Social Media Platforms That Make The Most Money For Creators

As a global communication phenomenon, it was inevitable that social media would also become a global marketing tool for big and small businesses. Statista projects the influencer market to grow from $17.4 billion in 2023 to over $22 billion in 2025. Creators in this space are now so important that the marketing department of any company serious about getting in front of an audience will have budgets specifically allocated to influencer marketing. Consider, Influencer MarketingHub's 2024 benchmark report found that 59.4% of businesses who budget for influencer marketing plan to raise their budgets for 2024, with 24.2% planning to spend 40% of their budget on this type of marketing. That's considerable, since 11% of marketers will earmark budgets of over $500,000 on influencer marketing, while 20.9% of marketers plan to spend between $10,000 and $50,000 this year.

If you've ever asked yourself what's the easiest online side gig you could do for extra money, becoming a creator on your favorite social media platform might be one of them. Surprisingly, you don't need a million followers to start making money either. In fact, micro-influencers, or creators with between 1,000 and 100,000 followers, tend to have a more personal connection with their following, which translates into better results for marketing companies with niche markets. For instance, it makes sense for a book publisher to work with a creator specializing in book reviews. However, certain social media platforms make more money for their creators than others, and knowing which ones before getting started can't hurt.

X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has lost a little bit of relevance since its takeover by Elon Musk. Still, it means something that around a quarter billion users are still engaged with the platform every day, even with a decline of 30% of users in the United States. That explains why, according to HootSuite, 66% of brands still have a presence on the platform even though 30% of marketers aren't entirely sold on the return on investment on X. X is only above its direct META-affiliated competitor, Threads, when it comes to lack of marketing confidence. There's been a 7% slide in X marketing this year, although it's notable that almost 20% of X's ad spending — second place below media only — comes from retail.

X has been trying to get more social media creators to return and/or stay through measures like reversing paid verification for its most influential creators and better payouts, with premium status for users with 2,500 followers or more and higher-tiered premium+ status for creators with over 5,000 followers. The blue check allows access to more prominence, fewer ads, and the favor of the algorithm. Since then, X creators have reported anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars in payouts. Engagement calculators like this one from Influencer MarketingHub can help creators determine how much money they can make based on followers and engagement. Former President Barack Obama, the second most followed account on X behind Elon Musk, has an engagement value of over $192,000. Goals.

There are a few ways creators can make money on YouTube. One, creators who have over 1,000 followers and 4,000 hours of engagement or watch time can join a partner program that allows them to utilize Google Adwords to monetize their videos through clicks and impressions for advertisers. YouTube then splits the profits from the clicks. offering 45% to the creator. A few other easy ways to make money on the video platform include taking on brand sponsorships, offering memberships for followers, and selling products directly from an account. Watch time, retention and the number of people clicking through affiliate links — typically at a rate of 10 cents to 30 cents per view — are factors that determine your profitability on YouTube.

An estimate of potential earnings for a creator with 20,000 views a day with an engagement of 50% (on average) could make anywhere from $36.75 to $61.25 a day. That's $1,103 to $1,837 a month or $13,414 to $22,356 a year. While not on anyone's list of highest paying jobs in the U.S., the average for popular YouTubers in the United States is around $74,708 per year, which is nothing to sneeze at. Mega-influencers like makeup tutorial creator and cosmetics line owner Jeffree Star, who currently boasts 15.8 million subscribers, earned $18 million from YouTube content in 2018 and has since amassed a net worth of $200 million.