Marketer Investment in Diversity Drives All-Time Highs for People of Color
Orlando, Florida (Feb. 1, 2022) – IZEA Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: IZEA), the premier provider of influencer marketing technology, data, and services for the world’s leading brands, released its third annual State of Influencer Equality report today. The report found that for the first time, the percentage of influencer marketing deals going to non-white influencers (43%) matches their share of the U.S. population, and the average payment per post for Asian American influencers surged 88% in 2021.
First introduced in 2020, the report analyzes influencer earnings observed in IZEA’s online marketplace from 2015 to 2021. Data comprises negotiated rates between marketers and creators spanning the spectrum of micro-influencers to celebrities and incorporates self-reported gender and race identifiers.
“IZEA has long been an advocate for diversity and inclusion in influencer marketing and beyond,” said Ted Murphy, Founder and CEO of IZEA. “We are delighted to see the shift to population parity between white and non-white influencers as well as a rise in pay for Asian, Hispanic, and African American influencers within the IZEA ecosystem.”
Key Findings Include:
- Over the past seven years, average earnings have dramatically risen for influencers of all races and genders.
- Over the past four years, persons of color have commanded a premium over their white counterparts, with Asian Americans making an average of 37% more per post than whites in 2021.
- Females continue to dominate influencer marketing with 83% of all transaction volume in 2021, but their share of deal flow is the lowest since our reporting began in 2015.
- Influencers over the age of 65 now command the highest premium of all age groups, earning three times more per post vs. those aged 45 to 54 years.
- Influencers with an annual household income of $150,000 or more per year charge 1.6 times more for a sponsored post than their counterparts earning $20,000 or less per year.
- For the first time, the percentage of influencer marketing deal flow going to white (non-Hispanic) influencers (57%) has slipped below their share of the U.S. population (58%).
2015-2021 Sponsored Post Price Increase by Race:
- Sponsored Post prices charged by Asian American influencers have risen 2,972% from $101 to $2,972 on average.
- Sponsored Post prices charged by African American influencers have risen 1,874% from $129 to $2,546 on average.
- Sponsored Post prices charged by Hispanic influencers have risen 1,365% from $146 to $2,139 on average.
- Sponsored Post prices charged by white influencers have risen 1,507% from $135 to $2,169 on average.
Gender Pay Gap
The pay gap between male and female influencers widened between 2020 and 2021 after narrowing the year prior. The gap was 47% in 2019 and narrowed to 24% in 2020, but it grew to 30% in 2021. Although female influencers continue to own the majority of influencer marketing deal flow, male influencers’ share of transaction volume jumped from an all-time low in 2020 to an all-time high at 15%.
2015-2021 Sponsored Post Price Increases by Gender:
- Sponsored Post prices charged by male influencers have risen 927% from $290 to $2,978 on average.
- Sponsored Post prices charged by female influencers have risen 1,501% from $143 to $2,289 on average.
“The world looks very different from the way it did seven years ago, and the influencer marketing industry has changed along with it,” continued Murphy. “In 2015, the percentage of sponsorships going to white influencers was 73%. Today, the percentage of deal flow to white influencers is just below their share of the U.S. population for the first time at 57%. The continued trend toward earnings equalization among ethnicities and races is a positive development for the industry. Additionally, women have for the first time outearned men for sponsored Instagram Stories, but there is still more work to be done to eliminate the gender pay gap that has persisted. We embrace our role as advocates for equality across the influencer marketing ecosystem.”
