As we all know, style bloggers completely altered the fashion mediascape when they emerged into the mainstream around 2009, but the scene has continued to evolve over the past five years. How relevant are today’s bloggers to fashion consumers and top brands? WWD looked into it, and concluded that the answer is very.
“Bryanboy’s Bryan Grey-Yambao may have caused a stir in 2010 when he boasted that he made $100,000 annually as a blogger, but today that number appears paltry — top style bloggers now can earn more than $1 million a year,” writes the trade publication.
If you follow fashion news even marginally, you’re probably familiar with blogger-celebrities like Bryanboy, Jane Aldridge and Susanna Lau (Style Bubble), but WWD reports that these may not be the top bloggers in terms of driving retail sales:
“Amber Venz, president of performance-based digital management agency RewardStyle…said the top-five bloggers are ‘not who people think they are.’ RewardStyle confirmed its top earners can make more than $80,000 a month solely on affiliate commissions and excluding any other work or partnerships the bloggers might be compensated for.”
In fashion, affiliate marketing is typically a partnership between a publisher and a retailer or e-commerce site. The publisher agrees to drive visitors to the partner site and is paid according to performance, usually on the basis of clicks.
In terms of top performers according to affiliate sales, the article cites Mary Seng (Happily Grey), Chrissy Ott (The Perfect Palette) Erin Gates (Elements of Style) and Rachel Parcell (Pink Peonies) as fashion’s top-earning bloggers.
Parcell, for example, made $960,000 on affiliate sales alone this year, excluding her deals with brands like TRESemmé and J. Crew.
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