How to Make Money on Instagram?

Making Money on Instagram is nothing new. Around the world, thousands of Instagram influencers and everyday Instagram users are turning huge profits on the platform. Best of all, learning how to Make Money on Instagram isn’t nearly as complex as you may think. Establishing a viable online presence on Instagram holds the key to monetization.

From Instagram stories to a single sponsored Instagram post, there are various avenues to explore for making Money on Instagram. Best of all, most are fairly fast to get into, and many can be attempted free of charge. It’s up to you to figure out which works best for you, which is where this guide could prove useful.

How Many Followers on Instagram Do you Need to Make Money?

When researching how to Make Money on Instagram, most instinctively assume it’s all about the numbers. More specifically, it’s impossible to make money on Instagram without an enormous audience of followers. The truth is, the number of followers you need to start making money on Instagram isn’t huge.

In fact, turning a decent profit with just 1,000 or so followers is perfectly possible. What matters most is how active and engaged your followers are. You could, for example, have more than 100,000 followers, who, due to a total lack of activity, bring you no benefits whatsoever.

Inactive and fake followers are pretty much useless in terms of engagement and money-making potential. By contrast, a smaller audience of active and engaged followers can be far more profitable.

It’s, therefore, a case of factoring activity and engagement rates into the equation rather than focusing exclusively on the numbers. Figuring out how to get more followers on Instagram matters, but you need the right kind of followers to make things work.

How Much Do Influencers Make Money on Instagram?

The ultimate question for all ambitious content creators, though a question without a concrete answer. From A-list celebrities to the smallest micro-influencers, how much you can make on Instagram depends on countless factors.

For example, a report published recently in Business Insider suggested that micro-influencers can expect to earn $250 to $300 for a sponsored post. By contrast, an established celebrity – Kendall Jenner in this case – can pocket close to $300,000 for one single post. Then there’s The Rock, who netted a cool $1 million for a sponsored post couple of years back.

The amount you stand to earn depends on who you are, what you do, the size of your audience, and so on. An established artist or celebrity will, of course, be more likely to score a lucrative sponsorship or partnership than a newly established micro-influencer. Still, picking up as much as $300 per sponsored post isn’t bad!

How to Make Money on Instagram?

In any case, sponsored posts are far from the only way to get paid on Instagram. There are countless other avenues to explore, which in most cases are surprisingly simple to get into. A few options to consider if looking to turn your Instagram account into a revenue generator:

1. Become an Affiliate Marketer

What’s great about affiliate programs is that they’re almost always free to join. You can become an affiliate marketer without paying a penny, usually with the full support of the brand running the scheme. It’s as simple as placing affiliate links in your Instagram bios, stories, or post, which direct traffic to a third-party website.

Each time someone clicks one of these links, you earn a commission based on the action they take. CJ Affiliate, Pepperjam, ShareASale, and Rakuten are just a few of the big names running high-end affiliate programs right now. Some pay commissions of up to 20% on every sale that comes by way of referral traffic.

2. Partner With Brands

You could also try your hand at influencer marketing – i.e., partnering with a brand and showcasing their products for payment. A set fee is agreed for each sponsored post with which you present and recommend their products/services to your audience.

Establishing partnerships can be tricky due to the sheer competition on the platform. In addition, it’s something that calls for a proactive approach – don’t sit around waiting for them to come to you.

Reach out to brands and businesses within your niche, pitching yourself as the right person to promote their products/services. Show them evidence of your established and engaged audience, convince them you’re legit, and don’t be afraid to offer your services on a trial basis for free.

3. Get Paid For Your Content

There are also plenty of ways you can get paid simply for the content you publish. Two popular examples of which are as follows:

Monetize Your IGTV Videos

IGTV ads provide the opportunity for creators to make money from the content they are already publishing. Instagram hands a 55% share of all IGTV advertising revenues to its creators – the same as on YouTube. A great way of generating a passive income stream without having to do any additional work.

Live Badges

This is basically the Instagram equivalent of collecting tips from viewers. While broadcasting live on Instagram, viewers can purchase badges costing between 99¢ and $4.99. All of which goes into the pocket of the broadcaster in question, with a maximum contribution of $250 per viewer per session.

4. Promote Your Business

Instagram can also be the perfect place to promote your products or services in a more general capacity. What’s great about Instagram marketing is how it not only provides the opportunity to reach an enormous global audience but does so free of charge.

It costs nothing to set up an Instagram business account and use it for advertising your products and services. Social media marketing, in general, can be pure gold for smaller businesses, which may lack the capital needed to launch a paid ad campaign.

5. Set Up An Instagram Shop

Instagram Shops are becoming big business due largely to their simplicity and accessibility. If you have a viable product and a business account, you can transform your Instagram page into a fully-functional online store. Doing so involves seven fairly straightforward steps, as outlined by Instagram below:

Step 1: Confirm eligibility

Step 2: Convert to a business account

Step 3: Connect your Facebook Page

Step 4: Upload a product catalog

Step 5: Complete account review

Step 6: Turn on Shopping

Step 7: Make content actionable

There’s also a detailed step-by-step guide to setting up an Instagram shop on the platform’s website – click here to find out more. Millions of users from all over the world are already taking full advantage of the Instagram Shops feature. From branded merchandise to photo filters to expert consultancy services, you can sell just about anything through your Instagram Shop.

6. Link to Your Ecommerce Store

Of course, the alternative option is to use your Instagram account to promote your external eCommerce store. If already running an online store of some kind, Instagram is the perfect place to promote it and provide links directly to your product pages.

Promotions and incentives exclusive to those who find you via Instagram can also be highly engaging as they can bring a sense of urgency or FOMO (fear of missing out) into your marketing messages.

Present striking images of your products, accompanied by appealing descriptions and exclusive promos. Provides links to your product pages (or category pages if preferred) and channels as much traffic as you can from your Instagram posts.

7. Teach Your Audience and Get Paid

You don’t have to be selling something tangible on Instagram to make money. Far from it, as there are hundreds of thousands of Instagram users making small fortunes through online teaching. Monetising your own knowledge and experience provide the opportunity to make money doing something you love.

Basically, if there is something people want to learn how to do or to learn more about, it’s a business opportunity worth leveraging. For example, some people on Instagram teach others how to take better photos, some teach cooking skills, and others offer virtual yoga tuition.

Then there are those who offer full-scale business consultancy services, charging hundreds of dollars per private session. It’s a case of thinking of something you’re good at that other people will pay to learn. These ‘info products can be just as lucrative as tangible goods, with the added bonus of keeping costs and overheads to the bare minimum.

Final Thoughts

These are just a few of the many ways to make money on Instagram, beyond the obvious corporate sponsorship option. Across all social networks, the key to making money lies in offering something of genuine value and relevance. Your job is to think of something your target audience wants and choose the right way to make money out of delivering it.

You don’t necessarily sell anything directly to your customers to make money on Instagram. By a considerable margin, Instagram is one of the most powerful and influential marketing platforms on Earth.

Considering all available options therefore comes highly recommended. As does exploring the money-making potential of the other major social networks – check out our guide on how to Make Money on YouTube for further insights.