Every day you scroll through fantastic photos on Instagram. You’ve heard the stories of people getting paid to travel, being sponsored by brands, or making a living, and you want to be one of them.
But how do you get started? How to make money on Instagram? And what does it take to succeed? Let’s see!
Can You Make Money on Instagram?
Yes! It’s possible to earn money online with Instagram. We know this for a fact because countless people have already experienced it.
Due to competition from TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube, Instagram aims to assist creators in making a living on its platform.
But, like most things, there are two sides to the story.
The good news is that if you’re willing to work for it, you can make money on Instagram using your strengths.
The bad news is that building up an audience takes time and effort. So, before trying to make money on Instagram, you must have a clear strategy. Expect to make less than 500k a year by occasionally posting random photos.
Instagram has over 1 billion active users every month. That means there’s a huge potential market for you to tap into.
How Much Do Instagram Influencers Make
There are a lot of variables when it comes to calculating numbers because brands and creators tend to keep their income under wraps. It is possible to earn anywhere from a few dollars to a million dollars.
Your earnings will depend on your number of followers, engagement rates, and strategy.
According to Shopify, here are some indicative numbers:
- From 1,000 to 10,000 followers: $10 to $100 per post
- From 10,000 to 50,000 followers: $100 to $500 per post
- From 50,000 to 500,000 followers: $500 to $5,000 per post
- From 500,000 to 1 million followers: $5,000 to $10,000 per post
- 1 million or more followers: $10,000 to $1 million+ per post
As you can see, you can start earning money even with just a small following. You don’t have to be famous. Engaging followers will help you grow your account. Brands want influencers with active followers.
How Many Instagram Followers Do You Need To Make Money?
Indeed, you won’t immediately start with “rock star” status, but you don’t need millions of followers to earn good money.
The number you need depends only on what you’re selling, your audience, what niche you’ve found, and so on.
If your followers don’t trust you, they will never buy anything you offer. It’s much better to have 1,000 loyal followers who communicate with you, trust you, and love you, than 10,000 fake ones. These loyal people will buy the products you recommend.
So, are you ready to attract wealth into your life?
6 Ways To Make Money on Instagram
You can make money on Instagram in six different ways:
- Get sponsored by brands
- Promote your goods and services
- Become an affiliate
- Sell what you don’t need
- Create live videos and earn badges
- Earn ad revenue through videos
As you can see, there are plenty of options available. But which one should you choose?
Fortunately, you don’t have to choose only one way. You can combine all of these methods. All of this adds up to more opportunities for you to make a living.
Let’s take a look at them one by one.
Get sponsored by brands
You may have already heard of influencer marketing or the term influencer itself. An influencer is a person on the internet who has gathered an enthusiastic, loyal following of interesting, sound, or entertaining content and who trust, respect, and give their opinion on specific topics.
However, it is not only because of their influence and ability to shape opinion that many brands are willing to pay influencers substantial sums of money. It’s about trust and activity that most brands cannot achieve alone.
It’s important to find a balance between your income and your freedom as a content creator, as there will be brands that will impose certain conditions on your collaboration. Fortunately, you can decide which brands you accept offers from and how much of your creative freedom you sacrifice.
Promote your goods and services
If you have a business, Instagram is a great place to promote it. You can use the platform to show off your products, share information about your company, and even offer discounts to followers.
In addition, if you’re selling physical goods, you can create a shop on Instagram. That allows you to sell directly to customers without going through third-party platforms like eBay or Etsy.
Instagram Shop allows you to link your product catalog to your Instagram profile. By doing so, you can promote your products directly to users through all of the channels available on Instagram.
Instagram Shop is easy to set up and manage. You can customize it according to your preferences to match your brand colors and style.
Besides Instagram Shop, you can also make money by directing potential customers to your blog to earn advertising revenue, sell your course, etc.
Become an affiliate
Affiliate marketing is one of the easiest ways to experience how Instagram monetization works. Affiliates, unlike influencers, earn commissions by generating sales for the partner brand, not merely generating exposure.
Simply put, you earn a commission when someone from your Instagram account clicks on your affiliate link and buys a product. Usually, you get paid when someone buys the product, but in rare cases, you may also get paid for the clicks.
You showcase the product with a story, video, or short story and link it to your Instagram bio. If you have a blog, you can also tell people about the product there.
There are countless options to choose from, so you can easily find something that suits your needs. Some major affiliate companies include Amazon Associates, ClickBank, ShareASale, Commission Junction, Rakuten, etc.
Also, it’s essential to know that your name and reputation will be associated with your endorsements, so make sure you only recommend things you like, trust, and have tried.
Sell what you Don’t need
Instagram is an excellent place to sell the old stuff you don’t need anymore. It’s a perfect option for those with a small following who want to earn extra cash.
Think about furniture, clothing, collector’s items, electronics, books, household appliances, tools, sports equipment, etc. The possibilities are endless.
Make sure to take good photos of your items before posting them. The more appealing your photo is, the higher the chance of getting buyers. You can also post videos showing how well your item functions. For example, if you’re selling clothes, put them on and do a home fashion show.
If you are out of old stuff, you can always buy more at garage sales, thrift stores, auction sites, etc. You can find cheap deals that you can sell for a higher price and earn a nice profit.
Create live videos and earn badges
With the introduction of Instagram Live, influencers and businesses have another opportunity to extend their reach through video and make more money. It works similarly to TikTok and Twitch. During a live broadcast, you can earn badges from viewers as tips.
While watching the live stream, viewers can purchase a badge that will appear in the comments and unlock features. The price of badges ranges from $0.99 to $4.99.
Be sure to announce upcoming live videos to increase awareness and drive traffic to your page. Use the Q&A feature during broadcasts. It gives viewers a chance to interact directly with you. Give shoutouts to commenters.
Earn ad revenue through videos
In-stream video ads are another new way to earn money on Instagram. Brands can advertise themselves through these ads in your videos. You’ll earn 55% of the revenue generated whenever someone views your ads. However, don’t expect too much if only a few people watch your videos.
There are some requirements to be able to monetize your Instagram videos. For example, your video must be original, at least 2 minutes, and you must own the rights if you use music in your video. Photos, polls, looping videos, slideshows, and text montages are not eligible.
The amount you can earn per thousand views depends on many factors – the niche, your viewers’ country, the duration of your video, seasonality, etc. A Youtuber named “heyDominik” revealed earnings of $1.54 per thousand views. That is a realistic number that shouldn’t be hard to achieve.
How to Make Money on Instagram
There are several ways to make money on Instagram besides using it as a photo-sharing platform. You can create content, promote products, direct visitors to your website, sell what you don’t need, create live videos, and earn ad revenue.
We all have something we’re good at or passionate about. Put that skill to good use and get paid for doing what you love.
We hope you enjoyed this article! If you did, please share it with others so we can help them get started making money on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Hello Sensible and has been republished with permission by Mama Say What?!
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock /Ann Haritonenko
Tim Thomas is a renowned writer and entrepreneur specializing in finance, investing, and money matters. With his extensive knowledge and experience in the financial sector, Tim offers valuable insights into the world of personal finance, stock market trends, and investment strategies.
