How to make money on Instagram
The methods that may work best for you will depend on your unique brand of content on Instagram, your target audience, and your level of commitment.
The beautiful thing is that the pursuit of one source of income does not necessarily exclude another.
Did you know you can buy quality followers on Instagram?
So let's start with the most common approach to Instagram monetization: partnering with brands as an influencer.
Tips on how to make money on Instagram
- Collaboration with brands on sponsored posts
- Become a partner
- Open your own e-shop
- Setting up shop on Instagram
- Sell your photos online
- Monetize your content
- Sell old stuff
1. Collaboration with brands on sponsored content
The term "Instagram influencer" is thrown around a lot these days.
An influencer is basically anyone who has built an online reputation by doing and sharing amazing things online. To their audience, influencers are tastemakers, trend setters, and trusted experts whose opinions on certain topics are respected.
Many brands simply can't compete with this, so they work with influencers on sponsored content such as posts, reports and stories to help spread the word about their products.
But brands aren't just about the number of followers and reach of your Instagram account - they're about audience trust and engagement with quality content.
It can be hard to strike a balance between your income as an influencer and your integrity as a creator, but unless you're relying on your Instagram marketing income to keep you afloat, you always have the option to pick and choose the brands you work with, just as brands will pick and choose the Instagrammers they work with.
How do you decide how much to charge as an influencer?
Typically, these agreements with influencers involve the creation of content - an Instagram ad, post, video or story - and sometimes include permission for the brand to use that content on its own site or in advertising.
Most of these agreements are negotiable and may involve a single contribution or an entire campaign in exchange for a fee, a free product, a service, a gift, a promise of visibility, or some combination of these.
When negotiating, keep in mind that you're not just offering content, but also access to your audience - potentially a large reach on one of the most popular social media platforms - and usage rights.
The average influencer with up to 100,000 followers charges up to $500 per post, just to give you an idea of how much some brands are willing to pay and how to negotiate based on the cards you have in your hand.
Last but not least, it's important that as an influencer you also know your own audience.
What is the composition of your audience and what is your engagement rate (total engagement divided by your followers)? You can dig into Instagram's analytics report to confirm this if you've switched to a corporate account. This will help you be prepared when it comes time to negotiate.
How do you find brands to work with?
If you are big enough, it is likely that brands will find you. But you can also look for brands to work with that are on a similar level in terms of personality and values, so your audience won't feel like you're "selling out."
You can approach them directly and try to get a deal, but you can also sign up on one of the many influencer marketplaces to increase your chances of being discovered, e.g:
- Fohr. Connect your Instagram, blog, YouTube channel and other social platforms to create an influencer "card" that shows your various profiles and overall reach for brands looking for partnerships. You also have access to a list of brands and their wants, so you can take the initiative to reach out to them as well.
- Crowdtap. Complete small tasks related to content creation and earn rewards. This is great if you have a smaller audience. Only available in the US.
- IndaHash: Take a trip abroad to see how you fare. Brands post campaigns that you can participate in. Post a picture on Instagram with the designated hashtags and raise money. To be eligible, you must have at least 700 engaged followers.
Rules vary for sponsored content, but to be on the safe side and respect your audience's trust, consider adding the hashtag #sponsored to tag sponsored posts.
For examples of sponsored posts and how Instagrammers are incorporating brands into their stories or captions, search #sponsored on Instagram, like this one from the account How They Asked, which shares stories about a proposal at a wedding and partnered with a jewelry company:
Instagram also has a "Paid Partnerships With" tag that prominently identifies sponsored posts that some brands may require you to use to disclose your relationship with them.
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2. Become a partner
Unlike an influencer, an affiliate is more involved in making sales for the affiliate brand - not just creating awareness - in exchange for a commission.
This is usually done with a trackable link or a unique promo code to ensure that the click actually turns into a sale. Use a combination of clickable links in your Instagram bio and Instagram Stories or through stickers. Since you can't embed links in Instagram posts, you can create promo codes to make money from different angles.
Consider reaching out to one of the many online merchants that offer affiliate programs. Or you can explore popular marketplaces such as:
- ClickBank. An affiliate platform with tiered commissions that is open to all.
- LTK. A network of fashion and lifestyle influencers that offers 20% commissions by invitation only.
- Amazon Associates. A popular option that pays 10% commission.
Although it sounds like a numbers game, affiliate marketing is also an art and you'll have a better chance of success if you go into it with a plan and expand your online presence to include websites and other marketing channels.
Tip: Affiliate links can be long and ugly, so I recommend a URL shortener like Bitly, especially if the links point to your Instagram bio.
3. Open your own e-shop
Now it may sound like the only way an Instagrammer can make money is to sell and partner with other brands.
But creators of all kinds have a good opportunity to "sell themselves" with their own products: physical goods, services or digital objects that can be an extension of their brand, and thus build a business with the audience at its heart.
The ability [of content creators] to sell products is so natural because their abundance of content allows them to connect those moments to products.
Chris Vaccarino, founder of Fanjoy
You need to invest some time up front, but in today's world it's almost natural for creators to make the leap to entrepreneurship. This is becoming easier with Instagram's growing list of tools available for building an audience.
Just look at Loki the wolf, one of the greatest Instagram entrepreneurs of his time.
By selling your own stuff, you don't have to worry about integrating messages from other brands into your posting strategy. What's more, you can put your own branding on the products you sell.
Fans can show their love and support your work by buying from you - a purchase that makes them feel good.
There are several ways to sell your own goods:
- You can use our custom printing service to print and ship your own t-shirts, pillows, coffee mugs, wall art and more.
- You can sell services such as photography or consulting, and use your resume to refer the prospect to a contact email or link to your professional website.
- You can sell digital products such as online courses, eBooks or design templates.
You can use your Instagram business account to start a startup that will sell your own original products. You can use dropshipping so you don't have to deal with holding inventory or returning items.
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4. Setting up shop on Instagram
The last few years have been huge for brands and ecommerce creators looking to sell on social media. Instagram has released a bunch of features under the Instagram Shopping banner that allow people to easily shop videos and images of your business on the platform.
Instagram's shopping tags are so effective - and more than 130 million people click on shopping tags each month - because they allow people to go from inspiration to product information in a few taps."
Taylor Loren, in an edited excerpt from How to Make Money on Instagram
It all starts with your Instagram shop, aka your storefront. It's where you share your story and sell products. Instagram provides shoppers with an elegant environment to view and buy your collections. All you need to set up an Instagram shop is a Business or Creator account.
You can customize your store by creating collections or curated products presented in themes. Common themes include news, gifts or seasonal trends.
Just like in an online store, you can create product description pages in the store. Here you can include all the important product information such as prices and descriptions. You can send people to your website to complete the purchase or let them buy through the app using Instagram checkout.
But it doesn't stop there. People can also shop your products across Instagram with features like:
- Shoppable posts a Stories. Use product tags to showcase items from your catalogue in videos and images. People simply have to click to learn more about the item.
- Buyable ads. You can also add product brands to your ads to extend the reach of your shoppable posts. Setup is easy in the Ads Manager app or you can boost existing Instagram posts in your feed.
- Instagram Shop tab. The Instagram shopping card is the goal of people who want to discover new brands that are relevant to them. This makes it easier to reach new customers in the app.
- Real-time shopping. Love live streaming content? Then live shopping on Instagram will help you make money. Just go live and tag products from your catalog (or Facebook store) that you want to feature in the broadcast. The product will appear at the bottom of the screen where people can tap to purchase it instantly.
The best part? Setting up an Instagram shop is free. You only pay a commission if someone makes a purchase through the Instagram checkout.
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5. Sell your photos online
Someone might get famous on Twitter for telling 140-character jokes, but Instagram is essentially a photo-sharing app. And photos are property that can be licensed, printed and sold in a variety of ways.
If it's photography that brought you to Instagram in the first place, you can list your photos on marketplaces like 500px or Twenty20, where brands and publishers can license them.
However, you can also sell your photographs as prints and on other physical products in a similar way as described in the previous section. Services like Printful and Teelaunch let you put your photos on posters, phone cases, pillows, and more, and take care of order processing and customer service, so all you really have to worry about is making the sale.
Take the story of Daniel Arnold, who, according to an interview in Forbes magazine, went from "eating toast three times a day" to earning $15,000 in 24 hours by offering prints of his popular but controversial photographs for sale. If you already have a demand, just take the initiative and offer your audience the opportunity to buy your photographs from you.
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6. Monetize your content
Monetize your videos with ads
Another way entrepreneurs can make money on Instagram is through video ads. With these ads, brands can promote themselves within the videos you create.
According to Instagram, how much you earn depends on the number of views of your video, or "monetisable plays". Each view earns you 55% of the ad revenue, which is paid monthly into your bank account.
Turn on In-stream Video Ads and start earning in three steps:
- Go to Account Settings. Tap Creator, then In-Stream Video Ads.
- Tap Start. Read and agree to the terms and conditions.
- Toggle Allow Monetization on your existing Instagram videos, then tap Continue to finish.
To make money with In-Stream Video Ads, your content must be original and you must own the rights to all music. Your video must be at least two minutes long to earn. Images, polls, looping videos, slideshows or text montages are not eligible.
Live badges
Live badges are a newer feature that helps creators and influencers make money on Instagram. A popular concept taken from Twitch and TikTok, think of Instagram Live badges as tips you can earn during a live stream.
With this feature, viewers can purchase a badge during the live stream that will appear in the comments and unlock features including a place on the Creators Badge list and access to a special heart.
People can buy e.g:
- One heart for $0.99
- Two Hearts for $1.99
- Three hearts for $4.99
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7. Sale of old things
If you're not an influencer and just want to make some money, Instagram is a great place to sell old stuff. Whether it's furniture, clothes, collectibles or even jars, you can make some money by selling them on Instagram. Plus, you can clean up your home and help save the environment.
Take Lavender Loveseat, for example. The Chicago-based team finds older pieces of furniture, refurbishes them and sells them via Instagram. The brand shares fun and entertaining content on its page to attract buyers and monetize sales.
How much do influencers earn on Instagram?
A number of factors determine how much an influencer earns on Instagram. They can earn anywhere from a few dollars to a million dollars per post.
The amount you earn depends on several factors:
- Number of followers
- Degree of involvement
- Affiliate marketing tactics
Good news? Any size account can earn money on Instagram. In general, there are five levels of influencer marketing, divided by the number of followers.
- Nanoinfluencer: 1,000-10,000 followers ($10-100 per post).
- Microinfluencer: 10 000-50 000 followers (100-500 USD per post)
- Medium influencer: 50,000-500,000 followers ($500-5,000 per post)
- Macro-influencer: 500 000-1 million followers (5 000-10 000 USD per post)
- Mega-influencer: 1 million or more followers ($10,000-$1 million or more per post)
If you don't have many followers, don't be discouraged. Gaining the trust of your followers and connecting with them will help your account grow. More than the number of followers, brands are looking to work with influencers who have an active following.
So even if you only have 1,000 followers, you can make some serious money. To give you some inspiration, here are some examples of the top non-celebrity influencers who have made the most with their Instagram accounts:
- Lele Pons: 46 million followers
- Charli D'Amelio: 44.4 million followers
- Addison Rae: 40.1 million followers
- Sommer Ray: 26.8 million followers
How many followers on Instagram do you need to make money?
Now, if you're wondering how many followers you need to start bringing in real revenue, the short answer is: not as many as you think.
The long answer depends on factors that range from:
- What is your theme and how easy is it to directly link it to a product category (according to the most common hashtags on Instagram, fashion, food, beauty and fitness are popular niches).
- How engaged your followers are (100,000 fake followers won't be much).
- Which revenue channels are you exploring
Of course, the more engaged followers you have, the better. Check out our tips on how to get more followers on Instagram.
While top Instagrammers earn thousands of dollars per post, even those with a small but engaged following of 1,000 have the potential to start making money.
Making money on and off Instagram
What started out as a hobby - making people laugh, taking silly photos with your dog or sharing food photos - can turn into a chance to turn your Instagram page into a revenue stream powered by your engaged followers. But why stop there?
There is a world of possibilities for creators to make money on the web. If you want to open up other sources of income online, be sure to check out our tips on how to make money on YouTube. Your followers on Instagram are sure to join you on other channels. You just have to open the door for them to walk through.
Make Money on Instagram FAQ
Can I raise money on Instagram?
Yes, you can receive money on Instagram in the following ways:
- Create sponsored posts for brands that want to get in front of your audience.
- Become an affiliate and earn commissions by selling other brands' products.
- Create and sell a physical or digital product or offer a paid service
- Set up shop on Instagram
- Sell licenses for your photos or videos
- Monetize your content
How many followers do you need to make money on Instagram?
The more followers you have on Instagram, the more money you can make. Rates are also based on engagement, quality of content, name recognition, audience demographics, and skills. The standard is $10 per 1,000 followers, but it can vary depending on your contract and sponsor.
You can buy quality trackers here
How much money does 10,000 followers on Instagram make?
Microinfluencers, or accounts with 10,000 followers or less, can earn around $88 per post on Instagram.
