Did you know much Virat Kohli, Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif charge for one Instagram post? Know everything here

While one may think celebs sharing glimpses from their day-to-day lives on social media is just for the love of their fansthe reality goes beyond that. Did you know celebs and influencers earn huge amounts for every activity. they do on social media? Case in point: cricketer Virat Kohli who reached the 250-million-followers mark on Instagram recently charges about ₹3.5 to 5 crore for one post on Instagram. A source says that the fee varies for different elements on the social media platform: “A story is cheaper than a post, because a post stays foreverA story with a link to the brand’s page is expensive. Even a post with a link is pricey. The most expensive is when a celebrity’s page does a collab with a brand’s page.”

MOST FOLLOWED INDIAN CELEBS ON INSTA (in millions) and EARNINGS PER POST

Virat Kohli– 250- 3.5-5 CRORES

Priyanka Chopra Jonas– 87.7- 2 CRORES

Shraddha Kapoor– 80.8- 1.5 CRORES

Alia Bhatt– 77.4- 1.5- 2 CRORES

Deepika Padukone– 74.1- 2 CRORES

Katrina Kaif– 72.8- 1 CRORE

Shrenik Gandhi, CEO and Co-founder, White Rivers Media, who has worked with a host of both Indian and international talents on the digital space, tells us, “Social media contributes a lot to a celeb’s financial department. Social media is the only two way medium, it acts as a strong validator or unvalidator for a brand, which is priceless. Secondly, let’s assume before I sign a deal with an actor. It acts as a great research tool for me. If a sneaker brand approaches me and says ‘3 crore spend karne hain’, social media becomes my mining tool to search for a sneaker head. The brands benefit a lot by collaborating with the celeb. About 20-30 percent of revenue in a celeb’s life in a year is from social media deals, which is a huge pie.”

CUT THE DEAL, MAKE THE POST

Another insider who works very closely with celebs but wants to remain anonymous, says it is not necessary that a celeb becomes the brand ambassador in order to do a post, there are deals cut for specific posts too. “If you see, Audi had done a campaign, Virat was also a part of it, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Hrithik Roshan too. Campaign to campaign basis bhi hoti hain deals,” we are told.

And such is the impact of social media, that sometimes brands prefer to shoot less ads with the celeb but ask them to post more. “The brand tells us in the beginning we will need say, four social media posts in a year, and not just Instagram, but Insta plus Twitter, or plus Facebook. Basis that a star’s contract is worked upon. The star also sees how much time they require from them for a shoot. Sometimes the brands prefer that they not shoot for eight hours but four instead, and do 1-2 extra social media posts. That’s how important it has become,” adds our source.

MORE THAN THE MOOLAH

Manish Kumar, Founder, Digi Osmosis, has worked with the likes of Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies and Shilpa Shetty Kundra to launch her yoga app. He feels that while directly the money doesn’t figure much in a celeb’s life through their social media posts, the long term effects are staggering. “If we take Virat’s One8 or Hrithik’s HRX, because of their respective social media following, their brands get a big boost. If Hrithik wears HRX all the time and then sports it on Insta, fans will obviously go and buy it. Similarly, Aryan Khan recently launched his clothing brand, the entire sales on the launch day which were sold out, was only basis the posts made by Shah Rukh. You have the power to create your own business empire and start promoting your business,” he shares.

COULD THE BUBBLE BURST SOON?

Is social media here to stay in terms of the interest it holds in our lives? What do the experts foresee? For example, there are plenty of reports online about Facebook being in decline. “Celebrities today have a choice to work with brands that they truly stand for or connect with their ethos or would like to personally associate with, whereas, many celebrities just don’t care and endorse whatever comes their way as it’s easy money and they want to encash their on going fame. So yes, followers may not be the bubble that would burst, fame could be and most celebrities want to make the most of Instagram as long as they are famous,” says Sorav Jain, Instagram Influencer Coach and CEO, Digital Scholar.