Inland Revenue data shows that New Zealand influencers are on average making less than the minimum wage. Photo: 123rf
New Zealand influencers are on average making less than the minimum wage, even when it is their main stream of income.
New data released by Inland Revenue based on annual tax returns shows what people are making when working as influencers online - often being paid by companies that want to promote products to their followers.
The data covers self-employed or "other" income declared in the most recent tax year and does not include people working for an organisation or business.
Inland Revenue said there were 181 people who fit the definition.
For 36 percent, influencer income was their main income source. This group had an average income of $46,248.01 in the most recent tax year.
If someone was earning the minimum wage of $23.15 for a 40-hour week, they would earn about $48,000 a year.
For the remaining 64 percent of influencers for whom influencing was less than 50 percent of their earnings, the average income in the year was $4577.20.
Infometrics chief executive Brad Olsen said it looked as though about $3.5 million was made in income from influencers captured in the data.
"The average income is low, compared to what you would expect.
"The average wage is $41.52 an hour, that's around $86,000 a year."
He said many of the influencers who said it was their main income might not be working full time.
People might be working while at home with kids or doing other things, he said.
There might also be influencers who were counted as other professions in the tax data, such as television or radio presenters, he said.
"I wouldn't take 181 as the total count of influencers. It's maybe the count of exclusive influencers but it is probably an undercount. There is probably a wider variety of influencers and people who influence out there not coded in the data."
Sarah Munnik, a partner at Pead PR, said it was hard to say how many "full-time" influencers there might be in New Zealand.
"What we are seeing is that there are a group of quality influencers and content creators who have successfully built a full-time career. They've achieved this because they have invested years developing content which they've put out on their channels and over time they've developed an audience that is often highly engaged.
"They've found that special 'something' in their content which may be educational, humorous, inspiring which attracts followers etc. It's this reach and their understanding of their audience which catches the attention of a brand and enables the content creator or influencer to monetise their content. Curating quality content takes thought and time, so those that have made this a full-time career deserve to be in this position."
She said it was the norm for brands to consider influencers as part of their marketing strategy.
"Content creators are credible brand advocates and the more authentic the content is the better. Kiwi audiences are undoubtedly wise to what they are consuming, so aligning with the right creators is key - cultural opinion leaders who can produce on-message content that captures the attention of consumers with short attention spans in what is a cluttered and noisy space.
"The reality is that Kiwis can easily recognise the difference between organic and sponsored content so when, how and why you partner with an influencer is crucial."
One woman who has set up a number of online platforms over the years, but did not want to be identified for this story, said she was not surprised by the numbers.
She said influencing was "super low paid" unless people were among the most well-known. "I don't think many in New Zealand are there. When I was doing paid marketing work it could be good money on the face of it but it's not sustainable."
She said people underestimated how much work went in behind the scenes to make content creation and influencing pay off.
A beauty and makeup influencer could have good income but would have to put in a lot of work creating content and doing tutorials as well as having the business nous to know how to monetise it, she said.
"People have this idea you turn up and do a video and it falls from the sky."
She said it seemed that influencers were often vilified.
Many were mothers who had set up platforms as a means of connection, she said.
"It's not as lucrative as people think and when it is, a damn lot of hard work has gone in behind the scenes to make it happen.