How to Make Money on Instagram

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If you’re looking for ways to make money on Instagram, consider sharing more than just your photos and videos. Share your audience.

Make Money Instagram

Businesses are drawn to dedicated communities on the social networking app, even those that are in the low thousands. If your followers fit the profile of consumers a brand is trying to reach, you may be able to make some money. Don’t feel like going the influencer route? Try to sell your own products.

How much do Instagram influencers make?

The top five Instagram influencers as of April 2022 each have more than 200 million followers and include Cristiano Ronaldo, Ariana Grande, Dwayne Johnson, Kylie Jenner and Selena Gomez, according to Search Engine Journal. While the money these Instagram superstars can make is astronomical, the income that non-celebrity people can earn isn’t necessarily a big change.

Influencers with a million followers can earn somewhere around $670 per post, the search marketing website says. A content creator on Instagram with 100,000 followers can earn about $200 per post, while someone with 10,000 followers can earn about $88 per post.

So the formula is: more followers + more posts = more money.

How many Instagram followers do you need to make money?

With only 1,000 followers, you can make money on Instagram. Neil Patel, a widely known digital marketing specialist, says engagement is key: followers liking, sharing and commenting on your posts.

“Even if you have 1000 followers involved, the potential to make money is there,” he writes on his blog.

With an enthusiastic fan base, however small, “brands are willing to invest in you because of the profitable promotions you get through your account,” adds Patel.

5 ways to make money on Instagram

1. Get sponsored

Creating Sponsored Posts or Stories is the primary way Instagram users can cash in on their account. For example, if your feed focuses on pictures of your dog on walks, an outdoor equipment company may want to pay you to post a photo that shows the company’s product in the photo.

How to get sponsored on Instagram

So how do you find a sponsor? In some cases, potential partners will contact you. But if you don’t want to wait to be approached, check out companies that can help you find and work with brands.

Seek out a service

Which company you use depends on your needs. There are agencies that you work with directly, such as The Mobile Media Lab, and marketplaces that connect you with partners, such as Influicity. Other services can help you manage all your partner relationships, such as Aspire.

Be authentic

When looking for partners or choosing between different offers, focus on things that you and those you influence would actually use. Your pet’s followers are more likely to trust your opinion about a dog trail backpack than gourmet cat food. Don’t bother with products you don’t like. If your dog were to tear up an “indestructible” toy in an instant or bite off every sweater you put on her, there’s no reason to recommend these things to others.

Find brands that fit a niche as specifically as possible. Fans of your outdoor dog may be looking for lots of opinions on dog things in general, but will be really confident in knowing which protective booties work best for winter.

Keep in mind that Instagram Sponsored Posts and Stories in ads are held to the same standard of truth as any other form of marketing. Be sure to include a disclosure in every paid post and story. You do this by setting up branded content in your account settings and then tagging your business partner.

2. Promote your business

There are other ways to use Instagram to make money. You can create a business account to grow your business. For example, if you have an Etsy store that sells your crafts or a food blog that generates advertising revenue, a professional-looking Instagram account can provide a promotional boost. (This is also a common way to make money on Tik Tok.)

You can link to your Etsy or website in your profile or highlight a specific product in your bio section to drive more people to it. If your account is approved for Instagram Shopping features, you can tag products to directly promote your stuff.

Set yourself up for success

Take well-lit photos of products you’re trying to sell or projects you’re promoting and make them discoverable. Create your own hashtag and see which competitors are using. Encourage your customers to post photos of your stuff and tag you in it.

You can also use Instagram’s Insights feature to learn more about your audience. You can see how many eyes there are on your post, as well as statistics on people’s age range and gender.

The app’s resources also help you find and engage with new customers. Pay some money to promote posts you want more people to see. You can also add a button to your profile that links to an email address or phone number so that interested parties can easily contact you.

3. Sell your castoffs

Maybe you don’t have a business to promote, but you often sell your old clothes and accessories on websites like Poshmark. Instagram can boost your buyer pool.

Present and photograph your clothes and other things in an attractive way and include as much detail as possible in the caption. Brand, size, condition and age of each item are all good things to note. If you want to sell one item in particular, link to it in your Instagram bio. If not, just link to your Poshmark or other seller profile. Many Instagram sellers use #shopmycloset to sell their wares.

4. Earn badges through Live videos

You can earn money directly from your audience when you share real-time videos with Instagram’s Live feature. As you showcase your talents, products, and so on, viewers can purchase badges, which are essentially tips, to show support. Badges cost $0.99, $1.99, or $4.99. You’ll see heart symbols next to comments from people who have bought them.

Promote your upcoming Live Video Sessions through messages or stories to announce it in advance. Then try using the Q&A feature or commenting on commenters as you broadcast to increase engagement – and hopefully badges.

5. Monetize your videos with ads

Another way to get paid: let brands show ads during your videos. To set it up, go to your creator account settings and enable the monetization option for In-Stream video ads. Then post videos as usual.

The amount you earn will depend on how many views your video gets in the feed. According to the Instagram for Business website, you will receive 55% of the revenue generated per view. Payments are issued monthly.

However, you will not be paid if your videos do not meet the requirements. For example, videos must be at least 2 minutes long to be monetized. Instagram recommends aiming for a length of 2 to 4 minutes.

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About the Author: Sazzamul Ahmed