美国国家公共电台 NPR--The promise and perils of the multi-billion dollar influencer industry

The promise and perils¹ of the multi-billion dollar influencer industry

Transcript²

Paid posts, affiliate³ links, subscriptions⁴ — all ways social media influencers can make money. But how many influencers are actually making a living off their content creation? Not many.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Social media influencers - they're all over our feed. But how many actually earn a living off the content they make? Darian Woods and Wailin Wong from our daily economics podcast, The Indicator⁵, find out.

DARIAN WOODS, BYLINE⁶: Kendall Hoyt makes short videos on TikTok and Instagram where she dresses in different outfits⁷, mostly thrifted or secondhand.

KENDALL HOYT: For me, it is mostly clothes and fashion, so I'm probably spending a couple hundred dollars a month just accumulating new things. But I also get gifted a lot now from brands.

WOODS: So Kendall is not a full-time⁸ influencer yet. She still has to work a day job working in advertising⁹. And I asked her how much of her spare time she manages to squeeze into her influencer work.

HOYT: Many. It's most of my free time I spend making content - 10, 15 hours extra a week.

WAILIN WONG, BYLINE: OK, but how much does Kendall get paid?

HOYT: So for 2022, I made about $15,000, which maybe is less than you'd expect, hearing some other large influencers.

WOODS: So I spoke¹⁰ to an expert in the industry, Ryan Hilliard, to see if this was typical. Ryan is a general manager at a company called HypeAuditor, which analyzes¹¹ influencer data. And he says you need a lot of followers¹² for a comfortable cash flow.

RYAN HILLIARD: There's kind of a magic number where it becomes, I can do this for a living, and that's probably close to that, I have a million followers.

WOODS: And there's only a tiny share of influencers who reach that level.

HILLIARD: Less than 1% - it's just too hard. There's too many other people doing similar stuff.

WOODS: Of course, everybody's definition of what counts for enough to live off varies. So let's focus on Kendall. By Ryan's calculations, she could be comfortably earning $65,000 a year, maybe even 100 grand.

WONG: Oh, $100,000 - wow, that is such a difference.

WOODS: Yeah. And to understand why, you need to look at how influencers make money.

WONG: Are we talking sponcon?

WOODS: Sponcon, exactly - hashtag ad. These are posts on TikTok or Instagram where the influencer showcases a new bag or a skirt - caption¹³, paid partnership¹⁴. And Ryan says that based on his surveys, about 80% of influencers' revenue comes from these paid posts. Next up to get money, another 10 to 15% of influencers' revenue comes from affiliate links.

WONG: So this is where a viewer might click on a link on the influencer's profile to buy something, and then the influencer gets, like, 10% of that sale.

WOODS: And there's a third way for influencers to earn money. And that's through exclusive content that people subscribe¹⁵ and pay for.

WONG: OK, so given all of that, why are Ryan's numbers so much higher?

WOODS: Ryan says you can basically divide influencers with large followings into two categories - ones that are actively¹⁶ working with companies for sponsored posts and ones that aren't. So on top of her day job and actually building her following, Kendall says she doesn't have time to proactively reach out to brands to work with. So she's kind of in this bind¹⁷ right now. She's got no time to reach out to companies, but if she does quit her day job, she wouldn't have any sponsors lined up.

HOYT: Like, who wouldn't want to just post a video to make thousands of dollars? But there's a lot more that goes into it to build up a community and be able to get those deals.

WONG: Wailin Wong.

WOODS: Darian Woods, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

FADEL: You can hear more of The Indicator's five-part series on the influencer industry wherever you get your podcasts.

1 perils   

极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境）

参考例句：

• The commander bade his men be undaunted in the face of perils. 指挥员命令他的战士要临危不惧。
• With how many more perils and disasters would he load himself? 他还要再冒多少风险和遭受多少灾难？

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 affiliate   

vt.使隶(附)属于；n.附属机构，分公司

参考例句：

• Our New York company has an affiliate in Los Angeles.我们的纽约公司在洛杉矶有一个下属企业。
• What is the difference between affiliate and regular membership?固定会员和附属会员之间的区别是什么？

4 subscriptions   

n.（报刊等的）订阅费( subscription的名词复数 )；捐款；（俱乐部的）会员费；捐助

参考例句：

• Subscriptions to these magazines can be paid in at the post office. 这些杂志的订阅费可以在邮局缴纳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Payment of subscriptions should be made to the club secretary. 会费应交给俱乐部秘书。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 outfits   

n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He jobbed out the contract to a number of small outfits. 他把承包工程分包给许多小单位。 来自辞典例句
• Some cyclists carry repair outfits because they may have a puncture. 有些骑自行车的人带修理工具，因为他们车胎可能小孔。 来自辞典例句

8 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

9 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 analyzes   

v.分析( analyze的第三人称单数 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• This approach analyzes management by studying experience usually through cases. 这个学派通常从实例获得经验，用以分析管理。 来自辞典例句
• The econometrician analyzes statistical data. 经济计量学者要分析统计材料。 来自辞典例句

12 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

13 caption   

n.说明，字幕，标题；v.加上标题，加上说明

参考例句：

• I didn't understand the drawing until I read the caption.直到我看到这幅画的说明才弄懂其意思。
• There is a caption under the picture.图片下边附有说明。

14 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

15 subscribe   

vi.(to)订阅，订购；同意；vt.捐助，赞助

参考例句：

• I heartily subscribe to that sentiment.我十分赞同那个观点。
• The magazine is trying to get more readers to subscribe.该杂志正大力发展新订户。

16 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

17 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。