.

2015-2022 Sponsored Post Price Increases by Sex: 

• Sponsored post prices charged by male influencers have risen 980% from $290 to $3,131 on average.
• Sponsored post prices charged by female influencers have climbed 1,755% from $143 to $2,652 on average.

“The shifts in influencer marketing toward greater diversity, equity and inclusion are great examples of marketers recognizing – and responding to – the significant impact of minority influence in society,” Murphy continued. “In 2015, only 27% of sponsorship deals went to minority influencers, but today, this number has grown to 46%, a 70% increase. Even with these successes, there remains much more to be done in order to make sure all sexes and racial identities are represented in influencer marketing campaigns.”

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