Celebrities typically earn more than social media influencers with the same following. And those prices have gone down substantially over the past few years as brand focused more on microinfluencers.
Huda Kattan and Lele Pons are probably the highest paid instagram influencers, and they are worth around $150k per post in 2021.
This is with 45 million followers and 2 million engagements per post.
Meanwhile, Kylie Jenner earns over $1.2 million for sponsored posts to her 264 million followers and 8 million post engagements.
This means Kylie makes about 10x more for 4x more engagement than Lele, and that’s because her celebrity makes her influence seem more worthwhile.
But is it really?
While the Kardashians have a media empire, there’s not really any data to support that associating your brand with their Instagram is more valuable than Lele Pons.
The lines between celebrity and influencer have been largely blurred since the days of Snoop Dogg’s peak celebrity.
Snoop has been in the game a long time though, and he’s a very wise businessman because of it. I actually interviewed his manager at Cashmere Agency close to a decade ago about his social media plans when cannabis was first legalized in Colorado.
He even invited me to see Snoop and Wiz Khalifa perform at Red Rock during the first legal Cannabis Cup in 2014, which I covered for Jim Cramer.
One of my favorite stories was learning about the Snoopify app. Snoop didn’t just look to get paid for IG posts – he developed an entire app that did nothing but Snoopify your Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter photos.
You can still download it today on Android and iOS, and it is very much owned by Snoop, so he gets the profits from anything you buy.Snoop Lion’s Snoopify! – Apps on Google PlayDecorate your photos with never-before-seen graphics of Snoophttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fs.snoopify&hl=en_US&gl=US
This level of branding shows that Snoop’s celebrity transcends a single profile. He’s a household name and a successful brand who, like Krusty the Clown in The Simpsons, can license his name and image to anything to make a few dollars.
He made over $100k off in-app purchases within the first year. That’s a huge profit for something he doesn’t do much for. It’s still in the store 7 years later, and I’m sure he earned another 6–7 figures from it in that time.
Snoop does a ton of these endorsement deals. Sometimes they’re obviously weed- or rap-related, but he’s keen on diversification and investing in tech.
And that’s just the start, because Snoop is a hustler. He doesn’t just do music videos on his YouTube. In 2013, he also started GGN News, which pulls 300k-1m views per episode.
This supplements his music videos and contributed a lot to his 2.5 billion YouTube video views for a lot less cost to produce than a music video.
And if you never saw it, GGN is filled to the brim with product placements.
Check the shoes just blatantly sitting on the table. He placed Hot pockets, Golden crisp cereal, and all sorts of other things on that table.
A typical YouTuber would make $3-$5k from a sponsored video between 500k and 1M views. That’s on top of a wide range from $3k-$40k from YouTube video ads.
Snoop is likely negotiating closer to $50k for his sponsorship deals. That’s not even including his audio streaming residuals and merch from his Snoopermarket.SnoopermarketSnoop Dogg’s Online Marketplace for all things Snoop + friends: apparel, hats, shoes, accessories, music, films and more.https://www.snoopermarket.com
Honestly, Snoop is one of the best examples of a celebrity influencer. He’s everything Jake Paul and Ricegum wish they were – the total package and a true Renaissance Man.
The biggest flaw to Snoop is he’s surrounded by yes men and people who fail to keep their word. I’ve dealt with it in multiple occasions.
Remember the Cannabis Cup I mentioned at the top?
High Times and the concert agency had a fight over the event, and Nick Adler (Snoop’s business manager at Cashmere) flaked on me. I drove all the way out to Colorado and ended up having to sneak into both the BIG Industry Show and Cannabis Cup.
It’s actually one of my earliest YouTube videos…
But I told everyone I was invited by Snoop (which I honestly was), and people treated me like I was with Snoop…at the first massive legal cannabis festival in the entire country…on 4/20…it was mind blowing.
Even got a personal tour of the setup for the Galleria of Glass from a rich Russian guy in an Adidas jump suit.
Wrote a ton of blogs about it, learned about the cannabis industry, and figured out how trade shows worked from it. Got a gig writing for Cannabis Now, and I even eventually got a cover story published in the January 2016 issue of High Times.http://thoughtforyourpenny.com/money/how-i-snuck-into-the-cannabis-cup-and-industry/?amp
It was the start of a successful career, but then I bumped into Snoop’s son on Clubhouse this year.Clubhouse ConvosRecording, reviewing, and documenting everything important happening on social audio.https://clubhouseconversations.substack.com/p/creator-first-pilot-review-mind-to
Clubhouse is struggling to find its place as a social media platform itself, and it launched a Creator First pilot season in May 2021. Over 15,000 people applied, and only 54 shows were selected to do a pilot for the chance to win $5k per month and official platform support for 3 months.
Snoop regularly shows up on Clubhouse – here’s a screenshot of when he, B-Real, and Mr Cartoon all showed up for 4/20 this year.
Snoop doesn’t make money from Clubhouse, but there’s a whole side thing about that we can get into later. But his son was selected for Creator First, and that put him on my table to review.
I attended all 54 shows and graded them all in real time. The show I didn’t see was from Julian Broadus, one of Snoop’s sons.
I suspected nepotism was in play with him even being selected, and that was confirmed when he scheduled a show 3 times and failed to show once. He was the only no-show out of 54 shows and really disappointed the 15,000 people who could have had that chance.
Still, the people who make money off Snoop’s brand name should be included in the totals. $5,000 per month is nothing, but it was an opportunity anyone on that platform would’ve died for that went to Snoop’s son. Had he shown up, he would’ve won because of who is dad is.
Those priceless opportunities that both his son and I got because of Snoop can’t be measured. They’re not part of his net worth, but he’s still the catalyst that made it all happen.
Lele Pons does not yet create the same opportunities, but she could in 30 more years when she has as much industry experience under her belt as Snoop.