Wonder

Research Outline

Prepared for Ramon B. | Delivered September 30, 2019

Chinese Influencer Compensation

Goals

Provide information on how influencers are compensated by brands in China vs. the USA, and specifically how the transactions occur

Early Findings

Of any social media platform in China, WeChat influencers make the most. These influences tend to make between .5RMB and 1.5RMB per view.

Overall the cost of one WeChat influencer campaign averages around 1 RMB per view. 

For example, one WeChat influencer with 550,000 followers charges approximately 33,000 RMB per post, as he has an average of 70,000 views. 

However, this pricing varies by platform, with Weibo being noted to be as much as 55 times cheaper. Platform Douyin is the next most expensive after WeChat.

 Payment for Chinese influencers is also based on their varied team structure, with Chinese influencers likely to actually be a large team that partners with a brand vs an individual. 
 
For example, Chinese influencer Gogoboi who works with a team, charges $50,000 USD per promotion and runs 15 brand collaborations on average per month, equating to around $9 million of annual revenue from WeChat promotions. 

Gogoboi’s Weibo account also has nearly 10 million followers, and is projected to bring in an added $15,000 USD per post.
 
Another way Chinese influencers earn income is via programmatic advertising, in which they select the display of banners as part of their post, and WeChat shares 8-10% of the ad’s revenue with them. 

 It’s also noted that influencers may received external funding to launch product lines. For example, top influencer Li uses her influence to promote her brand, has also used her following to receive outside investment to fund her product line, but valuation or amounts invested were not publicly disclosed. 

WeChat and other platforms have options for users to link their bank accounts to their platform username, which allows them to both buy and earn.