How Snoop Dogg built his social media empire
Celebrities typically earn more than social media influencers with the same following. And those prices have gone down substantially over the past few years as brand focused more on micro-influencers (those under 100k).
Huda Kattan and Lele Pons are probably the highest paid Instagram influencers, and they are worth around $150k per post in 2021.
This is with 45 million followers and 2 million engagements per post.
Meanwhile, Kylie Jenner earns over $1.2 million for sponsored posts to her 264 million followers and 8 million post engagements.
This means Kylie makes about 10x more for 4x more engagement than Lele, and that’s because her celebrity makes her influence seem more worthwhile.
But is it really?
While the Kardashians have a media empire, there’s not really any data to support that associating your brand with their Instagram is more valuable than Lele Pons.
The lines between celebrity and influencer have been largely blurred since the days of Snoop Dogg’s peak celebrity.
Snoop has been in the game a long time though, and he’s a very wise businessman because of it. I actually interviewed his manager at Cashmere Agency close to a decade ago about his social media plans when cannabis was first legalized in Colorado.
Snoop Dogg Is a Pot Pioneer - Thought for Your Penny
When Colorado and Washington legalized the consumption of cannabis, the country was instantly divided. Opponents of marijuana decriminalization spotlight its problems. But Snoop chases paper. He even invited me to see Snoop and Wiz Khalifa perform at Red Rock during the first legal Cannabis Cup in 2014, which I covered for Jim Cramer.
One of my favorite stories was learning about the Snoopify app. Snoop didn’t just look to get paid for IG posts - he developed an entire app that did nothing but Snoopify your Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter photos.
You can still download it today on Android and iOS, and it is very much owned by Snoop, so he gets the profits from anything you buy.
This level of branding shows that Snoop’s celebrity transcends a single profile. He’s a household name and a successful brand who, like Krusty the Clown in The Simpsons, can license his name and image to anything to make a few dollars.
He made over $100k off in-app purchases within the first year. That’s a huge profit for something he doesn’t do much for. It’s still in the store 7 years later, and I’m sure he earned another 6–7 figures from it in that time.
Snoop does a ton of these endorsement deals. Sometimes they’re obviously weed- or rap-related, but he’s keen on diversification and investing in tech.
And that’s just the start, because Snoop is a hustler. He doesn’t just do music videos on his YouTube. In 2013, he also started GGN News, which pulls 300k-1m views per episode.
This supplements his music videos and contributed a lot to his 2.5 billion YouTube video views for a lot less cost to produce than a music video.
Learn how much he actually made off all those views and more about Snoop Dogg’s social media empire, check out Typo Today.