The “Kate effect” and “Meghan effect” have been discussed for years, as both royal women have the power to wear a single item of clothing and sell it out within hours. Now we can put a dollar value on it. According to new research conducted by The London Institute of Photography who analyzed every picture of the royal women in the past year, Kate and Meghan have generated $2.4 million in influencer value, making them among the most powerful online personalities in the world.
“The royals are talked about all the time and we wanted to see how they relate to social media and fashion,” said Damon Culbert , who led the research for the London Institute of Photographer. “Kate and Meghan are both powerful social media influences, but Meghan came out tops in our research. It’s her first year as a royal and it has been a very busy year with a marriage and the birth of Archie. It goes to show that the Duchess of Sussex’s online presence is highly valuable to audiences around the world.”
The London Institute of Photography analyszd six fashion Instagram accounts with a focus on the royals. including Vanity Fair, British Vogue, Elle UK, Harpers Bazaar, Grazia, and Tatler. They calculated each ‘like’ to be 42 cents in value using a calculator by Inkifi https://inkifi.com/earnings-on-instagram/, which identifies one follower as 42 cents. The research found that Meghan generated more photos and scored more ‘likes’ than Kate this year. Across the six platforms there were 281 pictures of Meghan which gathered 3.8 million likes, with 161 pictures of Kate across the same digital platforms, garnering 1.79 million likes.
“From the research we have done Meghan was more influential than Kate,” Culbert said. “I think it is because Meghan has had such a big year in the spotlight and of course the birth of Archie. It’s her first full year as a duchess so there’s been more focus on her which has enabled Kate to take more of a back seat.”
While the Duchesses don’t carry the same currency as some celebrity influencers, they are still very relevant and important on the social media platform. “To put things into perspective, Kylie Jenner is the highest paid influencer earning $1.9 million per post,” Culbert said. “The Duchesses don’t get paid for their images on social media but they are still very influential. They are able to curate their public image by how they are seen and photographed. For example Meghan opting for ethically and sustainably produced fashion.”
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