The Rise of VK Influencers: Marketing Insights and Trends for 2025

Today, VKontakte is one of the most popular social networks in Russia. According to Mediascope data, 71% of the country's population over the age of 12 uses it every month. 74% of people (around 90,1 million people) visit the site at least once a day, and the average time a user spends on the site is 43 minutes a day. 

In 2022, after Instagram* and TikTok were blocked, many bloggers moved to VKontakte to avoid losing their audience. Along the way, VK developers began to expand opportunities for new authors and advertisers. As a result, VK has become a more popular resource for both targeted advertising and Influencer marketing in Russia.

 

 

Let's have a closer look at opinion leaders: who is in the ratings, what he/she advertises, and what trends of influencer marketing in VKontakte are relevant in 2024. 

VK features for bloggers

Before we look at the ratings, it is worth mentioning the VK features for authors. Since the end of 2022, the developers of the social network have been actively introducing new features. Eventually, VK offers bloggers tools similar to Instagram*, plus other innovations.

The smart feed is similar to Instagram*'s "Recommendations" and selects users to show content based on their interests. It's an organic tool that uses artificial intelligence algorithms.

VK Clips are short videos in a vertical format. The content collects over 200 million views daily. A bonus for authors with 10+ thousand users is the ability to embed an advert in the clip and earn revenue from it.

Live streams have advanced advertising functionality. The author can add a link, product, or survey during the broadcast. Besides, viewers can support the blogger financially with a special button.

Stories, similar to Instagram*, are published in a vertical format and disappear 24 hours after publication.

Targeted advertising is paid promotion in all VKontakte channels for communities, goods, services, websites, and mobile applications. Campaigns are launched through the VK-Ads advertising platform.

The Clipper support program is designed for bloggers who actively use VK Clips. The authors who gain the highest number of views have a chance to get a prize fund of 100 million roubles.

VK Donut has a paid subscription for exclusive content.

In addition to core features, VK offers Video Transfer, an automatic tool for migrating content from YouTube and Instagram. Thanks to such options, creator activity on VK has been gradually increasing.

In 2024, VK Video significantly upgraded its monetization program. It now operates under a Revenue Share model, allowing video creators to earn 50% to 80% of ad revenue from their content.

Since the program's launch, the average income of creator has increased 2.5 times, with the highest payout in October exceeding 1 million rubles. The most notable revenue growth has been observed in family content, creativity, automotive, and cooking categories.

Unlike YouTube and Instagram, influencers on VK primarily create groups to promote themselves and their content. This is because personal pages offer limited customization, allowing only basic changes such as avatar, cover, and description. In contrast, VK groups provide extended functionality, enabling bloggers to design their communities in a unique style, tailor them to a specific niche, and add action buttons. Additionally, advertisers can launch paid campaigns directly within community audiences, increasing engagement and improving ad targeting accuracy.

Overview of popular VK Influencers

According to the analytics platform Brand Analytics, 21 062 325 authors post their content on VK (short for VKontakte). This includes popular Russian bloggers. After Instagram* was banned, more than 3,000 celebrities created their pages on the social network or resumed their activity after a long break. Some of them increased their audience several times over in a relatively short period of time. For example, the audience of video blogger Dmitry Maslennikov grew four times last year (note - 1,6 million subscribers), and singer Olga Buzova - 1.5 times (note - 1,1 million subscribers).

The top 20 VK bloggers are mostly idols of teenagers and young people. Each influencer in the rating has 1-3 million subscribers and their own style of content presentation.

 

Advertising Integration of the Italian Brand OMSA

 

Veydi_rush 

Veydi_rush or Vadim Spiridenkov is a blogger who became famous thanks to TikTok. He creates short humorous videos, mostly sketches about modern girls. 

Almost the entire target group is female, accounting for 1.2 million of the 1,9 million subscribers. 10% of them are from Moscow, about 5% from St. Petersburg and about 2% from other large Russian cities. Most of the audience is young: about 50% of the audience is between 23 and 35 years old, 16-23 year olds make up 10% of the audience, and 35-45 year olds - 35%.On average, posts have 700,000 views and videos have between one and two million views. The number of likes on posts ranges from 30 to 100 thousand, and the number of comments from 500 to 1500.

The blogger makes advertising in the format of short funny videos. Due to that the number of views of posts and videos does not decrease in comparison with the main content. In the example below, the author has natively integrated an advert for a VK dating app game. 

 

Advertising Integration of the HUAWEI nova 13 Smartphone

 

Samchuk_studio

In third place is the charismatic Elena Samchuk, who first gained popularity on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. She became widely known for her humorous videos, with each post quickly going viral. After access to TikTok was restricted in Russia and YouTube and Instagram were blocked, Elena quickly adapted to a new platform—VK.

There she focused on creating content based on everyday life situations, presenting them with a touch of humor. Her relatable and engaging style has attracted over 1.2 million followers.

When it comes to brand integrations, Elena carefully tailors them to align with the overall concept of her blog.

 

Pyaterochka advertising integration

 

Dmitry Maslennikov 

Dmitry Maslennikov is a video blogger who became popular on YouTube thanks to his narrative, "mystical" videos. Currently, Dmitry has diversified the content of his site by adding entertainment content of various genres. The author uses short videos, text, and photo posts and publishes links to new YouTube videos. 

The readers of the blog are split about 50/50 between men and women. 10% of the subscribers live in Moscow, another 5% live in St. Petersburg, and the rest are located in other regions of Russia. Young people aged between 18 and 25 make up almost half of the audience. Subscribers of other ages are equally divided. On average, posts get 400,000 views, 10,000-30,000 likes, and several hundred comments. 

Mostly, Dmitry places ads in the form of a post with photos. Sometimes the blogger uses the VK Clips format.

 

Advertising for STEP Peanut and Caramel Bars

 

DENIMANI

DENIMANI is a  group where the main stars—an adorable dog named Deni and a serious cat named Mani—effortlessly captivate a large audience on the platform.

Last summer, these bloggers ranked 8th, and by late autumn, they had climbed to 5th place. As part of the VK Clips advertising campaign, their owner participated in creating videos aimed at attracting new users to the platform.

Beyond VK, the blogger is also growing a Telegram channel, where they share more amusing moments featuring their pets.

 

Advertising Integration of the TECNO PHANTOM V Flip2 5G Smartphone

 

Yan Dilan

Yan Dilan (real name Artur Dilanyan) is a Russian blogger, musician, screenwriter, and actor. He creates video content, music videos, and promotes them on VK. His comedy sketches and musical parodies have gained particular popularity. In 2022, Yan Dilan received the VK Clips Award in the ‘Production of the Year’ category.

Besides VK, he actively runs a YouTube channel. When working on advertising integrations, he takes a creative approach, always incorporating his sense of humor.

 

Megamarket native advertising integration

 

Rustam Nabiev

Rustam Nabiev is a blogger often compared to Nick Vujicic. In 2015, while serving in the army in Omsk, he lost both legs due to a barracks collapse. After rehabilitation, Rustam refused to give up and instead dedicated himself to para-mountaineering.

He has achieved remarkable success, becoming the first para-mountaineer to conquer Elbrus, Kilimanjaro, Manaslu, and Aconcagua. His accomplishments earned him a place in the Guinness World Records for mountaineering.

Today, Rustam shares his achievements and motivational content, inspiring his audience. He also opens up about his personal life, recently announcing that his family is expecting their third child.

 

A Post Featuring a Personal Moment from Rustam Nabiev's Life

 

Shaman

Shaman (Yaroslav Dronov) is a Russian singer known for his patriotic songs. He is actively growing his presence on social media, particularly on VK, and regularly tours across Russia, participating in large-scale concert projects. In 2024, he was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation. There are no advertising integrations on his page.

Oksana Samoilova 

Oksana Samoilova is a well-known influencer who gained popularity thanks to her model-like appearance, which aligns with Instagram trends, as well as her marriage to famous Russian rapper Zhigan.

After Instagram was blocked, Oksana shifted her focus to VK, where she shares content about family life, parenting, fitness, and self-care. In addition to blogging, she is also an entrepreneur, having launched her own clothing brand.

 

Ozon Advertising Integration for Ozon Sale

 

Shobutinskaya Olga's Recipes

Shobutinskaya Olga's Recipes is a VK group actively managed by culinary blogger Olga Shobutinskaya. Like many bloggers, she initially started by creating video content for YouTube. Later, she decided to expand her reach and began growing her presence on other social media platforms, including VK, where she shares step-by-step recipes and photos of her dishes, helping her audience easily recreate them at home.

 

Fast Tea от Vitax Advertising Integration of the Fast Tea Teapot by Vitax

 

Masha and Robert | Thegerbers

Masha and Robert are one of the most popular and beloved couples on the Russian platform VK. They started their blogging journey by creating joint video content, which they initially posted on TikTok, where they now have over 8.2 million followers and 399.5 million likes. They also maintain an Instagram account with more than 1 million followers.

Their content mainly includes dance videos, comedy sketches, and moments from daily life.

 

Advertising Integration of TECNO PHANTOM V Flip2 5G and TECNO PHANTOM V Fold2 5G

 

Advertising integration examples from niche VK bloggers

We keep saying, and we've seen it in practice, that brands don't always need (and can't afford) to integrate with millionaire bloggers. There are many reasons for that. The main one is the sharp need for niche blogging because of specific characteristics of a product or service. 

Below are a few examples of such influencers.

Elena Krygina 

Elena Krygina is a make-up artist, video blogger, and entrepreneur. The author's target audience consists of women aged 20-45 who live in different regions of Russia and are interested in business, cosmetics, and make-up. 

Elena's VK profile has 36,5 thousand subscribers. On average, her posts receive 5-10 thousand views. The blogger actively promotes her own company's products, cosmetics from various brands, and events she takes part in. For promotional purposes, the author actively uses the post format with a carousel of images.

 

Advertising Campaign for the Samsung Galaxy Store and Stars Coffee

 

Slavniy Druzhe Oblomoff

Oleg Grigoriev is a video blogger on YouTube: he cooks and reviews food from restaurants. The author's content is mainly devoted to culinary topics. Oleg's audience is therefore diverse: men and women aged 16-60 who are interested in products, cooking, and entertainment. 

The blogger has 459, 000 subscribers, with posts averaging between 50 and 150,000 views, several hundred likes, and dozens of comments. 

Oleg works with brands mainly on YouTube, integrating advertising content into videos. Periodically, the author posts on his VK profile.

 

Yandex Market advertising integation

 

Advertising content labeling

From September 1, 2023, in Russia, it is possible to be subject to a fine under the law if an advertisement has no labeling. Labeling is the process of adding a notice to an ad stating that it is an advertisement, an identifier, and information about the customer. The ad is thus given a token in the format "erid: xxx". 

For example, this is what a VKontakte ad looks like:

 

 

For videos, the token will be shown directly in the video:

 

The advertising integration token is located in the top left corner of the video featuring Milana Khametova

 

In text ads, you can put an identifier anywhere you want. However, most ads are marked at the very end of the post.

 

The advertising integration token is located at the bottom of the post by bloggers Lera_Danya

 

Every month, an advertising report is submitted to the Unified Register of Advertising on the Internet. This is necessary for

• advertisers to have an idea of what their money is spent on; 

• the Antimonopoly Service to detect illegal advertising; 

• the tax authorities to control taxation.

All ads seen by users in Russia should be tagged, even if the advertiser is located outside the country. 

Advertisements are typically reported by the publisher of the ad or the intermediary between the brand and the influencer. So it's usually an advertising agency, a freelancer, or the company itself if it ran or bought the ad itself.

When the ad, video, or images are ready, the person responsible for tagging sends the material and data about the advertiser to the advertising data operator (e.g. VK if the ad is launched by VKontakte). The operator sends the data to the Unified Register of Internet Advertising and assigns a token to each element. An advertisement is placed with this token and marked as "advertisement". In addition, within 30 days after one month of advertising, the person responsible for tagging and the advertiser (blogger or advertising system) send information about the creator, advertiser, and statistics to the advertising data operator.

In practice, it's not as complicated as it looks at first glance. RMAA managers take care of all the functions related to advertising legislation, from filing an application to reporting to the state authorities after the campaign. We have given more details about the process of advertisers' interaction with legislative bodies in our White Paper 'Russian Digital Market Overview'. 

In 2025, another new law on blogging in Russia must be considered. Starting this year, all influencers with an audience of more than 10,000 followers are required to provide their information to Roskomnadzor. Those who fail to comply may face fines and account blocks. A blogger who has not completed verification is not allowed to publish any content, including advertising integrations.

Here is an example of how blogger verification information should be displayed on a group or account page.

 

Blogger Dmitry Maslennikov verification Information in his VK Group

 

Despite the legislative aspect, advertising on VK through opinion leaders is a very promising trend in 2024. The social network's audience is diverse and its advertising tools are becoming more advanced. This opens a wide range of opportunities for Russian authors, millionaire bloggers, and highly specialized opinion leaders. 

RMAA will help you develop your advertising strategy and select the right bloggers to achieve your goals in the Russian and the CIS markets within your planned budget.  

If you do not have such goals yet, we invite you to read more about marketing in Russia and the CIS. Subscribe to our blog to keep up to date with the latest advertising events.