According to the latest Instagram stats, the platform has 1.704 billion users worldwide. While it started as a photo-sharing app, it has morphed into a business platform. Millions of entrepreneurs use its selling power, from service providers to nonprofits to dropshipping eCommerce business owners to make money on Instagram.
You may be wondering: how do people make money on Instagram? Can I pull it off myself? How Is Selling on Instagram Different from Other Types of Ecommerce Businesses?
In this article, we’ll look at some strategies you can apply right now to join the ranks of successful Instagram entrepreneurs.
Table of Contents
Can you make money with Instagram?
Absolutely. As long as you have some beautiful and creative images available, you can catch the attention of millions of Instagram users.
Now you might be thinking: Right, I understand it’s possible, but how the heck do I start?
Here are a few ways to monetize your Instagram account:
- Focus on sponsored posts for brands that want to reach your audience, making you the perfect medium for doing so.
- Become an affiliate and earn money by selling products owned by other brands.
- Offer to be a virtual assistant to an Instagram influencer. Many of them are looking for help to get things off their plates.
- Write captions for companies without in-house content staff.
- Sell on Instagram. You can sell a physical or digital item, as well as a service.
- Sell your photography
Instagram users are always on the lookout for new methods to profit from the network.
Don’t worry, we’re going to reveal the secrets of this entire process in detail, along with some Instagram success stories.
How to make money with Instagram?
Instagram is a great place to sell things that look well in photos.
If you have some photography skills, you will have a great advantage on the platform. Bonus points if you’re photogenic yourself and want to breathe some life into your product photography. Don’t have a camera? Learn how to take stunning photos with your phone with our product photography course. Nothing will stop you from making money from the photo and video sharing app.
Here are 7 best ways to make money on Instagram:
Make money from sponsored posts by becoming an influencer.
If you can gain coveted influencer status, you can utilize your Instagram profile to promote a wide range of products from various brands.
If you’re not familiar, an influencer is someone who has built a reputation and a loyal following by regularly sharing on their social accounts. They have a good following and can persuade their audience to jump on trends and buy certain products.
They have this power because they have spent a lot of time building trust and relationships with their audience.
Brands tend to partner with influencers to create sponsored posts that help spread the word about their products. To get to this point, you need to grow your Instagram following and publish regular posts that generate strong engagement from your followers.
Top influencers can earn tens of thousands of dollars per sponsored post. Remember that it takes a lot of time and a lot of hard work and talent to get to this point. It’s certainly reachable, but make sure you meet your expectations if you decide to do this route.
As an influencer, it is extremely important for you to know your audience. You need to understand who these people are – their interests, values, needs, and desires.
This way you know which brands suit you best. If you’ve switched to an Instagram business account, you can use the Instagram Insights feature to do a little more research into your audience statistics.
When you’ve created a remarkable online presence, chances are big brands will reach out to you. But as you build, you’ll also find yourself brands that you think best fit your personality and values.
Reach out to them directly (via Instagram or through their websites) to try and negotiate a deal. You can also create an account on an influencer marketplace to improve your chances of being discovered by a major company
As an extra tip, be careful not to lose your existing audience’s trust in the process of making money from sponsored posts. It’s always a good idea to use an Instagram hashtag that lets people know it’s a sponsored post (something as simple as #sponsored or #ad).
Become an affiliate and earn money by selling other people’s products.
You can sell other people’s products and get a share. There are many people who make money from Instagram through affiliate programs.
The difference between an influencer and an affiliate is that an affiliate works towards making sales for the partner brand in exchange for a commission. On the other hand, the influencer mainly aims to create awareness. (If you’re just interested in gaining recognition for your brand, you should go through these brand awareness tips to gain ground).
Affiliates earn money via a trackable link or promo code to ensure you know exactly what sales are coming directly from your posts.
Create engaging posts so you can promote the products without being intrusive. Since you can only have one link in your Instagram bio, you might want to connect a landing page to your affiliate link, which you can quickly create a link in the bio by using a tool like Linkpop. In each post, make sure to let people know they can purchase the product from the link in your bio. And create a fun Instagram caption to make it sound less like a sale.
It might sound like a tough game at first, but affiliate marketing has a lot of potentials if you plan to grow. A website, as well as other marketing or social media outlets, can help you broaden your reach.
Check out our list of eye-catching Instagram post ideas from successful brands to get inspiration.
Become an influencer’s virtual assistant
If you’d rather work behind the scenes, consider becoming an Instagram influencer’s assistant.
Many influencers out there need help – filtering sponsorship requests, showing ads, identifying fake followers, and more. You can offer to be their VA and bill your services by the hour.
As an Instagram Influencer VA, you are responsible for many things such as B. Managing DMs, scheduling posts, and responding to comments. Also, the influencer may ask you to share content ideas for building their personal brand.
So if you’ve always wanted to practice your Instagram marketing skills without being the center of attention, this is a great place to start.
Sell Instagram captions services.
Many small business owners use Instagram to promote their goods and services, but few of them have the resources or expertise to write good Instagram captions. You can sell your talents to these companies if you’re adept at making interesting Instagram captions. Remember, they will judge you on your ability to write compelling short copy.
To grab the attention of business owners, write and place some captions in your own account. Then add those to your portfolio that generates the most engagement. If a company hires you to create their Instagram copy, chances are they want to see your work. So make sure you have some samples to look at right away.
How much can you charge for Instagram captions? What prizes do you think you are worth. It could be $600 for 10 subs or $1,000 for 20 subs. The important thing is that you charge for your expertise and not your time or content.
Sell posters, photos, and other virtual goods for sale.
Instagram is all about looks. That’s why beautiful products and photos generate more sales.
You can sell poster photos, paintings, drawings, animations, videos, and other image or video-based virtual products. Add an interesting caption to each post and direct readers to the link in your bio. This is another popular way that people use Instagram to make money.
If you think you’re taking quality pictures, chances are you’ll get paid for it. Once you’ve got some great shots, use the best photo editing apps for phones to get the most out of your photos. Try to be original, creative, and fun when taking photos. These will get a lot more attention than boring ones.
With the use of suitable Instagram hashtags, you may advertise your photo portfolio on Instagram.
Sell your own physical products.
You can sell any physical goods you create or purchase from suppliers. This conventional eCommerce retail typically requires inventory to be stocked, which means you have to spend some seed capital to purchase your products.
You also need a place to store the products, e.g. B. a guest room at home or a rented storage room. This is especially true if you want to save money by buying products in bulk. You need a place to store everything before it is ordered by customers and delivered to customers.
Setting up an Instagram Shop will allow you to sell things directly on Instagram starting in July 2020. Simply tag products in your Instagram photos to connect your followers to your product pages, where they may purchase your items all at once.
Sell dropshipping products.
Dropshipping is a business model that allows you to run your business without ever having inventory.
Once you make a sale, your supplier ships your products from their warehouse right to your customer’s door. You never have to worry about storing, packaging, or shipping your products. phew
This works similar to our previous idea of selling products on Instagram to make money. The only difference is that you don’t need to store inventory. With dropshipping, you can experiment to find niche products that sell well without wasting seed capital.
Should I make money with Instagram?
Instagram’s stats are astonishing, and the platform is quickly catching up to Facebook’s growth.
While Facebook has 2.80 billion monthly active users, Instagram’s growth over 9 years since its launch in 2010 has reached 1 billion users in 2019.
As Instagram continues to grow in popularity, it’s no surprise that Instagrammers are becoming an unstoppable force. They have found ways to make money on Instagram and make money from the photos they take.
If you’re looking to make money from Instagram, check out these mind-blowing stats:
1) 1 billion users are active every month. That’s nearly three times the US population.
2) Every day, 500 million users post a story. It has nearly double the population of the United States.
3) 71% of US businesses (both large and small) use Instagram for branding and marketing.
4) At least one corporate account is followed by 50% of Instagram users (500 million people).
5) There are 2 million Instagram advertisers every month.
6) Every year, the amount of time spent on Instagram increases by 80%.
7) Brands receive 4x the amount of engagement on Instagram as they do on Facebook
8) 80% of Instagram users make a purchase decision for a product while browsing the app.
9) 71% of Instagram users are under the age of 35, making it an ideal platform for brands targeting young adults.
What are the requirements to make money from Instagram?
Using apps, following a list of do’s and don’ts, using great filters, and employing promotional tactics are key to business success. However, in order to make money on Instagram, you must be aware of the latest trends and rules.
Let’s look at a few.
Master Instagram for business
Instagram accounts are divided into two categories: personal and business. The business account was launched in July 2016. You can use this step-by-step instruction video to set one up.
Start an Instagram shop
Your product catalog can be integrated into your Instagram profile via an Instagram store. This allows you to directly promote your products to Instagram users via Posts, Stories, Explore tab and a dedicated Shop tab on your profile.
Master Instagram eCommerce shopping app integration
Instagram has limited shopping, which takes some ingenuity to make it work for businesses. However, the eCommerce shopping functionality can be seamlessly integrated into apps designed specifically for a Shopify store.
Try a few apps so you can see for yourself which allow you to post products on separate pages along with their prices and specs.
This way, shoppers feel like they’re still on your Instagram pages when they’re actually already on the pages of the eCommerce-enabled shopping app.
I recommend using Shopify as there are many apps that integrate with Instagram. You can try many of the apps for free, so there’s no risk if they don’t work for you.
Master the do’s and don’ts of Instagram
Instagram has detailed rules about how you should post, what types of images or videos to post, and how often you can post.
It also limits the number of hashtags to insert, so you can’t just spam your Instagram account with 30+ hashtags that have nothing to do with the content of the post. No cheating!
By following these rules, you will improve your chances of making money from Instagram. According to CoSchedule, it’s recommended to post 1 to 2 times a day so your followers don’t feel overwhelmed. This also gives you time to create unique and eye-catching posts. The best time to post would be before the 11 am launch on Wednesdays and Fridays.
According to Sprout Social, the ideal length for Instagram captions is between 138 and 150 characters. Stick to 125 characters for ad captions. The optimal number of hashtags is between 5 and 10, although 20+ is possible but not recommended.
If your posts have more than 20 hashtags, Instagram may “shadow” them. “Shadowbanning” means that your posts will no longer be shown when searching for certain hashtags.
You can probably imagine that anything with the word “ban” is a bad thing, so try to avoid that as much as possible. It will have an impact on your ability to earn money.
Master Instagram filters and photography
Canva conducted a study of America’s most popular Instagram filters. Based on rank, these are Clarendon, Gingham, Juno, and Lark. And the world’s most popular filters are Clarendon, Juno, Valencia, Gingham, and Lark.
The most popular filters for nature:
- Valencia
- Regular
- Brooklyn
The most popular filters for fashion:
- Kelvins
- Valencia
- Nashville
The most popular filters for food:
- Skylines
- Regular
- Elena
The most popular filters for selfies:
- Regular
- sleep
- Skylines
Use tools like Picodash to see which photos work. You want to do the things that successful accounts do but still create your own unique content and personality. Motivate yourself to learn more every day so you can make money from Instagram.
Create posts inspired by viral stories
Insert them between your product photos and videos on your Instagram account Tools like Stencil, PromoRepublic, and Be Funky make this simple.
How to build a strong following on Instagram?
Should You Build an Instagram Following Before or After the Sale?
The answer is simple: before and after.
Ideally, you already have at least a few hundred followers before you start selling. This way you don’t post product photos in an empty account. Of course, at some point you’ll have to start from scratch – just try to build a base before going on sale.
Now how do you build a strong following on Instagram? Use these 13 tips today to start growing your followers. To make money on Instagram, you’ll need a large following.
Optimize your Instagram profile.
Make sure you choose a username of fewer than 30 characters. Ideally, the name is searchable using a keyword. To make money on Instagram, you’ll need a large following.
Your bio should be up to 150 characters. Including a clickable link to your website is a terrific idea. This is the only place where you can paste a clickable link into your Instagram account, so it’s an important way to optimize your account.
Create and promote a special hashtag.
If your account name is Jennie’s Candies, you should create the hashtag #jenniecandies. You can check the hashtag whenever you want to see what others are saying about your brand.
You can also promote this hashtag anywhere and on other platforms, both online and offline.
Get creative with hashtags related to your niche.
While Instagram allows 30 hashtags per post, it could backfire. It is recommended to use 5 to 10 popular hashtags for your niche and related to your products.
Join conversations related to your niche.
Check out other accounts with the same hashtags. Follow them and join the conversations. This is how you gain new followers.
Use compelling Instagram captions.
An Instagram caption is the text that appears beneath your Instagram images to give them a little extra oomph and charm. The greatest Instagram captions encourage your followers to participate in the conversation and like your photos by making them feel welcome.
Running and promoting competitions.
Run a contest with a photo inviting participants and showing the prizes. Be sure to create a special hashtag for the contest as well. Decide how the winners will be determined and publicize the rules clearly.
For example, you can take special photos for the competition. And whenever someone posts a photo with the hashtag, they enter the contest. Make sure you follow Instagram’s contest rules.
Be creative with the contest so participants have a chance to make some money from Instagram too, if possible. You can invite them to participate in a prize-based affiliate program.
Create and promote Instagram stories and Instagram live videos.
Instagram Stories have become a big part of Instagram and they continue to grow. You can utilize Instagram Stories to grow your audience like a pro.
There are many ways you can play around with the content such as B. adding geotags, selfie stickers, scrolling text, and adding color overlays, text, and face filters (just like Snapchat) to your Instagram stories.
Be creative when delivering your message. make it fun
Post regularly.
The key is to be consistent and ensure that all of your posts maintain your own particular style. That way, your followers can recognize your posts and know they’re from your brand You may also schedule Instagram posts using third-party social media software like Hootsuite, SocialFlow, and Sprout Social.
Collaborate with influencers and like-minded accounts.
Reach out to influencers and like-minded accounts for sharing and paid posts. For example, if you have a large following, you can do a post exchange.
When working with Instagram influencers, you can choose to create an affiliate program that pays commissions or pays per post depending on the size of the following.
Use the location feature.
Post videos and stories to your account, then use appropriate hashtags and geotags so your posts can be easily found by people who are in the area and interested.
Inviting others to interact with your material is a good idea.
If you ask, people can help you. There’s nothing wrong with asking – just make sure your content is genuinely valuable and engaging. After all, this is the ultimate way to make money from Instagram.
Use Instagram Ads to reach a larger audience.
Running Instagram ads can help you reach more people who wouldn’t otherwise have been searching for your posts. Instagram ads are a great asset for any brand looking to monetize on the platform. So give it a try if you want to take your brand to the next level.
Promote your business on Instagram
Whatever your business model, you need to encourage it. Self-promotion requires more than just thick skin. Above all, you must be strategic and employ tried-and-true methods in order to make money.
When you sell on Instagram, the purchases are mostly impulse-based. The key is to create a “wow” factor with the photos, videos, and captions and create a seamless experience when customers buy your products.
- Use compelling photos and videos that are professionally produced and use your favorite filters and tools.
- To provide a great and consistent experience, link your Instagram account to your eCommerce store.
- Collaborate with as many influencers as possible. Select influencers whose philosophy and followers match yours.
- Strategize well. Stay afloat and post content daily.
- Design all of your social media accounts, websites, and blogs to reflect a unified and consistent theme.
Conclusion
Instagram is a gold mine for aspiring entrepreneurs looking to make money. By being creative with your account, like all Hot Shots, you can make money on Instagram.
In conclusion, these are all of the ways you can profit from Instagram:
- Create sponsored posts for brands as an influencer
- Become a partner and support various products
- Be a virtual assistant to an influencer
- Write captions for business
- Sell poster photos and other virtual items
- Sell your own physical goods
- Dropshipping – selling products
You can sell physical products by posting photos, live stories, and videos. You can also sell services like influencer marketing. If you sell tangible products, consider the dropshipping model – it’s convenient and inexpensive.
How much money can people make on Instagram?
It depends on what you’re selling and the business strategies and marketing tactics you’re using. If you’re just starting out, chances are you’ll earn very little. But as your Instagram followers grow and you get better at marketing, you’ll likely see your numbers grow
What are the best ways for me to make the most money on Instagram?
Learn from successful Instagrammers. Combine what you have learned from them with your own strengths in marketing, photography, storytelling, and photo styling. Grow your following as much as possible, create contests, and be active by posting new photos once or twice a day. Of course, you must have a strong product and ensure that all of your clients are satisfied.
It may take a few weeks or months before you start making a sexy profit from Instagram. So, before you quit your 9-to-5 work, make some preparations. But if you’re ready to take the plunge, there are so many options waiting for you. Start now and stay open-minded so you can always learn, grow, and exceed your financial goals.
To Your Success!
