promotion | the interns

Selena Gomez is 24 years old and a single post from this former Disney star is worth more than most people make in a year, two years, three years… A single promoted post from her is worth $550,000, which tops the list of all celebrities – including the Kardashian/Jenner clan. This value is based off D’Marie Group’s algorithm that takes into consideration 56 metrics. These include: followers, post frequency, engagement, post quality, click through and potential to create sales. So although Gomez is not guaranteed to make half a million dollars on every sponsored post, she essentially could use that as a starting point for negotiations.

You’re probably asking yourself, how can a social media post be worth so much money? (Or if you’re me, how can MY posts be worth even 1/100^th of that?) There are several factors to Selena Gomez’s monetary value. First, she has 200 million followers on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook who are actively engaging on her accounts. (Not to mention on average, 200,000 more join them every day, increasing the total number of her followers daily.) Brands will pay big bucks to have their product placed in front of that many people – especially if they’re conditioned to engage with the content that typically is pushed out from the page. According to AdWeek, users trust influencers as much as their friends, and around 40% say they have purchased something because they saw an influencer using it. These influencers are seen as real people, and their fans trust them, even if they’re being paid to promote a product. The relationship social media creates between influencers and their followers makes every suggestion feel personal, so if Selena Gomez says to buy a product, her fanbase is likely to do so.

Gomez isn’t involved in many brand partnerships. She’s (or at least her management is) selective about what brands she endorses. Right now that includes Coca-Cola, Pantene, and Kmart. Her feed isn’t diluted with promoted posts. According to D’Marie Group a post by Selena Gomez, or supermodel (and Kardashian) Kendall Jenner, will produce 12x the return on investment compared to standard digital marketing efforts.

Here are a few other top celebrity endorsers on social media: