How to Make Money on Instagram: 11 Proven Strategies

It has been a few years since  Instagram stopped being just an application focused on leisure and entertainment. Companies from the most diverse segments, and even individuals, saw this tool as a good opportunity to sell and make money.

With more than 1 billion active users per month around the world, this social network has been growing year after year and has a strong presence in most countries.

This brings us an ocean of possibilities, doesn’t it? Therefore, in this article, we list the main ways of working with the social network and how to make money on Instagram. Let’s start.

How to make money on Instagram?

If you want to make money on Instagram, you need to put some marketing and sales strategies into practice. Check out our tips and start earning money through this social network:

1. Have an online store and sell through Instagram Shopping;
2. Work as a digital influencer;
3. Sell ​​using a dropshipping model;
4. Become an affiliate;
5. Sell ​​original photos, drawings, animations and videos;
6. Have an Instablog;
7. Become a brand ambassador;
8. Offer consultancies;
9. Create an online course;
10. Manage the Instagram profile of other companies;
11. Sell ​​custom filters.

Now let’s go into detail about each tip above:

1. Have an online store and sell through Instagram Shopping

If you don’t know what e-commerce is and how it works, update yourself now! Well, this market has been growing a lot in recent years: in 2020 alone the jump was  73.88%. Having an online store means being closer to your customers, giving them a new alternative to access and/or consume your product or service. With Instagram, this gains even more strength.

The first step here is to actually have an e-commerce platform to build your online business. In just 10 minutes you can create your online store and start selling. Furthermore, the layouts are customizable to maintain your business’s visual identity.

Once you have your online store active, you will need to create a page for your brand on Facebook — to have access to the Ads Manager and the Marketplace, where your products will be registered. Last but not least, you will need to create a  business account on Instagram to activate the “Shopping” feature.

The main advantage of this functionality is being able to create tags on the photos in your feed, including the name and price of each product. This facilitates and optimizes the purchasing process, which can be done directly through the application screen.

2. Work as a digital influencer

The work of a digital influencer involves authority and reputation. In general, this person uses their own image, their daily life and their positioning to communicate with followers on Instagram or other social networks.

Brands, in turn, saw this as a great opportunity to promote themselves, as thousands of users are inspired and make purchasing decisions based on what these opinion leaders say.

Influencer marketing is, therefore, one of the most promising bets for the coming years. The numbers have been growing since 2016 and, according to  Statista — a reference for data related to the digital world —, the expectation for 2021 is a turnover of US$13.8 billion worldwide.

The good news is that, in the digital influencer market, there is room for everyone. In addition to there being several types of influencers, depending on the segment and target audience you want to reach, with less than 10 thousand followers, opportunities for partnerships and advertising may already appear.

Below, we’ve put together some tips to help you kickstart this career and make money on Instagram as an influencer :

Define your niche

You can choose to talk about fashion, makeup, decoration, reading tips, among other topics. But understand that, in the beginning, the more defined and specific your audience is, the easier it will be to engage them.

Another important point is that, if you want to focus on segments that involve health, such as nutrition or sport, the ideal is to have the property and training to talk about this. You need to understand your responsibility as an opinion leader and influencer.

Furthermore, some activities regulated by entities cannot be carried out by people who do not work in the area. For example, if someone without training in Sports or Physical Education sets up and publicizes training sessions, the Regional Physical Education Council can impose a punishment for illegally exercising the profession.

Discover the tripod of influence

The influence tripod is made up of three factors that are used by brands to measure a person’s degree of influence. Understanding this can give you more security and confidence when offering your work.

See what they are:

• Reach: the number of people who can be reached by your content;
• Relevance: engagement and importance that the influencer has with this audience;
• Resonance: potential that these followers have to repost and share the influencer’s message.

Find out how much to charge for partnerships and advertising

According to a  publication by Later — one of the main Instagram marketing platforms —, an influencer can earn from US$100 to US$10,000 per publication, but it is worth evaluating on a case-by-case basis. Smaller accounts or those just starting out, for example, are more likely to accept barters, that is, free items in exchange for publishing a review.

The most common ways to charge for promoting a brand are through demand for the content produced or through a commission on sales made. This second option typically involves a trackable link made available to the influencer.

To add more value to your work, a suggestion is: in addition to the promotion itself, offer the company reports with the results achieved by the content you produced.

Find the brands that are fit to work with you

If you already have a larger number of followers, some companies may naturally get in touch. Otherwise, there are two main ways to find these partnerships.

The first way is through platforms specialized in connecting brands to influencers. The second is actively prospecting businesses that make sense with your objective. To find out which companies these are, take inspiration from other influencers in your niche.

3. Sell using a dropshipping model

Dropshipping is an online sales method in which the retailer is only responsible for acting as an intermediary between the supplier and the end customer. In other words, you create your virtual store to sell, but the other stages of the process — such as stock, packaging and shipping — are carried out directly by the company that supplied you with the goods.

In this sales model, as you won’t need to worry about the logistics, you will have many more resources — such as time and money — to work on promoting your brand. And that’s where Instagram comes into the story.

The application will act as a showcase for your store’s products, as, through it, you will be able to reach a greater number of followers and customers.

4. Become an affiliate

Affiliate programs are also an interesting way to make money through Instagram. In this case, the idea is to be the “online seller” of a brand. Through promotional codes or trackable links, you can earn commissions on sales made.

Generally, companies that work with affiliates have a page on their website where you can sign up. Once approved, just create a profile on Insta, plan your sales strategy and produce content promoting your partner.

Our tip for standing out as an affiliate is to get to know the persona of this business very well and be creative in your posts.

Furthermore, betting on sponsored posts — that is, paying for Instagram to boost your content — can also greatly increase your earnings. There are two ways to create these ads: within the Instagram app itself or through the Facebook Ads Manager — later on, we will have a specific topic on this topic.

5. Sell copyright photos, drawings, animations and videos

Instagram is an extremely visual social network. So, if you are a photographer, illustrator or videographer, this can be an excellent way to promote and sell your work as an artist.

In addition to image banks that can purchase your creations, the application allows you to connect with your end audience and sell directly to them. Negotiations can happen quickly by direct or you can include, in your bio, the link that redirects the follower to the online store.

6. Have an Instablog

An Instablog is, basically, an Instagram account that produces and shares content within the platform itself.

For example, if you like talking about travel and have already visited different countries and regions, why not create a professional profile to share your experiences or give itinerary tips? Or, if you enjoy writing, how about starting to share your chronicles, stories or poetry with your Instagram followers?

With time and the maturity of your Instablog, interesting partnerships may arise with travel agencies or bookstores, in the case of the examples we mentioned.

It’s cool to understand that, even though Instagram’s focus is photos and videos, many users look to it for a way to find out more about a topic or consume subjects that interest them.

7. Become a brand ambassador

If you are an influencer with a reputation, many followers and good engagement metrics, another way to make money on Instagram is to become a brand ambassador. In this case, the partnership with the company is established for a certain period, during which advertising will be more recurring.

The rules about knowing your audience very well and choosing a more specific niche still apply. To ensure credibility and connection with your followers, it is important to select brands that have similar values ​​to those you want to convey.

8. Offer consultancies

Consulting profiles are increasingly common on Instagram and can be a really cool way to monetize your knowledge. Investment, marketing, fashion or decoration consultancy: whatever your specialty and profession, there are people in need of your services.

In this case, we have two main tips to stand out from your competitors. The first of these is in relation to your success stories. Ideally, you already have some that you can present to your future clients.

The second tip is about the content you will post on your Instagram feed. In addition to creativity, it’s cool to attract your followers by delivering some value, but without initially charging anything in return. Show that you understand the subject and are there to help. After establishing this trust, the person who wants more depth will not think twice about paying for your consultancy.

9. Create an online course

Online courses facilitated access to different types of content. Just like consultancies, whatever your area of ​​expertise, there is someone interested in learning more about it. But, mainly because it involves training other people, you need to master the area of ​​knowledge you decided to explore.

In addition to video classes, it is possible to make your course more complete by creating e-books and other downloadable materials that can complement learning.

Use Instagram as a means of promotion to reach more people. Dropping little pills about what will be covered in your classes is a way to arouse the follower’s curiosity.

10. Manage other companies’ Instagram profile

Instagram is a universe full of possibilities and changes, which can bring many positive results for companies. To achieve good levels of engagement and conversions, you need to explore resources, produce content daily and maintain constant interaction with your followers.

Small, medium or large businesses need professionals to manage their Instagram accounts. And it is precisely at this point that you can act and earn money as social media.

There are many courses on the internet that help you deepen your knowledge and become a true expert on this social network.

11. Sell custom filters

The filter trend started on Snapchat, but it really took off on  Instagram Stories. They use augmented reality technology to apply creative effects to users’ photos and videos, and exist to please the most different tastes.

With this fever taking over social networks, many companies and influencers decided to have their own personalized filters. Therefore, there is also a good opportunity for professionals who want to work with the creation and sale of these filters.

Tips to boost your strategy and earn more money on Instagram

You already know that there are several business models to start making money on Instagram. Now, we’re going to talk about the main features that will help you gain authority and increase your reach within the app. Follow the next topics!

Instagram Business

Having an Instagram Business account, in addition to giving your customers more trust, allows you to have access to very relevant metrics, such as reach, profile visits, sharing and saving of your posts.

Bio in profile

Your Instagram bio is the first thing a new follower will look for on your profile to understand what you do. Therefore, it is important to make a clear description of your business, even answering possible questions that your customer may have.

For example, if you have a  clothing store, your bio might contain information like:

• Opening hours;
• Delivery locations — “we ship throughout the United States” or “we deliver to the city of Florida”;
• Accepted payment methods (credit, debit,  payment link, etc.);
• Contact information;
• Link to your online store website.

Verification seal

Receiving the Instagram verification badge gives your profile more authority. It’s as if you are informing your followers that this is an authentic profile. For online stores and influencers, this is an essential feature.

To request the well-known blue seal, just follow these steps:

1. Access your business profile;
2. Go to “Settings”;
3. Click on “Account” and then on “Request Verification”;
4. Fill in your personal details and upload a document;
5. Wait until the request is approved by Instagram itself.

Instagram Ads

If you have an online store, work as an affiliate or sell courses and consultancy, boosting your profile posts is a great way to gain new followers and, consequently, customers.

But to start exploring this resource, you need to study and understand the right way to invest in sponsored posts. Otherwise, in addition to not achieving the expected results, you could also lose money.

Close Friends

Many people don’t know, but Close Friends is an Instagram tool that can be very useful for your business. This is because followers who are interested in joining your “close friends” list are, in themselves, an audience that is more engaged with your company.

There, you can share exclusive content, offer rewards or promotional codes and even create a more loyal relationship with them.

Giveaway on Instagram

A good strategy to increase your page’s engagement is to know how to run a giveaway on Instagram.

You can choose to raffle off your products or services on the social network. This way, you increase the chances of people finding out what your business offers, in addition to attracting new customers interested in your solution.

Profile closed to subscribers

Creating a closed Instagram profile, exclusive to customers and subscribers, is also a good feature you can explore.

For example, if you are a personal trainer and use social media to promote your work, creating a closed profile, in which only your students will be accepted, you can post your daily workouts directly there.

The tip is to continue keeping an open profile to attract followers and, from there, show the advantages of paying for training and having access to exclusive profile content.

IGTV and lives

Increasingly, people on Instagram are looking for information and in-depth information about the topics that interest them. Therefore, producing longer videos becomes essential.

Reels

Producing these short videos, with a more fun feel, can improve the reach of your publications as a whole. So, leave your shame aside, get your hands dirty and have fun with the resource!

Hashtags

Hashtags are already familiar to those who have been using Instagram for a few years, but that doesn’t mean they should fall into disuse. Quite the opposite: using hashtags continues to be super important!

In addition to creating one for your brand — to monitor how much people are talking about it —, look for hashtags in your industry that can help users reach your profile. Some hashtag-generation tools can help you with this.

It is worth remembering that the maximum number allowed per publication is 30, but this limit ends up being excessive. Therefore, we recommend that you use between 5 and 10 hashtags in each post in your feed.

How many followers do I need to make money on Instagram?

A point that raises many doubts concerns the size and proportion of an account: how many followers do I need to have to make money on Instagram? This, in turn, is a more difficult question to answer. This is because there is no exact number.

In the world of digital influencers, there are some classifications regarding the number of followers:

• Nano-influencers: have between 1,000 and 10 thousand followers;
• Micro-influencers: have between 10 thousand and 100 thousand followers
• Macro-influencers: have between 100 thousand and 1 million followers;
• Mega-influencers: have more than 1 million followers.

In each of these categories, influencers can earn money with actions aimed at their target audience, even if it is not that broad. But it is clear that the greater the number of followers, the greater the amounts paid by partner brands for publiposts and other actions.

In this sense, according to a survey published by Later, the average price paid in dollars per publication is:

• 5 thousand to 10 thousand followers: US$ 100 — US$ 500;
• 10,000 to 25,000 followers: US$500 — US$800;
• 25 thousand to 50 thousand followers: US$800 — US$1,500;
• 50 thousand to 100 thousand followers: US$ 1,500 — US$ 2,000;
• 100,000 to 250,000 followers: US$2,000 — US$6,000;
• 250,000 to 1 million followers: $6,000 — $10,000;
• 1 million or more followers: from US$10,000.

As you can see, anyone can profit from Instagram, regardless of the number of followers, as long as they know how to work their strategies. Therefore, know what your objective is with this social network and understand how you can use it to transform your audience into your clientele.

Read Also: 10 Ideas to Make an Extra Income Every Month

Do you already know how to make money on Instagram?

So, did you like the tips we brought in this article? We hope you leave here ready to start making money with Instagram.

And, if you don’t yet have a virtual store to start selling your products through Instagram Shopping, how about creating your free store? We can help you with that.