“Booba killed us”: influencers saw their income drop “from 35,000 to 5,000 euros”

2023-07-06 18:33:47

Would the war against those nicknamed “influencers” have gotten the better of their business? In recent months, several reality TV stars, who earn thousands of euros monthly on social networks, have witnessed a sharp drop in their income. A discount which follows long months of controversy, fueled by their dubious partnerships, and a fight launched by rapper Booba, converted into a self-proclaimed whistleblower on the subject.

“Frankly, he killed our business,” said Julia Paredes, ex-candidate of “Angels”, also passed by “Moms & Famous”, about the rapper. “Before, I had three posts a day, now I have one every two days. And again, ”she explained to blogger Jeremstar, in a video YouTube broadcast this Sunday.

Consequence of this drop in productivity: the gains are no longer the same. “It’s a big decline, assured Julia Paredes. Months ago I was earning 35,000 euros, 35,000 to 40,000 euros. After the controversies, now we are at 5,000.

Prices halved

“Booba killed us,” insisted the star, explaining that this drop in income came after “the controversy around influencers. “However, she does not want to be put” in the same basket “as those pinned. “Do I promote vagina creams? No ! »

Before Julia Paredes, Sarah Fraisou, former candidate of the “Princes of love”, had confided to the Parisian, in March, her difficulties. “The cash flow is not the same as before, that’s clear. Prices have been cut in half,” she admitted.

Same thing for Amandine Pellissard, who, last April, said she earned “between 10 and 20,000 euros per month” in 2020. Her last earnings, made at the end of 2022 before her turn to the X industry, amounted to more 000 euros.

Without dropshipping, earnings diminish

Previously buoyant, the economic model of the reality TV influencer, fueled by counterfeit partnerships, controversial slimming or beauty products, or even questionable financial investments, is crumbling. “Everyone knows that partnerships have gone down,” said YouTuber Bastos, ex-candidate of “Marseillais”, in February.

Last October, Magali Berdah, director of the Shauna Events agency, had also confided that she had reduced her partnerships with dropshipping brands by 95% in 2021. This practice, lucrative but strongly decried, consists of reselling objects of lesser quality, bought at very low prices in China, at the highest price to unconcerned customers.

In an interview facing blogger Sam Zirah, influencer Nathanya Sonia, ex of the “Angels”, claimed to earn up to 30,000 euros per month thanks to this practice. “It put me in a real financial mess, because overnight, I decided not to accept these brands anymore. It was a big upheaval, you really go into another living environment, ”she said at the end of 2022.

Towards better regulation?

The law regulating the work of influencers will further jeopardize the work of reality TV stars. This severely punishes the promotion of cosmetic surgery, makes them liable if they share counterfeit ads and will penalize them even if they are based in Dubai. Implementing decrees are still awaited. Meanwhile, several stars have already been pinned by the DGCCRF for “misleading commercial practices”.

Faced with the law and controversy, influencers, whether they come from reality TV or not, will also have to work hard to convince the French again to follow their suggestions. A survey conducted by the Cetelem Observatory and Harris Interactive reported that between 64 and 70% of them say they do not trust the recommendations of these Internet stars, whether for products or services presented within the framework or outside of a partnership. Worse still: 70% of French people surveyed say they have a “rather bad” or even “very bad” image of influencers.