Instagram is no longer just a photo and video-sharing social media platform. This smartphone app quickly gained popularity worldwide due to the aesthetic appeal of photos and videos shared by users. But 11 years after launch, with a Facebook acquisition in between, Instagram is now monetizing the platform for its users. Here we discuss how to make money on Instagram.
Instagrammers across the globe are cashing in, making huge money just by uploading images, videos, and reels. All they require is a fan base, and Insta users can take advantage of a multitude of money-making opportunities. Minting money has never been so easy- thanks to advanced technology, an ever-changing Google algorithm, and efficient digital marketing tactics.
If you want to make easy money on Instagram, make sure you leverage your reach and influence to the fullest. Want to know more about earning money using Instagram? Read on!
How to Make Money on Instagram – 5 Proven Ways
Influencer Marketing
An Instagram influencer is a content creator or blogger with an engaged follower base. Their fans and followers trust them and their recommendations. Influencers share genuine opinions and reviews in line with their niche on Instagram.
More than followers, what matters is the level of engagement rate that an influencer receives. If you are an influencer with around 1K followers but high engagement, you can still do well. The amount of money you mint depends totally on your credibility, engagement, and popularity. You can earn between $8400 and $1.2 million per post.
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Publishing Sponsored Posts
Brands love to sponsor influencers who fit their niche. One of the most significant parts of influencer marketing is uploading and sharing sponsored posts on Instagram. As per the survey reports of Social Toaster, about 92% of individuals consider word-of-mouth marketing recommendations in their buying decisions when they are about to buy goods.
So, when an influencer posts about different products, they tend to influence their followers’ consumer choices. This helps them grow on Instagram and improve their credibility. In return, they make money from sponsors through advertising payments, free products, or commissions on sales.
Promotion of Affiliate Links
Affiliate marketing is another great tool for Instagram users. About 29% of the top posts on Instagram are being uploaded by affiliates and influencers. When affiliates or influencers refer sales to the brand websites, they earn a commission on each sale, like EPC, meaning in affiliate marketing. Both affiliates and brands work together to boost sales. They specialize in Crypto, Financial Sweepstakes & Lead Generation verticals. An example of a renowned Affiliate Network is Olavivo.
Becoming a Brand Ambassador
Influencers work hard to become brand ambassadors for prestigious brands. If a brand gets great results from sponsored posts and advertising, it may take this next step and contract an Influencer as its brand ambassador. In some cases, brands work with an influencer agency to easily select and manage brand ambassadors, ensuring effective representation of their marketing goals.
Brands wish to develop and nurture long-term relationships with influencers who add value to the company. Brand ambassadors enjoy special privileges and fame while earning big. All they need to do is keep promoting the brands regularly. Beyond Instagram earnings, platforms such as Settlemate help you discover if companies owe you money from legal settlements.
Also Read: Instagram API Documentation to get started
Instagram Shopping or Social Commerce
At some point, Instagram became a fully-fledged e-commerce platform. Once a platform where users could post their vacation pictures and aesthetically pleasing videos, Instagram has transformed into an online shopping platform.
Instagram is leaving no stone unturned in helping brands and small business owners who leverage the platform as an e-commerce portal. Instagram has multiple features that facilitate making money on Instagram through an easy shopping experience for buyers. For instance, there is an icon in the main navigation menu that lets buyers discover trending brands and products.
Also, the Instagram checkout feature is available to all eligible creators and brands in certain countries. Users can conveniently move from “Inspiration” to “Purchase” without leaving the app to buy products. This has made the buying and selling process much easier for both parties. The Live feature on Instagram also allows real-time buying and selling of products.
There are services like SendPulse that can make the whole process of selling on Instagram much easier. Starting with a custom landing page for your Instagram bio that can easily serve as an online store. The platform allows the creation of product galleries with pictures and descriptions, as well as to integrate a payment system for secure payments. You can also create an Instagram chatbot and have it connected to your landing page, this way you can stay connected with your customers 24/7 and react to queries promptly.
Brands can upload shoppable Instagram posts that are both efficient and visually appealing. Such posts effectively showcase the products. Also, they are quite efficient at driving more Instagram likes and sales. Small business owners can smoothly generate more leads and convert them into sales – thanks to these features that boost SEO performance.
Besides, Reels and IGTV videos are major catalysts for businesses to boost sales. Buyers can easily watch live videos, engaging reels, and detailed IGTV videos before purchasing the products they want. This increases the credibility and visual appeal of the products. Speaking about important visual effects, create videos or pictures highlighting the best qualities of eCommerce products that are great gift ideas for a 50th birthday, and share them with the Instagram audience. Also, with OCR software, product information and features can be seamlessly extracted from printed packaging or labels, enabling accurate, captivating captions for Instagram posts that enhance the viewer’s understanding.
Over 130 million Instagram users tap on shopping posts every month. Buyers prefer Instagram shopping because of ease, convenience, and credibility. Brands experience greater engagement and, in turn, enjoy higher ROI.
Brands enjoy working alongside their influencer partners. Influencers can be a great help for sourcing content ideas. Besides, Instagram conveniently enables brands to reach potential clients and existing users. No doubt Instagram has emerged as an integral channel in social media marketing.
Instagram Brand Features
In the last section, we discussed how Instagram has completely changed the e-commerce shopping experience. Instagram is gradually enhancing its shopping features so buyers can comfortably purchase accessories, beauty products, home goods, and more. There are several features and facilities offered by Instagram that we discussed in the last section, How to Make Money on Instagram.
Here, we will explain the latest Insta feature, “Drops.”
Drops is the latest feature offered by Instagram, which you can find easily beside other tabs like “Shops”, “Collections,” “Guides,” “Editor’s picks,” etc. The Drops feature introduces buyers to the latest releases and trending designs from giants such as Adidas, Plum Goodness, Fenty Skin, and more. The feature enables buyers to purchase and make payments from within the app. There is no involvement of any third-party platform, thereby offering an enhanced sense of security.
The feature, however, is available only to US-based users. Social commerce is growing by leaps and bounds. The pandemic and global shutdown have boosted the number of online buyers. Last year saw a huge surge of almost 38% in the social commerce sector.
Instagram has also been quite lenient toward businesses, especially small businesses. It does not charge processing or selling fees to help business owners overcome bleak pandemic situations. This has made the smartphone app the leading contender in social commerce. About 81% of buyers prefer browsing Instagram (which will help you make money on Instagram) and Facebook to buy products of their choice. (Data: Hootsuite data.)
Also Read: The Right Way to Drive Traffic with an Instagram Campaign
Final Thoughts
Instagram has been evolving as a leading social media platform for making money. There are several avenues users are opting for to grow on this social media app.
At present, Instagram is indeed a popular pick among entrepreneurs, influencers, small business owners, brands, and buyers alike. Let’s wait for more exciting future updates and developments that allow influencers to make money on Instagram.
