From professional athletes to makeup artists, Instagram influencers are taking the social media world by storm.

Released in 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Keriger due to the massive growth and demand for social media networks, Instagram became a popular photo-sharing platform used by millions, including high-profile celebrities.

That’s when the Instagram Influencer was born.

Instagram Influencers are users who have established credibility and a massive audience of followers, often persuading followers to try certain products advertised on their Instagram pages.

Celebrities like Kim Kardashian West and Paris Hilton joined the platform and gained followers, popularity and, eventually, money and success.

Today, Influencers are paid for each post, and when they collaborate with brands to advertise their products, these are called brand deals. 

Influencers are broken into three categories: Micro-Influencers, Middle-Tier Influencers and Top-Tier Influencers.

Micro-Influencers have fewer than 10,000 followers and are paid around $88 per post. Middle-Tier Influencers have 10,000 to 100,000 followers and make, on average, $200 per post. Top-Tier Influencers have a minimum of 100,000 followers and up to millions of followers and make an average of $670 per post.

Top-Tier Influencers includes celebrities like Cristiano Ronaldo, Ariana Grande, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Kylie Jenner.

Kylie Jenner, a make-up artist/creator and model, has 202 million followers with an average of five million likes per post, an engagement rate of 2.6 percent. Her estimated earnings per post falls between $401,480 to $669,134. 

On Instagram, there is a list of the top-paid Influencers. The top paid influencer worldwide is soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo surpassed Selena Gomez late last year and is the most successful influencer of 2020, making $485,034 to $808,390 per post and gaining a following of 244 million followers.

Instagram influencers have been reaching the younger generation and pushing products on them. Many teens today aspire to become just like these influencers on many different platforms like Youtube, Snapchat and Twitch.