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Earning money from using Instagram probably seems like a fantasy for most people, but in reality, it can be simpler than they might think!
This guide features our recommended strategies and useful information on how to get paid from Instagram, whether you are a brand or a content creator.
How Many Instagram Followers to Get Paid
In a report from Hype Auditor, Instagram influencers with varying follower counts were surveyed on how much they make off of their accounts.
On average, “micro-influencers” or accounts with 1,000 – 10,000 followers earn around $1,420, while huge accounts with more than one million followers earn $15,356.
One thing to remember is that your follower count isn’t everything when it comes to making money from your Instagram account. The amount you make will also depend on the niche of Instagram that you operate in, the target audience, as well as how much commitment you can give to the account.
15 Strategies to Earn Money From Instagram
1. Sponsored Posts and Brand Collaborations
Partnering with brands is the most well-known way for content creators to make money from Instagram; in 2021, the number of sponsored posts on Instagram rose by 27% from the previous year to around 3.8 million.
It is highly recommended that you collaborate with brands that match up with your values, interests, and especially the rest of your usual content, in order to maintain your authenticity and your audience’s trust. Additionally, be transparent about the fact that you get paid to post, keeping in mind the official Instagram branded content guidelines.
In the post below, pastry chef Claire Saffitz is partnered with KitchenAid USA, a brand of kitchen appliances. The brand partnership is sure to interest dessert lovers and aspiring chefs who follow Claire for her pastry recipes.
2. Become an Affiliate Marketer
Another great method for earning revenue for brands and content creators on Instagram is an affiliate marketing program. In this type of collaboration, content creators are compensated every time a purchase is made through their unique affiliate link, instead of being paid to post content.
In general, the commission rate will depend on the pricing and type of product involved, with lower-priced products having higher rates. However, keep in mind that the average commission should be between 5-30%.
In an interview with Business Insider, fashion influencer Bethany Everett-Ratliffe (@twentysomethingplus) reported earning $500 in just one month from affiliate links in 2021, when she had around 16,000 followers.
Currently, her Instagram profile includes an affiliate link to the clothing brand Abercrombie & Fitch so fans can shop for her curated looks while also supporting her financially.
3. Instagram Shop
Opening and running a shop on Instagram has become highly convenient thanks to the platform’s native e-commerce functionalities. It brings the process of buying and selling products directly onto the social media platform where your brand’s followers already spend their time. The success of this social selling feature is evident in the 130 million daily Instagram users who are engaging with Shopping tags.
The storefront on your Instagram shop can be customized so that products can be sorted into categories and collections. You can even include images and descriptions on each item, similar to other e-commerce platforms.
See the example below of a furniture shop account, and notice how their best-selling items and product categories are arranged in a sleek and integrated way.
4. Share Shoppable Posts and Stories
Instagram users will also be familiar with posts that have a shopping bag icon displayed in the top right corner. These are “shoppable” posts, which can let people know quickly that the items displayed are available for purchase. This is another highly effective method of promoting your products since shoppable posts will appear right on your followers’ feeds, and 72% of Instagram users make purchase decisions based on content that they see on the social media platform. (If you’d like to learn more about the power of social commerce on Instagram, check out our previous blog post here.)
In the post below, a clothing shop from Brooklyn showcases a pair of their shoes on a minimalistic background. The caption only provides the name of the product, but users can view it in more detail on the Instagram shop with a single tap.
5. Sell Your Merch!
Do you have a catchphrase that your followers know and love? Is there an inside joke among your fan community that would look hilarious on a t-shirt? These ideas can be printed and sold on your personal shop or existing e-commerce platforms as yet another revenue stream for your brand. This type of branding has demonstrably increased merchandise sales for influencers and businesses by up to 80%.
Here is longtime gaming Youtuber and Twitch streamer Jesse Cox (@notoriouscox) advertising his merch on Instagram. The collection includes jackets, t-shirts, posters, and hats, featuring art from one of his beloved gameplay series.
6. Take Advantage of the Dropshipping Business Model
Dropshipping, for those unfamiliar with the term, is a way of running an e-commerce business without having to manage your inventory and production by yourself. Millions of suppliers from around the world catering to different needs and covering various products can be chosen.
All you need to do is maintain your storefront, and advertise the goods that you would like to sell, and these suppliers can take care of everything else, from manufacturing the products to packing and shipping the orders. It’s a fast-growing industry, valued at around $226 billion in 2022, and estimated to reach $243.42 billion this year.
7. Advertise Your Business
At the end of the day, the basic option of simply advertising your business on Instagram is always a viable tactic, with Instagram ads’ boasting a 55% CPM increase in the past two years.
With this method, you can turn any post into a boosted ad, and you have the added benefit of being able to track its success and value thanks to Instagram’s analytics.
Adjustable targeting options also allow you to specify audiences you would like to reach, so whether you would like to find more of your customer base or reach out to newer demographics, Instagram’s got you covered. We’ve also compiled a list of effective Instagram post ideas that you can take a look at for inspiration!
8. Join Forces and Co-brand With Other Businesses
Teaming up with other businesses on Instagram can be another great way to grow your audience, and is a mutually beneficial partnership similar to a brand partnership with a content creator. Usually, this appears in the form of contests or giveaways, which can attract more than 34% of new customers compared to other content types. An event hosted by two brands can leverage the following of both brands and introduce themselves to new followers.
As an example, the cheese company @godminster has partnered with the charcuterie shop @somcharcuterie to do a giveaway which requires participants to follow both Instagram accounts and tag a friend in the comments. In this way, both businesses are introduced to new followers, and potential customers, who are likely to be interested in their products.
9. Set Up Live Badges
Live Badges are a relatively new method of Instagram monetization. Currently, it is available to all creators in the US who are at least 18 years of age and have at least 10,000 followers. Meanwhile, Instagram creators in 10 other countries can take part in this scheme on an invite-only basis.
Here’s how it works: fans can purchase badges during Instagram Live sessions at varying price points starting from $0.99, as a way to directly show their support similar to other tip-based functions on Twitch streams or TikTok live. One difference is that Instagram currently gives creators 100% of the revenue from Live Badges, compared to TikTok’s 50% share and Twitch’s varying 50-70%.
10. Sell Your Creative Works
For influencers within the creative circles of Instagram, from photographers to sculptors to tattoo artists, selling prints of your artwork or original creations is another viable monetization option. 87% of art buyers surveyed by Statista in 2020 claimed to use Instagram to find new artists.
Artist Leah Gardner shares pictures and videos of her painting process as well as finished works. In addition to using Shoppable tags on her posts, she also redirects her followers to her shop where they can purchase original pieces and prints of her paintings.
11. Offer Paid Subscriptions for Exclusive Content
Aside from sales from their shop and tips in the form of Live badges, Instagram creators can also earn recurring monthly income through the new premium subscriptions feature. The introduction of Instagram subscriptions in 2022 isn’t surprising, considering subscription-based commerce is predicted to reach a market size of $1.5 trillion by 2025.
With subscriptions, your account’s most devoted fans can gain access to exclusive content such as subscriber-only posts, reels, live streams, stories, and chats. The price of the subscription is left up to the creators themselves, starting from $0.99 to $99.99 per month.
12. Share Your Expertise and Get Paid
For creators or brands that deal with a specific area of expertise or specialized knowledge, offering paid classes can be another great way to earn money from Instagram. This is commonly seen among fitness influencers, but others have also entered the playing field, from astrologers to vocal coaches.
Aside from video courses that can cost anywhere from $100 to thousands of dollars, simple downloadable guides and eBooks are also very viable options.
In the example below, yoga instructor Adriene Mishler (@fwfglife) shares information on an upcoming yoga class. After 10 years of sharing free and paid yoga classes online, she has earned enough customer loyalty and revenue to start her own yoga and wellness app.
13. Cross-Promote Your Other Social Media Accounts
Instagram is a powerful marketing tool, constantly growing and ranking among the top 10 most visited websites globally, as well as ranking third in all web traffic referrals from social media. This makes it a prime channel to advertise your other ventures, such as a vlog channel on YouTube, a podcast, or a recipe blog. A popular way to do this is to post snippets or compilations of your own content from other platforms on Instagram and share links within the posts or in your bio.
Popular tabletop gaming channel Dimension 20, is promoting one of their recent gameplay series with an Instagram reel which redirects viewers to the show itself on Youtube and their on-demand streaming service.
14. Instagram Bonus Program
In 2021, Instagram’s parent company, Meta, announced its plan to invest over $1 billion in its creators with new methods to monetize content on Instagram and Facebook.
Currently available only to business and creator accounts on an invite-only basis, the Instagram bonus program is a way for users to earn money by hitting specific milestones, primarily with Instagram Reels. Additionally, bonus programs for IGTV ads and live badges have also been implemented.
At the time of writing this article, the Reels Play bonus program only supports Reels content in English and Korean, with plans to add support for more languages on the way. For more details on the program, check out Instagram’s official Help Center article.
15. Start a Feature Account
If you are unfamiliar with Instagram feature accounts, think of it as a showcase of photos and content of a particular topic, or a “Best Of” compilation. Feature accounts can cover a wide range of interests, from flower arrangements to fashion and travel, reposting an assortment of curated photos, and tagging the original creators for credit.
Here is where the opportunity to earn money comes in: a feature account with a sufficient following can be a highly prized resource for brands and businesses looking to advertise. On average, feature accounts have charged between $15 to $30 to promote a post.
Tips for Maximizing Income
- On top of all the aforementioned strategies, there are additional measures you can take to maximize their effectiveness. The first tip is to use data analytics to your advantage, which is where social listening tools like Mandala AI can give you a competitive edge.
- Following this, one important way to use data is to post content that is timely, relevant, and interesting to Instagram users. If you’re not sure where to start, we have compiled a list of Instagram trends to watch out for this year, as well as a guide to top hashtags on the platform.
- At the same time, remember to optimize posting times in order to reach your desired audience as effectively as possible.
Seize the Gram
Finally, we hope this article has empowered you to implement these new strategies in a way that you can adapt them to your unique needs!
Remember, diversification is crucial when it comes to earning money from Instagram. With such a wide range of ways to monetize your content and presence on the platform, it only makes sense to take advantage of multiple revenue sources while also keeping your social media presence on other platforms active.
