Social media has become so much more than a fun way to share photos, video, and content with friends and family; you can now base your whole business and career around social media, with Instagram leading in the market.
Instagram has propelled to one of the biggest money-making platforms in 2020. With over 1 billion active users, there is huge potential to reach a lot of people all around the world; not only that, 90% of those follow at least one business account, which means there is money to be made.
Instagram has changed the way that companies market products, the way that consumers can buy products, as well as consumer shopping habits. You don’t even need to go to a separate website anymore; it’s possible to make sales right on Instagram.
So, with these new features and possibilities, everyone is wondering— how can I make money on Instagram?
It’s a valid question, as it’s a very attractive possibility to have income generated by an Instagram profile. And while it seems an elusive option, there are many people who are very successful at driving the monetization of their Instagram.
In this article, we’re going to give you the top tips to help you make money on Instagram through content and marketing strategy.
There are a few main methods for making money on Instagram, and the tips that we have coming for you are some of the best ways to enhance your platform so that you can make a profit.
Let’s make some money!
Make Money on Instagram Tip 1: Become a Brand Ambassador
One of the top ways for monetizing your Instagram is to become a brand ambassador. What does that mean, exactly?
These days, more and more brands and businesses want to work with Instagram influencers that have a healthy following to market their product. This is known as influencer marketing; when you become a brand ambassador, you’re promoting their product through original content on your profile.
In order to become a brand ambassador, you’ll have to have a following that can get traction for brands and businesses; nowadays, brands are looking for partners that have good levels of engagement in addition to relatively high follower counts.
That doesn’t mean you have to have 1m+ followers to be a brand ambassador— if you have a healthy number and also have really good engagement rates with the brand or business’s target audience, you’ll be a potential candidate for them.
Brand ambassadors are paid to promote the products of the brand or business, and they’re usually brought on for a contracted period. You can be sought out by a brand or business, or you can reach out to ones that pique your interest and pitch to them.
Make Money on Instagram Tip 2: Sell Your Own Products
Instagram now has a lot of amazing features for e-commerce directly on the platform, so if you have your own products to sell or are thinking about launching your big idea, now’s the time to expand your commerce to Instagram.
People really do use Instagram to discover and buy new products. With Instagrams targeted ad platform, it’s easier than ever to reach people in your target audience with your product, which may be of interest to them.
And the good news is that Instagram has features like in-app checkout, product tags, and shoppable stickers so that you can promote buying right on the platform; they also have swipe up in Instagram stories that can link to external websites for accounts that meet the requirements.
You can easily optimize your Instagram to be an e-commerce hub, and using an e-commerce platform like etsy, shopify, or Amazon can give you more traction in terms of where you can make sales.
No matter what you sell, you can find someone who’s interested in it on Instagram. If you make your content fantastic and have a cohesive and consistent aesthetic that looks professional, people will take you seriously and those who are interested in what you’re selling can be converted to customers. Woohoo!
Make Money on Instagram Tip 3: Become an Affiliate Marketer
Another excellent way to make money on Instagram is to become an affiliate marketer. It’s a pretty straightforward process and you won’t have to sell any of your own products or be an entrepreneur.
Many different brands and businesses offer affiliate programs, which are programs with the premise that the affiliate marketer gets people to purchase the product or service, and the brand or business will give the affiliate marketer a cut for each sale they bring to the company.
Using affiliate links on your Instagram profile is an excellent way to make your content valuable, showcase products, and drive traffic to the affiliate link for conversion. You can use the affiliate link in your photo captions so people know where they can get it.
These links won’t be clickable, however, so you’ll want to use a call to action like “LINK IN BIO!” so that people will go to your bio and check it out. Your Instagram bio is the only place that you can put clickable links, other than the swipe up feature on IG stories, if you have it.
Final Thoughts: How to Make Money on Instagram
With so many diverse users, you can pretty much find a customer for anything on Instagram. If you are able to become an influencer through brand ambassador deals, sell your own products through the e-commerce features on Instagram, or use affiliate links to earn commissions, you can monetize your platform.
These are the top three ways that people make money on Instagram; they’re not the only ones, but if you work on developing your profile in these directions, you’ll be able to monetize Instagram. Just make sure you keep working on your content strategy and follower growth, as these are typically two requirements for being successful in any Instagram endeavor.
