How to Make Money on Instagram – Do not simply pass the time on Instagram turn it into a passive income instead. From selling merchandise to becoming an influencer, you can choose numerous methods to make money on Instagram.
With this guide, you will not only learn how to make money on Instagram, but how to significantly scale your presence as an online entrepreneur too. To exemplify this, we have selected the 10 profitable examples of brands making money on Instagram to walk you through the opportunities.
To strengthen your off-platform Instagram marketing strategy, create a website and link to it in your bio with the help of a link in bio tool for eCommerce (see our guide on the best link in bio tools), influencer, traffic opportunities, and more.
Can You Make Money on Instagram?
Yes, you can make money on Instagram. According to CBInsights, Instagram is one of the top platforms where influencers and creators can monetize their content and lure more followers (Learn more: how to make money as an influencer). The platform also tries to help creators monetize their influence on the platform. In 2021, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram), said: “To help more creators make a living on our platforms, we are going to keep paid online events, fan subscriptions, badges, and our upcoming independent news products free for creators until 2023.”
The company also wants to help educators better understand their payouts from the platform, and has released an Instagram Payouts feature, which helps people see what their payout will be after taxes, refunds, and in-app purchase fees.
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How Many Followers Do You Need to Make Money on Instagram?
In most cases, making money on Instagram is contingent on the number of followers you have. For instance, you will need at least 1,000 followers to begin earning money through Facebook Brand Collabs Manager. That said, if you want to open an Instagram Shop, your follower count is less critical to earning potential.
A second factor in making money on Instagram is your social media engagement. To calculate your engagement rate, take the number of likes and comments per post and divide it by your number of followers. Ideally, you want to have a 3% engagement rate to appeal to brands for sponsorship. Companies prefer you have a highly active audience rather than a large following that is either stale or inactive, so prioritize building an engaged community. Engaging with your audience and posting high-quality content is what will grow your Instagram followers over time.
Should you use different ways to make money on Instagram depending on how many followers you have? Not necessarily. The key ways to generate revenue on the social media platform, such as sponsored posts and shoutouts, are the same regardless of follower numbers. However brands may be more willing to collaborate with you, and to pay more, the more followers you have. But the same may be true if you can show you have a smaller, but engaged and niche audience for a specific brand or product.
Yes, influencers with millions of followers can command more money per sponsor. Instagram post Rumors are Christian Ronaldo earns anywhere from US$1.6 million a post. However, these Instagram earners tend to be high-profile celebrities with millions of followers both on and offline. Average earnings from posts are to be a lot lower.
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How to Make Money on Instagram
- Partner with a brand for sponsored posts
- Get paid by Instagram as a Creator
- Open an Instagram Shop
- Become an affiliate
- Drive traffic to your website
- Offer Instagram marketing services
- Sell photos, illustrations, or digital files
- Offer exclusive content
- Dropship products
- Create an Instagram feature account
Partner With a Brand for Sponsored Posts
One of the most promising ways to make money on Instagram is by becoming an influencer, micro-influencer, or nano-influencer. As with many of these types of influencers, you will be compensated with gifts or money in exchange for creating and sharing engaging content around a brand or business. These might take the form of sponsored posts, or shoutouts, where you positively shout out about a brand or product on your Instagram account with a story or post. Reels can also now be used to promote sponsored content or include links to your website and services.
Instagram promotion works for businesses due to the highly visual nature of its content. Making money on the platform is all about using this visual impact to maximum impact while reaching hundreds and thousands of potential customers.
Typically, you will get paid per post, with your follower count and engagement rate setting the price. Nano Influencers, who have 500 to 10,000 followers, get paid between $10 – $100 per post. Micro influencers, who tend to have 10,000 to 50,000 followers earn about $100 – $500 per post.
See the full pricing scale below, published by the Influencer Marketing Hub, showing how much money you can make on Instagram according to the type of influencer.
To find brands to work with, you can join varying Influencer Marketplaces, tag the brands you love, or email them directly with an influencer media kit. Think of a media kit as a digital showcase of your work and insights into your audience demographics, follower count, engagement rates, and unique value proposition. You can create a media kit using a portfolio website template or make a PDF with Etsy.
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Understanding What to Charge as an Instagram Influencer
Typically, influencer contracts involve the creation of content—posts or Stories that act as Instagram ads for the brand—and will sometimes include permission for the brand to use the content for their purposes (such as in ads on other platforms).
In exchange for this Instagram marketing, influencers will receive a fee, free products or services, the promise of exposure, or some combination of compensation.
Pricing and contract negotiation tips for Instagram influencers:
- Set your limits. Beware of contracts that promise exposure or undervalue your worth.
- Understand your value. When negotiating, remember that you are not just offering content but access to your audience and usage rights.
- Find out what others are charging. As a benchmark, the average influencer who has upward of 100,000 Instagram followers charges up to $500 per post.
- Know your audience. Who are they and what is your engagement rate (total engagement divided by your number of followers)? This will help you be prepared when it comes time to negotiate.
- Consult a lawyer. Most of the terms of influencer deals are negotiable. A lawyer specializing in these types of contracts can help you earn more money.
Finding the Right Brands to Work With
If you have enough influence on Instagram, chances are brands will find you and offer you sponsorship deals. But you can always be picky about the brands you work with and reach out to them first.
Try listing your details on influencer marketplaces to signal to brands that you are open to collaboration. Shopify Collabs is an influencer marketplace that connects creators with brands looking to get exposure to new audiences.
Get Paid by Instagram as a Creator
Facebook announced that by the end of 2022, they plan to invest over $1 billion in programs that allow creators to earn money for the content they create. One of these programs is the Creator Fund which allows you to monetize your content through IGTV Ads, Instagram Live Badges, and Bonuses.
Instagram Live Badges
Being a creator on Instagram is not just about the content you publish but also about your relationship with your followers. You should aim to create an Instagram business account for added trust, form a strong bond with your followers, and give them the content they want to maximize your earnings.
Instagram had this in mind when it created its Live Badges feature, allowing fans to show their support to their favorite creators. Live Badges work like a digital “tip” people can give to Creators during a Livestream. It comes in the shape of a heart and can be bought in packages that sell between $0.99 – $4.99.
To add this feature to your account, go to your “Profile,” click “Professional Dashboard,” tap “Grow Your Business,” and select “Badges.”Once you go Live, click on the “badges” icon on the left side of your screen and turn them on.
Bonuses
Just like the name sounds, Bonuses reward you financially after hitting certain milestones on Instagram as a creator. If you meet several Lives, sign up for IGTV Ads, or create a required amount of Instagram Reels, then you have reached some of the Bonus Programs milestones to collect your reward. But before jumping in, you should know that the Bonus Programs are currently invite-only, so stay tuned for updates on eligibility.
Open Your E-Commerce Store
Creators of all kinds are in a good position to sell their products not just products from other brands. Physical goods, services, or digital items can be an extension of a creator brand, offering value to audiences and allowing them to buy a piece of their favorite online personalities.
The lines between creator and entrepreneur are blurring, with more people looking to own their independence and make money from their craft. Pet influencer Loki the Wolfdog parlayed Instagram success into his brand, Loki Naturals.
A few options for selling products and services online include the following:
- Sell services such as photography or consulting by directing Instagram users to your professional website.
- Offer digital products such as an online course, sounds, ebooks, or design presets.
- Sell your original products and ship them yourself or through a fulfillment warehouse.
- Use dropshipping to sell products without having to manage inventory and shipping.
Tip: Creating custom products from scratch can be a lengthy process, from product development and design to branding, shipping, and manufacturing. For a lower-lift way to sell products to fans, jump to the next idea.
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Open an Instagram Shop
An Instagram Shop is a lot like running an online store, except it is all on an app. Their slogan “post, tag, sell” explains how it works. After creating your shop, upload product images, descriptions, and prices of your merchandise. Then users can discover your items and check out without ever leaving Instagram.
Take a look at how Wix user Palm & Wild created an Instagram Shop for their elegant art prints. By selling beyond their website, they can reach new users and make money on Instagram. They have also kept their website URL palmandwild.com in their Instagram bio to help potential customers learn more about the other products and drive traffic to their website.
Follow these five steps for creating a shop on Instagram:
- Convert to a business account.
- Connect your Facebook Page.
- Upload a product catalog.
- Complete account review.
- Turn on Shopping.
User Plam and Wild sells art prints on their Instagram shop as a way to make money on Instagram
Become an Affiliate Marketer
Unlike becoming an influencer and getting paid per post, as an affiliate you get paid on commission. The average affiliate commission rate to expect is anywhere between 5% – 30%. Your sales will most often get tracked with a unique promo code or UTM link. On Instagram, affiliate programs often go by the name “Brand Ambassador.” You can either apply to become one on a company website or be approached by the brand.
The number of followers you have is not a deciding factor for brands looking to hire affiliates, rather they want to see that you are a fitting person who connects with their audience.
In advance, you should know that you can only add product links on the app in your Instagram bio or your Story (if you have over 10,000 followers). Since these two places are limiting, you might also consider starting a blog with a blog maker and writing SEO-optimized blog posts about the products with trackable links. This is a popular affiliate marketing method.
Enable Instagram Shopping Features
Social selling continues to grow, with more social media users turning to their favorite platforms to discover and buy products. This is great news for e-commerce brands and creators who can now reach Instagram followers and fans where they already hang out. Instagram Shopping includes several native features that enable social selling.
“Instagram Shopping tags are so effective—and over 130 million people are tapping on shopping tags every month—because they allow people to go from product inspiration to product information in just a few taps,” says Taylor Loren, director of marketing at Later.
It all starts with an Instagram shop—a storefront that lives front and center on your Instagram account. After clicking a prominent button on your profile page, Instagram directs users to a seamless experience for shoppers to browse and buy your products.
Apparel brand Miracle Eye has a standalone website, but it also uses an Instagram shop to give fans one-tap access to its collections.
You can customize your shop by creating collections or curating products into themes or gifting occasions. Think of new arrivals, gifts for Mom, holiday decorating, summer fun, etc. Your Instagram shop is a mini version of your online store that includes product images, pricing, and descriptions similar to your website. Here, Instagram users have the option to buy directly from the platform.
Followers can also buy your products throughout Instagram, thanks to features like:
- Shoppable posts and Stories. Use product tags to showcase items from your catalog in videos and images.
- Ads with Shopping tags. Add product tags to ads and extend the reach of your shoppable posts. Create a business account to access the Ads Manager or boost existing Instagram posts.
- Live shopping. To use Instagram live shopping, go live and tag products from your brand that you feature in your broadcast. The products will appear at the bottom of the screen, where live viewers can tap to purchase.
Tip: Link your account with Shopify to sync your products and orders. The Instagram and Facebook Shopify integration lets you offer one-click checkout and manage orders in one place.
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Sell Your Photos or Art Online
While video and other features increase in popularity, at its core, Instagram is a photo-sharing app. That makes it a great place for artists and photographers alike to monetize their Instagram accounts by selling prints and originals.
There are a few ways to do this:
- Use a photo-selling marketplace like 500px and link your pages in your bio.
- Sell your photos or sell art as originals or prints through your online store and link to your Instagram bio.
- Sell these items directly on Instagram using Instagram Shopping features.
- License your work on stock image sites and drive businesses to your work using Instagram.
- Use a print-on-demand service like Printful and Teelaunch to print photos or art on items like totes, mugs, and t-shirts. Promote these in your Instagram content.
Artist Adam Spychala uses his Instagram account to push followers to his online store, where he sells prints of his work.
Earn Live Badges From Fans
Instagram Live badges are like tips you receive from your fans for creating value and producing the content they love. If you are familiar with tip-based features on Twitch and TikTok, you are all set to start making money on Instagram just by being you!
During a livestream on Instagram, viewers can purchase “badges” (icons of varying monetary value) that pay the creator directly and unlock features for the viewer. Instagram users can buy badges in increments of 99¢, $1.99, and $4.99 to support a creators work.
Offer Paid Subscriptions
Once your fans are hooked on your content, offer them the chance to engage with exclusive content, just for paying subscribers. Instagram subscription program is open to US creators over 18 who have more than 10,000 subscribers.
You can also use third-party tools like Patreon to earn money on Instagram from subscriptions. Substack is another subscription option if you want to start a fans-only newsletter to accompany your Instagram page. Or, you can even gate your online store to offer unique content for paid subscribers who sign in. These options offer you the opportunity to build your email list and own your audience outside of the platform.
Creator Aliza Kelly promotes both her Substack subscription and her paid community subscription, The Constellation Club, on her popular Instagram page.
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Sell Used Stuff
If you are not an influencer but you are looking to make money on Instagram, consider using the platform to sell old stuff. Whether it is refinished furniture, used clothing you no longer wear, or vintage thrift finds, you can make a side income selling it on Instagram. Declutter your home or kickstart a vintage clothing business to test the waters before opening your store.
Small vintage resellers often use Instagram like a local resale market, asking followers to DM to buy a product and then arranging local delivery.
Drive Traffic to Your Website
80% of people surveyed said Instagram helps them discover and buy new products or services. The more people who see your brand on Instagram, the better chance they will buy from your website. To help you make more money online, you can use Instagram indirectly to drive traffic to your website. With the help of all your Instagram visitors, you can boost sales, grow your email marketing list, and expand your loyal community of customers.
Offer Instagram Marketing Services
Are you skilled in Instagram marketing, caption writing, or content creation? If so, you might be suited to take on an Instagram freelancing gig. By consulting other companies on improving their Instagram marketing techniques, you can make a nice profit, charging service fees between $20 – $50 per hour and even $100 for writing captions.
Book more freelance customers and spread the word about your services in your Instagram bio. You can also advertise your services on platforms such as Fivver and Upwork. Plus, consider adding online scheduling to your website so people can book services directly from your site.
Sell Photos, Illustrations, or Digital Files
Instagram is all about the visuals, so if you are a designer, photographer, or creative, it is time to cash in on your talents. You can sell your photos to other businesses, which is very common in the travel industry, or you can sell your content, such as prints and illustrations.
Moreover, if you have a photography website or online portfolio, think of Instagram as a “storefront window” for your work and use it to get more clients.
Offer Your Audience Exclusive Content
Humans are curious creatures with a strong desire to keep learning. This is why online course platforms such as Coursera, Masterclass, and Udacity have gained a large customer base. If you are thinking about creating an online course, Instagram is a wonderful outlet to market it and earn money with each registration.
An average individual course can start at about $100, while longer, more intense courses can cost thousands of dollars. But you do not only have to limit yourself to earning through this alone. Simple downloadable guides, eBooks, whitepapers, or templates can be other lucrative ways to make money on Instagram.
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Dropship Products
When starting a business, a factor that often provides logistical and financial hurdles is inventory. However, you can run a store without ever holding any inventory, thanks to the dropshipping business model.
By starting a Dropshipping business, you can choose from millions of different suppliers products such as T-shirts, books, mugs, and pillows. You are set free from the hassle of fulfillment and shipping and get to set your pricing to maximize profits. Once you are ready to promote your dropshipping business, create a dedicated Instagram page to showcase your products, advertise your site, and increase sales.
Create an Instagram Feature Account
Instagram feature accounts act as hubs to showcase photos from several different creators within a niche. For instance, a travel page shows images of various top travel bloggers and tags them for credit. Here are countless Instagram feature accounts sorted by topic that you can look at for reference.
But can you make money on Instagram from this type of page? Once you have grown your account to a favorable size, you can offer paid spots to users who wish to get featured on your accounts feeds or Instagram stories.
Many are willing to invest good money for such prime real estate and exposure. On average, paid spotlight slots can range from $15 to $30 per post. Other Instagram hubs manage follower loops and “like for like” engagement groups and offer VIP paid memberships for as high as $20 – $30 per month.
While this income method does not require you to buy or sell any physical products, you will need to invest a considerable amount of time engaging with accounts, messaging potential customers, and continually growing your followers.
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Tips to Succeeding on Instagram
Pick a niche: Choose a niche to focus on and be an expert in. It will be much easier to gain followers and brand partnerships when you have a clear and specific target audience from the start. For instance, being a food influencer can be seen as far too broad. A niche example could be focusing only on vegan or gluten-free cuisine. Honing in on a subject will also differentiate you from the competition and make you highly relevant to brands in that industry.
Regularly engage with others: Build a strong community by often liking, commenting, messaging, and sharing other peoples content. Simply taking a beautiful shot and hitting “publish” does not do the trick. Instead, allow people to get to know you can see you as a real person who is equally interested in others content. Storytelling is an essential part of securing engagement across all social media platforms and Instagram is no exception. Hone your storytelling skills across all of your content; it will make a difference.
Add tags: Use hashtags, and geotags, and tag brands in your posts and across your branded content. This will drastically help you get discovered by new followers and maybe even land new brand deals.
Use a multi-channel approach: Be active on other channels such as YouTube and TikTok. Start a blog and newsletter and cross-promote your accounts. This will help you attract relevant people from all angles and inform them of more places to keep up with your content. Extend your reach across other money-generating platforms, such as Patreon. As a musician, you may use Instagram to promote your music and even include links for fans to download it for a fee. With Patreon, you can extend its monetization potential by offering behind-the-scenes footage or priority access to new or unreleased music.
Be proactive and resilient: Whichever of the ten methods you try, take strong action with messaging brands about new partnership deals. Apply for several ambassador programs and often collaborate with others (even for free when you first start). As you kick off your Instagram monetization efforts, remember the words of Robin Sharma, “the only failure is not trying.”
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Brands Making Money on Instagram
Mike Holston has amassed more than six million followers on his @therealtarzann account. From posting videos of giant snakes and leopards to rare lizards, Mike uses fascinating content to capture eyes while sharing interesting facts. With an average of over 400,000 views per IGTV video, he has plenty of ad opportunities to make money on Instagram.
Wix user Palm & Wild created an Instagram Shop for their elegant art prints. By selling beyond their website, they can reach new users and make money on Instagram. They have also kept their URL palmandwild.com in their Instagram bio to help potential customers learn more about the other products and drive traffic to their website.
Amie has built a seven-figure business while traveling and has dedicated @rebellenutrition to it. She teaches others to earn a passive income with online course creation. In one caption, she gives followers a sneak peek of key discussion topics for her online course and adds the price and instructions to register. She knows how to show off her value and exemplifies how to combine a visually appealing feed with diverse social media content.
Wix user Sweet Mana created a dropshipping business dedicated to handcrafted botanical skincare products that promote relaxation and mindfulness. Sweet Mana Instagram is filled with bright product shots and tropical nature images that help you feel like you are experiencing the product first-hand. By not storing inventory, they have likely saved a lot of time and money getting products into customers hands—putting them in a position to make their Instagram even more profitable.
Underwater Photography Nature dedicates its Instagram page to water shots that have accumulated over 135,000 followers with an average of 5,000 likes per photo. They have monetized their Instagram in two ways. One, in their bio, they have written, “For features/promo/shoutout use email contact.” Two, they use captions to monetize, like a recent caption that says they offer advertising promotions on their popular page.
Joy McElveen, with over 2,000 followers, works as a Brand Ambassador for Brown Girl Jane. In her caption, she uses a promotion code and call-to-action to encourage people to purchase CBD skincare.
Influencer SouKeyna serves as a strong example of what Instagram brand partnerships can look like. In the post, SouKeyna shows herself applying Armani Beauty makeup. She has also added a paid partnership label at the top of the post to provide transparency, a required practice in social media and influencer marketing.
If you are looking for further inspiration and examples of how huge influencers and celebrities have turned into a money-making venture, check out the accounts of Kylie Jenner, Selena Gomez, and others.
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Making Money on Instagram vs Youtube
There are some key differences in how you can make money on Instagram versus Youtube. The main one is that Youtube pays its creators via advertising revenue. Creators can choose to display ads on their videos and then they earn a percentage of the revenue made from these embedded ads. As a creator on Youtube you can also earn money from sponsorships, also from brands and companies, or merchandise sales of your own or another brands product.
This advertising revenue-sharing model does not exist on Instagram. Money is made on Instagram through sponsored posts, shoutouts, affiliate links, and selling products as well. as through Instagram reels and Instagram Live.
How to Promote Your Business on Instagram to Make Money
As with any business you will need to make sure your Instagram marketing is on point to generate traffic to your account and maximize its chances to make money money. Consider paid advertising, which is a popular way to reach potential customers on the social media channel, and a key component of all digital marketing strategies.
Instagram is a great place to build a community of your target audience, and one you can engage with regularly and directly. This can take a lot of time and work to achieve, but a loyal Instagram following is crucial to monetizing your account.
You might also want to consider how you can create content that will go viral, and be shared by thousands of people, to extend your reach and grow your community. From funny memes to viral videos and other types of content – think big with your reach.
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How to Make Money on Instagram FAQ
Do Instagram users get paid?
Yes, Instagram users can get paid. However, not all Instagram users get paid, and the amount of money that you can make will vary depending on the method you choose and your level of success.
Does Instagram pay you for likes?
No, Instagram does not pay users for likes. Instagram is a social media platform where users can share photos and videos with their followers. Likes on Instagram are simply a way for users to show appreciation or support for a post. While having a large number of likes can potentially increase visibility and engagement, Instagram does not provide any monetary compensation for receiving likes on your posts.
How many views do you get paid for on Instagram?
You do not get paid for views on Instagram. Instagram is a social media platform where users can share photos and videos with their followers. Views on Instagram are simply a way for users to watch a video. While having a large number of views can potentially increase visibility and engagement, Instagram does not provide any monetary compensation for receiving views on your videos.