We all know that horses can be very expensive, but might there be a way to help increase the money in your bank account that’s in the palm of your hand? Here, we explore a few ways that equestrian influencers and riders can make money out of social media.
There are lots of ways that, as a content creator, you can make money from social media, and if you post to TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or any of the other social media platforms, that’s what you are!
Paid posts
Let’s start with the most obvious way, and that’s being paid to post. If you have a strong enough social media following, you could earn money per post or per story. This usually works by the brand sending you products and then agreeing what kind of content they want- and how much of it- and then a rate for this. And when it comes to rates, there are a few points to consider:
Is this a one off or a regular thing?
Size of following (people with a large following usually charge more).
What type of content is needed (if you have a plan a full shoot with a photographer it’s likely to cost more than chatting about products in Stories).
Control (ff the brand does want control, this generally costs more).
Placement and frequency (a main feed post is likely to cost more than Stories which vanish in 24 hours).
Long-term sponsorships
If you have a good connection with a brand and you both feel that you can work together well, you might find that a long term sponsorship is for you. These used to be reserved for riders competing at high levels, but not anymore. In fact, equestrian influencers who create brilliant content are very capable of earning more from these sponsorships than professional riders.
To work with a brand like this, you need to get clear on the detail. Exactly what do they want from you, at what frequency, and what will you be paid for this?
Affiliate schemes
How would it feel to earn money each time someone buys a product you recommend? That’s exactly how affiliate schemes work.
Some brands use affiliate schemes where specific links are shared with influencers and each transaction made through these links can be tracked, and others use discount codes linked to the influencer. The percentage earned in commission varies from brand to brand- so it’s worth doing the research.
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Don’t forget that you need to declare when you’re sharing an affiliate link as it’s an ad, so make sure you label it as per the ASA’s guidance.
Merchandise
If you have grown a community of people who are really interested in you, creating your own range of merchandise might be something to consider. If you work closely with a brand as a brand ambassador or a sponsored rider, you might be able to work with them on this. Alternatively, you could create your own designs and work with a manufacturer.
If you opt for this route, it might feel quite risky as you could have a lot of products in your spare room if you don’t order well. However, offering pre-order and even doing seasonal drops can be a good way of managing this.
But there are other ways you can earn money inside the platforms that rely on your fans paying you, or their interaction allowing you to earn money from the content.
Subscriptions on Facebook
If you have over 10,000 followers on your Facebook Page, you might want to consider adding a subscription option. Subject to you being eligible, you can create subscriber only content on Facebook itself such as posts, videos and Lives, but you can also use the badge they get for being a subscriber to ensure their comments stand out from the crowd (and you respond to these first!).
Paid online events on Facebook
For people who are eligible, there’s the opportunity to earn money from Facebook Lives as events. Maybe you want to teach a masterclass, or interview a celebrity and give the audience the chance to engage, or maybe it’s a how-to connected to something equestrian that people would pay for? This could be for you.
TikTok Creator Fund
If you love TikTok (and TikTok loves you as you need over 10k followers and over 100k video views in the last month), the TikTok Creator Fund could be worth exploring.
The exact amount you’ll earn depends on a number of factors, like making engaging content and the number of views that content gets.
YouTube Partner Programme
If you prefer making video content like vlogs, or even YouTube’s Shorts, it might be worth exploring the YouTube Partner Programme options. There are a few different ways to make money from your YouTube content, from video ads that run before, during or after your video to having members join your channel at a different level and pay to receive additional benefits.
The different options on the YouTube Partner Programme have different eligibility criteria, but the one that most creators opt for- that’s the ads option- is available for people with over 1000 subscribers and over 4000 hours of videos watched (watch hours) over the last year. This might sound like a lot, but for serious YouTubers, this is very achievable.
Subscriptions on Instagram
This is available on some accounts, but when it does roll out, it should allow creators to create exclusive content, behind a paywall, for those willing to pay per month.
When this is rolled out, there will be a ‘Subscribe’ button on that person’s profile where you can tap through and see what you’ll get for your subscription fee each month. This is likely to be exclusive Lives, Stories, and badges that make your comments really stand out.
Stars on Facebook
This is invite only at the moment, but if and when it does roll out, Stars could allow people to ‘pay’ for the content they enjoy as they’re watching it! The idea of Stars is that people pay for them, and then show their appreciation of the Live by giving Stars during the livestream.
Social media can suck time up if we use it that way, but it can also do so much good. In fact, you could even make money from it. Some people earn a full time wage from it…
More information on Instagram Subscriptions can be found here.
More information about the TikTok Creator Fund can be found here.
More information on how to monetise Facebook can be found here.
More information on the YouTube Partner Programme can be found here.
More information on affiliate marketing from ASA can be found here.
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