Having a large and engaged following on Facebook can open up opportunities to monetize your presence through advertising, sponsorships, affiliates, and more. Many content creators wonder how big their audience needs to be before they can start earning money from Facebook.
Facebook Monetization Options
There are a few main ways to make money directly from Facebook as a content creator:
- Facebook Ad Revenue Share – You can enroll your Facebook page in the Ad Revenue Share program once you hit certain follower thresholds. This allows you to earn a cut of the ad revenue from ads displayed on your page.
- Facebook Stars – Fans can purchase “Stars” during your live videos to show support and appreciation. You earn 1 cent per Star purchased.
- Sponsorships – Brands may offer to pay you to create sponsored content and promotions on your Facebook page.
- Affiliate Links – You can monetize product recommendations by including affiliate links within your Facebook content.
The more followers you have, the more potential reach you have for monetization through these options. Let’s explore the follower thresholds required for the main Facebook monetization programs.
Requirements for Facebook Ad Revenue Share
The Facebook Ad Revenue Share program allows you to earn money from ads displayed alongside your content. Facebook shares a portion of the revenue based on your total viewership and engagement.
To qualify for Facebook Ad Revenue Share, you need:
- At least 10,000 lifetime page likes
- To be located in a country where the program is available
- An account in good standing, with no policy violations
However, to earn meaningful revenue, most experts recommend having at least 100,000 engaged followers. The more followers you have, the more ad views you can generate, and thus the more ad revenue.
Revenue Share Rates
Facebook pays content creators 55% of the revenue generated from ads running alongside their content. For in-stream ads within videos, the revenue share rate is higher:
| Ad Placement | Revenue Share Rate |
|---|---|
| In-stream video ads | 55% |
| All other ad placements | 45% |
As you can see, having a popular video presence on Facebook can result in higher potential monetization rates.
Requirements for Facebook Stars
Facebook Stars allow your fans to tip and support you during live videos. Fans purchase Stars during your live broadcasts, and you earn 1 cent per Star.
To be eligible for Stars, you need:
- At least 10,000 lifetime page likes
- To be located in an eligible country
- No recent policy violations on your account
However, most creators don’t see significant earnings from Stars until they have at least 25,000 engaged followers. The more popular your live videos are, the more fans will be inclined to send Stars.
How Many Stars Do Top Broadcasters Get?
To give you an idea of realistic Star earnings potential, here are some examples of average Stars received by creators per broadcast:
| Followers | Average Stars per Broadcast |
|---|---|
| 25,000 | 100 |
| 100,000 | 500 |
| 500,000 | 5,000 |
| 1 million | 25,000 |
As you can see, broadcasters with 1 million+ followers earn significantly more Stars than those just starting out. But even smaller creators can rack up extra earnings over time, especially if they broadcast consistently.
Sponsorship Opportunities
Many brands are willing to pay content creators to promote their products or services to engaged follower bases. Sponsored content opportunities typically increase the larger your audience is.
As a very rough guideline, you may be able to attract small sponsorship opportunities with as few as 10,000 engaged followers. Brand deals can become more lucrative at follower counts of 50,000+, and six-figure deals are possible at 1 million+ followers.
Keep in mind that follower count isn’t everything. The level of engagement on your content and the relevance of your audience to potential sponsors are big factors too. A highly engaged audience of 50,000 may be more appealing than a disengaged audience of 250,000.
Average Facebook Sponsorship Rates
Here are average rates that brands pay for sponsored Facebook posts at different follower levels:
| Followers | Average Sponsorship Rate |
|---|---|
| 10,000 | $100 |
| 50,000 | $500 |
| 100,000 | $1,000 |
| 500,000 | $5,000 |
| 1 million+ | $10,000+ |
Rates scale up significantly once you have an audience size in the hundreds of thousands or millions. Again, these are just rough estimates – the actual value depends on your specific audience and niche.
When Can You Start Using Affiliate Links?
Affiliate links allow you to recommend products and services and earn a commission when followers make purchases through your links. There is no follower threshold to start incorporating affiliate links in your Facebook content.
However, you’ll earn higher commissions with a larger audience driving traffic to your affiliate links. Most bloggers don’t see meaningful affiliate earnings until they reach 50,000+ monthly visitors. The same principles apply to Facebook affiliate marketing.
Affiliate links can complement your earnings nicely once you have a solid follower base of 25,000+. But becoming a full-time affiliate marketer typically requires an engaged following of 200,000+.
Conclusion
Here are the key Facebook follower milestones to keep in mind:
- 10,000: Minimum to qualify for Facebook monetization programs
- 25,000: When you may start seeing some earnings from Stars and affiliate links
- 50,000+: Significant sponsorship opportunities arise
- 100,000+: Ad revenue and Stars earnings can become substantial
- 500,000+: Access to five and six-figure brand sponsorship deals
- 1 million+: Maximum monetization potential with lucrative sponsorships, affiliate sales, and ad revenue
Having an audience of over 1 million engaged followers unlocks the most income potential on Facebook. But you can get started with monetization at 10,000+ followers using a mix of ad revenue, Stars, sponsorships, and affiliate links.
Focus on building an audience that is highly engaged with your niche and content style. Quality is more important than quantity when it comes to monetizing your Facebook presence.