Many Instagrammers are looking for ways on how to make money on Instagram. Some are already earning more than the average US salary. There are several effective ways of making money on Instagram. Unfortunately, many people are stuck and don’t know where to start. Instagram is offering genuine opportunities for people like you to make money online. Here is a comprehensive guide on how to make money on Instagram.
There are several strategies you can use to start making money on Instagram. You can become an influencer and post sponsored content in your account, an affiliate marketer selling other people’s products, or an entrepreneur to sell your products. Here are some tips on how to make money on Instagram:
1. Become an affiliate marketer
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is one of the effective ways some instagrammers are using to make money online. What many people don’t know is that anyone can put affiliate marketing into use on Instagram and start making good money. By becoming an affiliate marketer on Instagram, you will be earning money when your followers buy products using your link or promo code.
How affiliate marketing works
Affiliate marketing involves signing up with a company or brand and then promoting their products for them. You will be receiving a commission every time a customer coming from your link signs up for a service or buys a product.
Affiliate marketing is the best money-making strategy for Instagrammers with a good follower count to promote and sell products to but don’t have goods and services to sell. Instead of starting to produce your products, you start promoting someone’s products and take a portion of the profit when someone from your Instagram audience makes a purchase.
The best thing with affiliate marketing is that you will not have to worry about the production and delivery of products. You focus on increasing sales. The more customers buy the product or sign up for a service using your link, the more you earn.
Before you start promoting affiliate links, you need to sign up with affiliate marketing programs. The affiliate marketing program you chose will have an impact on how much money you will be making.
Choosing the right affiliate marketing programs
There are several affiliate marketing programs you can sign up with, but how do you choose the right program for you?
Nowadays, large businesses such as Amazon are offering affiliate programs. Look for the programs that match your niche. If you’re popular on Instagram for fashion, opt for fashion affiliate programs. If your Instagram followers are following you because you are well known in the fitness industry, health and fitness affiliate programs are the best for you.
Your followers won’t purchase a product or sign up for a service that is not relevant to their interest. Choose affiliate programs that relate to your followers, and that can add value to their lives.
An affiliate marketplace is the best place to get started. In affiliate marketplaces, you will get an array of businesses, products, and services for influencers like you and bloggers to promote. Some of the great options for Instagram affiliate marketers like you include:
Popular marketplace for Instagram affiliate marketers
1. Amazon Associates
Amazon Associates is the affiliate marketing program for Amazon that gives affiliate marketers like you access to millions of products on Amazon stores to advertise to their online audience. It is upon you to choose the products you want to advertise to your online audience. Amazon will be giving you 10% of every referral sale coming from your link.
2. AWIN
Awin connects influencers and bloggers with high paying advertisers, providing more than 10,000 campaigns for you to choose the best for you.
3. ShareASale
ShareASale is one of the most popular and trustworthy affiliate marketplace sites that allows affiliate marketers to choose what to advertise from more than 4,500 programs . ShareASale is quick to sign up and has responsive support that makes it easy to set up your affiliate account and start earning.
4. ClickBank
ClickBank is a popular marketplace among many Instagram influencers. It contains products and services of multiple categories, making it possible for you to find relevant niche products and services to promote on your Instagram account and earn revenue.
You can sign up with as many affiliate programs as you want. There is no limit, but always make sure you are promoting quality products. If you promote products and services that are not up to scratch, you’ll lose the trust of your Instagram followers and start losing your audience.
Promoting affiliate products on Instagram
After signing up with appropriate affiliate programs, it is time to start promoting products on Instagram. You need to note that Instagram allows you to add only one organic link to your account bio. Here are some ways around this limitation:
Great ways to add product links on your Instagram posts
1. Instagram bio
Display the link of your best-earning product on your Instagram account’s bio. You can add a call to action and emojis to ask and encourage people to check it out. Change the affiliate link on your bio regularly. It is best if you put an affiliate link for the best-paying, most popular, and most recent products in your Instagram bio.
2. Text Overlay
Because you can’t have more than one link on your Instagram bio, you can add affiliate links on images to direct your audience where they can buy the product on display. Some affiliate links are long and won’t look nice on Instagram, consider using Bit.ly to shorten them.
3. Image descriptions
For every promotional image, you display, add your affiliate link or coupon and a call to action on the image description section.
4. Pay to promote your posts
When you pay to promote a post on Instagram, you get a chance to add a link to your post. Your followers can click directly through to the affiliate product page, hence increasing their chances of making a purchase.
Tips on promoting affiliate products
To make good money promoting affiliate products on Instagram, you first need to grow your following and then start advertising these products. Once you have a large and engaged following, create a strategy that works with your audience. There are things you can do to encourage your audience to purchase the product or want to know more about the product. Here are some tips
1. Images
Make sure every image you are posting on Instagram will stand out from the crowd and grab your follower’s attention. The best approach to grab your viewers’ attention is by showing the product when it is in use. Showing a product in use will help inspire the audience. Remember, the more attractive and interesting the images you are displaying on Instagram, the more engaged your audience will be.
2. Live videos
Posting live videos is an effective way to connect and build a relationship with your followers. You can discuss your affiliate products, demonstrate how to use them, or display them on the background during a live video session.
3. Hashtags
Use appropriate hashtags on all your Instagram posts. They help reach a new audience, increase your follower count, and also increase the likeliness of sales.
4. Don’t be too promotional
Don’t promote affiliate products in all your Instagram posts. Instagrammers don’t like people who are too promotional. You can alternate educational and promotional posts to keep your advertising discrete.
2. Sell your products on Instagram shopping
If you have an e-commerce platform or you are selling your products on platforms such as Amazon and Etsy, the Instagram shopping feature will increase your revenue. It has made it easier for people to sell physical products on Instagram.
What is shopping on Instagram?
Shopping on Instagram has been around since 2018. It was first available for businesses in the US, but it is now in more than 45 countries. It is accessible to influencers and businesses with Instagram business accounts, but you will need to apply for approval for shopping.
Shopping on Instagram will allow you to add shoppable tags to your posts. The tag contains the product’s name and price, but when an Instagrammer clicks on it, more information about the product is displayed on the screen. For eCommerce stores, there is a View on Website call to action button on the product’s information. The button directs Instagrammers to your online shop where they can buy the product.
Why use shopping on Instagram?
According to Savanna Boysen, a sales manager at a hairstyling company known as Tyme, their Instagram traffic has increased by 44% since after implementing Instagram shopping.
If you don’t have an eCommerce shop, but you are selling your products on Amazon and Etsy, you can use the View on Website call to action button to direct Instagrammers to the page where they can buy your products.
Shopping on Instagram has made it super easy for Instagrammers to purchase products that have caught their eyes when browsing their feeds.
Setting up Shopping on Instagram
To utilize the Shopping on Instagram feature, you need to be selling your products on an online marketplace or set up your eCommerce store. You also need a Facebook business page that will be connected to your Instagram Business Account.
Creating a Facebook catalog
To set up Shopping on Instagram, you first need to create a Facebook catalog for all the products you want to sell on Instagram. You can also create a catalog in BigCommerce, Shopify, Catalog Manager, and Facebook Business Manager.
To create a catalog, open your Facebook business page and make sure you’re using the Shop template. Select Settings > Edit Page > Templates and then select the Shop template to get access to the shop catalog tool.
Now select Shop > Add Product on your Facebook page to add the product name, price, images, description, and URL for the checkout page or product page. Remember, the more information you provide, the more likely Instagrammers will want to visit your site and make a purchase.
Select Save after submitting all the relevant product information. Repeat the process for all the products you want to sell on Instagram.
Facebook will review your account after your Facebook catalog is complete. You will have to wait for a couple of days for Facebook to review your account. If approved, you can now add shoppable tags on your Instagram posts.
Adding Shoppable tags on Instagram posts
To add shoppable tags to your Instagram posts, switch back to your Instagram business account and then select Get started > Business Settings > Shopping. If you have created multiple catalogs, choose the catalog you want to use and then click Done.
You can now add a shopping tag to existing posts or create new posts. To add the tag on an existing post, select Edit and then enter the name of the product you want to tag. Drag the tag on your screen and drop it where it will not block too much of the image. You can preview the post by clicking on the Preview button. Once the post looks nice to you, select Done > Share. The post will now display a shopping bag telling the audience you are now using Shopping on Instagram.
Shopping on Instagram is the best approach for everyone looking for how to make money on Instagram and have physical products to sell. Promoting your products on Instagram makes them more accessible to potential customers and will increase sales in your online store.
3. Post sponsored content
If you have a large following, becoming an influencer and posting sponsored posts on your Instagram account is a great way to make money on Instagram.
How to become an Instagram influencer
To become a successful Instagram influencer and to earn good money by posting sponsored content, you need a large and engaged following. Here are some tips that will help you become a successful Instagram influencer:
1. Pick a niche
Businesses will come looking for you if you have Instagram following made of people in their niche. The most popular niches include fashion, travel, health, and fitness. When choosing a niche, go for the one that is relevant to your lifestyle.
2. Don’t buy fake Instagram followers
Brands like working with influencers with a good follower count, but it does not take long before realizing that your audience is not helping them. Some businesses will check on your engagement levels before signing a deal with you. With just a few clicks, the business will know you organically grown your audience or bought your followers.
If you want to earn money by posting sponsored content, get yourself real and engaging followers.
3. Create an engaged Instagram community
For businesses to come looking for your services, you need to have an engaged community that comments, likes, and shares your Instagram posts. To have such a community, post high-quality posts that will inspire your audience.
The quickest way for Instagrammers to make money by posting sponsored content on Instagram is by signing up with an influencer marketplace. Some brands can also come looking for you, or you can contact them directly, but as a beginner, signing up with an influencer marketplace is the best option for you.
The influencer marketplace enables influencers and brands to easily connect. All you need to do is to register and add your Instagram information and statistics to help brands find you. Here are some of the most popular influencer’s marketplaces you can sign up with:
Popular influencer’s marketplace
- indaHash
- HypeTap
- Grapevine
- Fohr
- Tribe
Tips on Displaying sponsored posts on Instagram
You don’t need millions of followers to become an Instagram influencer. You can start earning once you have more than 10,000 followers. All you need to know is that the price increases with audience size.
Don’t promote brands and products that are not relevant to your audience. Instagrammers won’t hang around you if you keep posting content that doesn’t add value to their lives.
Use the #sponsored hashtag to help your followers identify sponsored posts. Failure to use this hashtag, your audience will feel misled.
