Can you make money on Instagram?
Hell yeah. Helping creators make a living on the platform is a top priority for Instagram, especially as competition heats up from TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube.
“Our goal is to be the best platform for creators like you to make a living,” said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the company’s first-ever Creator Week in June 2023.
In 2023, Instagram was the second-most downloaded app in the world. It’s the 7th most-visited website globally, the 4th most-used social media platform, and has 1.22 billion users every month. All of which is to say: that’s a massive potential audience. With an enormous and diverse pool of people who could potentially be exposed to your content, there are plenty of opportunities to earn money.
Want more proof? Grab the popcorn and watch this video from Hootsuite Labs.
How do you make money on Instagram?
Depending on your unique brand of Instagram content, your audience, and your level of commitment, you can make money on Instagram in the following ways:
- Doing sponsored posts for brands that want to get in front of your audience.
- Becoming an affiliate and making a commission selling other brands’ products.
- Monetizing your videos or content with advertisements
- Going live with badges is another way of making money on Instagram
- Creating and selling a physical or digital product, or offering a paid service.
- Selling licenses for your photography or videos.
- Pull people with powerful content
- The beauty here is that chasing one revenue stream doesn’t necessarily rule out another.
So, going by that rule let’s start with the most common approach to Instagram monetization: partnering with brands as an influencer.
How do I work with brands on sponsored posts?
The term “influencer” gets thrown around a lot these days.
An influencer is anyone who’s built an online reputation by doing and sharing awesome things online. To their audiences, influencers are tastemakers, trendsetters, and trusted experts whose opinions about certain subjects are respected. Influencers play a crucial role to help you make money on Instagram.
Many brands just can’t compete with that and so they partner with influencers instead for sponsored posts that help get the word out about their products.
But it’s not just the size and reaches of your Instagram account that brands want. It’s your audience’s trust and engagement with your content.
It can be hard to balance your revenue as an influencer and your integrity as a creator, but if you’re not relying on your Instagram income to stay afloat, you always have the freedom to be selective about the brands you work with, just as brands will be selective about the Instagrammers they work with.
1.Brand Partnerships
As a content creator, you can partner with brands to promote their products and services. Instagram has placed some restrictions on sponsored content that you will have to follow. Creators are not allowed to promote products like drugs and weapons.
The average revenue you earn from sponsored content is usually determined based on your existing follower count and engagement rate. Both the rules created by Instagram and new rules framed by ASCI mandate that you disclose paid partnerships. To understand what qualifies as sponsored or paid partnership, we recommend that you read the full list of scenarios listed by Instagram.
2.Promote Affiliate Links
Affiliate marketing allows you to earn a commission for promoting other companies’ products and services. As a content creator, you can partner with brands or affiliate marketing networks like Commission Junction to promote various products and services relevant to your audience.
You can promote affiliate links via your bio, captions, videos, and posts to your audience. Content creators can expect to earn a 5-15% commission on every sale. If you are confused about which affiliate marketing programs in India will suit your channel, we have developed a comprehensive list that you can check out by visiting the link above.
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 pool of buyers.
Present and photograph your clothes and other things appealingly and include as much detail as possible in the caption. The brand, size, condition, and age of each item are all good things to note. If you’re looking 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 hawk 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 buy badges, which are essential tips, to show support. Badges cost $0.99, $1.99, or $4.99. You’ll see heart symbols next to comments from people who’ve purchased them.
Promote your upcoming Live video sessions through posts or stories to get the word out beforehand. Then, try using the Q&A feature or give shoutouts to commenters while you’re broadcasting to boost engagement — and hopefully, badges.
While a flurry of profitable heart emojis sounds pretty great, you’ll need 10,000 followers to be eligible for badges.
5.Monetize Reels with bonuses
Reels (short-form, vertical videos) are all the rage these days, and if you can make good ones, you may be able to get in on Instagram’s Reels Play bonus payout program. It’s a relatively new, invite-only program that allows content creators to earn money for making videos that go viral. Instagram says the earning potential is varied during the current testing stage.