Barely 10% Of Indian Influencers Able To Monetise Content: BCG Report

Monetisation opportunities for content creators in India continue to be limited, with only 8-10 percent of influencers managing to earn income from their creative work, according to a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report unveiled at the 2025 Waves Summit.

India is home to approximately 2-2.5 million influencers with follower counts exceeding 1,000. Around half of these fall into the nano and micro-influencer categories, reported Moneycontrol.

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A substantial number of influencers earn less than ₹18,000 per month.

While only a minority are earning revenue, those who do are significantly influencing consumer spending.

These 2-2.5 million creators impact over 30 percent of Indian consumers and are linked to $350-400 billion worth of consumer expenditure, generating $20-25 billion in value across the economy.

By 2030, the influencer-driven share of consumer spending is projected to surpass $1 trillion, creating over $100 billion in revenue opportunities for the wider ecosystem.

Currently, brands investing in influencer marketing allocate about 10-20 percent of their total marketing budgets to the creator economy. Moreover, approximately 70 percent of these brands plan to increase their influencer budgets by 1.5 to 3 times over the next 2-3 years.

Creators who earn from their content fall into six main categories, many of whom have relatively modest follower bases but deliver high engagement and brand influence.

Trust Ambassadors: The largest group, with 1.4 to 1.7 million nano influencers who have between 10,000 and 50,000 followers. Though their reach is moderate, their engagement levels are high, and they often promote products across several categories.

Niche Creators: Around 400,000 to 600,000 influencers with a deep understanding of specific sectors. These creators hold strong sway over their targeted audiences and are used by brands to build both awareness and conversions.

Inquisitors: Estimated at 75,000 to 100,000 influencers, this group engages audiences by raising thought-provoking questions and sparking dialogue. They primarily support brand awareness efforts.

Influencer Icons: Comprising 60,000 to 80,000 individuals who create buzz and excitement, especially for products with short life cycles or frequent launches.

Disseminators: This category includes roughly 10,000 to 15,000 influencers who help build large-scale brand awareness, often introducing new ideas or products to a broad audience.

Trend Setters: The smallest cohort of 2,000 to 4,000 creators who uphold brand integrity and foster brand loyalty through consistent promotion and long-term collaborations. These influencers are typically engaged by market leaders.

Despite rising brand interest in influencer marketing, future growth in India's creator economy depends on exploring underutilised monetisation models like virtual gifting, live commerce, and subscription-based content.

Regional Indian platforms have established themselves in the virtual gifting space, particularly within live streams.

In this model, viewers can send digital gifts to hosts during broadcasts using in-app currency. Though all major Indian apps now offer virtual gifting, local platforms with strong tier II and III town penetration have seen higher uptake.

Virtual gifting sees particularly strong engagement in areas like entertainment (such as music, comedy, and gaming), as well as spirituality and self-help (like astrology and motivational content). Creators typically host live shows, where audiences engage via virtual gifts or microtransactions ranging from ₹10 to ₹100.

Live commerce-where creators sell products in real-time via streams-remains in its nascent stage in India but has shown consistent growth since 2020.

Subscription-based models, which enable creators to charge fans a recurring fee for exclusive content access, also remain underexploited in the Indian context.