Can You Make Money on Instagram?
Social media has completely changed the way we live, interact and work. Even as little as ten years ago, making a living from a website would have been almost unheard of. But today, plenty of people make money from Instagram. And we’re not just talking about the huge stars – you don’t need to be a massive influencer to make money from Instagram. Many Instagram users make money as a side hustle. You just need drive and commitment to building an audience. Once you’ve got the audience, check out the 5 ways to make money on Instagram below.
5 Ways to Make Money on Instagram
1. Team up with a brand
Many brands and companies are looking for Instagram accounts to partner with. If you have a committed base of followers that regularly engage with your posts, a company may reach out to you to include one of their products in one of your posts. But nobody ever built a successful living sitting around waiting for people to come to them – actively seek out and contact their marketing departments. If you can put across a convincing case why they should work with you, you can go a long way.
2. Instagram Live Badges
Badges work a little like a tip jar for creators. Audiences can use them to show their support for creators during a live stream. Enable badges within your creator Instagram account, and the option will be presented to viewers within the comments section of a live stream. Remember to remind them now and then just to draw attention if they want to give you a financial hand.
3. Enable Subscriptions
Last year, Instagram started trialing the ability for creators to allow subscribers access to unique content. Once this is more widely rolled out, you will unlock a ‘subscribe’ button on your profile that lets you create custom, access-only content for Stories and Lives behind a paywall. This is a great way to earn some extra monthly income on Instagram and engage more deeply with your audience.
4. Affiliate marketing
Audiences go to creators they admire for recommendations on products and brands to support. Instagram Affiliate brings a more direct recommendation service to Instagram. Once enabled, you can simply share a link to a product or service. If your audience purchases something through the link, you gain a commission. In addition, Instagram Stories is an excellent way to showcase products and click through to other sites.
5. Merchandising
If you’ve cultivated a group of committed followers with an authentic brand, consider setting up your own shop. Branded merchandise like mugs, tees and books requires a bit of an initial investment, but the rewards can be significant: by sending it out into the world with your customers, you’re also gaining free marketing. Just make sure to do it if it feels like the right fit for your brand – audiences are savvy, and if it feels like monetization for the sake of it, you may end up losing followers.
Instagram is a powerful tool that provides many monetization options if you have a highly engaged audience. Make sure you’ve built an honest, authentic brand before figuring out how to make money on Instagram. But once you have that, there is plenty you can work with and the potential to make a lot of money. Teaming up with brands, enabling badges on your live streams, adding subscriptions, affiliate marketing and merchandising are just 5 ways to make money on Instagram.
In the meantime, keep your audience motivated and coming back for more by creating dynamic, exciting posts with our social media templates. And if you want some inspiration, check out these hot Instagram influences to see who’s smashing it right now.
