With more than two billion users worldwide, there’s no hiding it — Instagram is one of the most used social media channels today.
But besides using the platform to share your life updates with friends and family, do you know you can use it to make money?
According to reports, micro-influencers (between 1,000 and 10,000 followers) earn an average of $1,420 per month, while top-tier influencers (more than a million followers) make at least $15,356 monthly.
Cristiano Ronaldo, the world’s top Instagram earner, makes $1.6 million per post. Dwayne’ The Rock’ Johnson comes close with an average price of $1.5 million per post.
Fortunately, you don’t have to be an athlete or a celebrity to make money on Instagram. If you’re wondering how to make money on Instagram, you’ve come to the right place.
Here, we’ll discuss eight (8) ways to make money using this popular social media platform.
How Much Money Can You Make On Instagram?
The amount of money you can earn on Instagram depends on a few factors, namely: the number of followers, engagement rates, and your marketing tactics.
If you have 1,000 to 10,000 followers, you can earn around $10 to $100 per post. Accounts with 50,0000 to 500,000 followers can earn up to $10,000 per post. Accounts with more than one million followers can get up to $1 million per post.
As you can see, the more followers you have, the more money you can earn using the platform.
How Many Followers Do You Need to Make Money on Instagram?
The short answer is: not as many as you think. The long answer depends on many different factors, such as the niche you’re in, the engagement of your followers, and which revenue channels you want to explore.
As long as they’re engaged, you can start earning from Instagram even if you only have 1,000 followers.
Brands would prefer working with influencers with an active following rather than one with thousands of followers but are mostly dummy accounts.
Read: Is PewDiePie the highest-paid YouTube star?
How to Make Money on Instagram in 2023
There are plenty of ways to make money on Instagram, and the good news is that you earn regardless of the number of your followers. Take a look at our suggestions below to get started!
Create Sponsored Posts
Working with influencers is one of the easiest ways to position yourself on Instagram and make money from the platform. However, this money-making strategy only works if you have at least 3,000 followers and a high engagement rate.
To earn money from sponsored posts, create a sponsored Instagram post (like a photo or video), mention or link the brand in your post, and share it with your audience. Depending on the agreed terms, the brand may pay you before or after you make the post.
When creating sponsored posts, ensure you’re not doing it solely to earn. Promoting a brand that you don’t genuinely believe in will adversely impact your branding in the long run and might cause your audience to lose trust in you.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a common answer to the question of how to make money on Instagram. Unlike sponsored posts, where you get paid after making the post, you’ll only earn from affiliate marketing once someone buys the product and service you’re promoting.
Here’s how you can earn as an affiliate on Instagram:
- Use a creator or business account
- Find affiliate businesses or partners
- Choose products relevant to the type of content you post
- Share your unique link with your audience
One of the best ways to promote an offer and receive an affiliate income is by using promo codes.
For instance, Cash Jordan, a real estate agent based in New York, uses his Instagram account to educate his audience about real estate and informs them that he gives 10% when they use his unique code.
Related: Did you know that you can make money by watching ads?
Open an Instagram Shop
Opening an Instagram Shop enables you to integrate your e-commerce store into your Instagram profile. This also allows you to promote your offerings to your audience without the need to produce and pay for any physical marketing paraphernalia.
Let’s say you’re a pet store, and you want to promote toys for puppies. All you have to do is upload a picture of a puppy playing, and Instagram lets you tag up to five products per post. You can also market your products through Instagram videos, stories, and reels.
The key to earning hundreds or thousands of dollars through an Instagram Shop is by building your brand from scratch and showcasing your product in an angle that captivates your audience.
One of the most popular dogs on Instagram is Tucker Budzyn. The page started with the owners showcasing the day-to-day life of Tucker, their sweet Golden Retriever.
Today, Tucker has won several awards, and his owners started making shirts, tote bags, leashes, and moulds for treats. With 3.3 million followers, you can bet this page drives plenty of traffic to their store, resulting in thousands of sales.
Sell Your Instagram Photos
Do you love taking photos and posting them online? If you answered “yes” to this question, you should definitely use this talent to earn money on Instagram.
Regardless if it’s a stock image or your own artwork, countless brands worldwide will pay for photos, which they can use in their Instagram accounts.
Some are willing to license these photos to have the full copyright and ownership of the content. You can also sell your photos to your followers. Just make sure to offer your photos in various sizes, so buyers have more choices.
Sign up for stock photo websites that allow individuals to sell photos to Instagram users. Two of the most commonly used sites for this purpose are Twenty20 and The Ingram Group.
Monetize Your Content
You can use Instagram videos to showcase your products or services. For example, you can give a quick tour of your office or workstation, demonstrate how a product is made, or feature a customer’s review.
You can also use videos to create content for other brands. This is an excellent option, especially if you’re an experienced videographer or visual artist.
Instagram Live Badges
Instagram Badges are an excellent way for your audience to show support whenever you go live on the platform. Basically, your followers will buy badges if they find your content engaging.
You can determine which followers purchased badges during your life as heart icons will appear beside their name.
As an influencer, you’ll earn money every time you get a badge. You can see how much you’ve earned once you’re done streaming live. Simply access the Badge Settings on your Instagram profile to see how much you’ve earned.
Your followers can purchase several badges as they view your life, which means your potential earnings can be huge. The secret to earning more is to interact with your followers in your live; give them plenty of reasons to give you more badges.
Link Your YouTube or Blog
You can maximize Instagram to drive traffic to other online platforms. The more people redirected to your YouTube channel and blog from your Instagram account, the more opportunities you have to earn.
To promote your YouTube channel or blog on your Instagram account, create a link in your bio landing page. The bio page is a single page containing several links which your followers can click and visit.
Related: Check out Jacksepticeye’s net worth for being a YouTuber.
Advertise Your Brand
Many businesses worldwide have harnessed the power of Instagram to promote their products and services without spending a hefty sum of money.
No matter what kind of business you have, you can use the same technique and get more engagement and sales for your brand.
People are generally driven by impulse and by what they see. And since Instagram is heavily based on visual content, capturing an audience through this platform will become easier.
The success of advertising your brand through Instagram depends on the quality of the content you upload. Ideally, you should highlight your brand’s unique selling proposition using photos, videos, and reels.
You can pay for Instagram-sponsored ads, collaborate with well-known influencers in your niche, or sign up for a business account to get more engagement.
Read: Here is how to start a money-making blog this year.
How Much Do Top Instagram Earners Make?
Instagram influencers are usually broken down into three categories. These categories will give us a better idea of how much these influencers earn on the platform.
- Micro-influencers: Accounts with less than 10,000 followers. According to a recent study, these accounts make $88 per post on Instagram.
- Middle-tier influencers: Accounts with between 10,000 and 100,000 followers. On average, these accounts make about $200 per post.
- Top-tier influencers: Accounts with at least 100,000 followers make at least $670 per post. The price can greatly vary in this tier as some earn a few million dollars per post. For instance, Ariana Grande, who has 343 million followers, earns $1.5m per post, while Kylie Jenner, who has 375 million followers, earns $1.4m per post.
FAQs
How many Instagram followers do you need to make money?
You can earn more if you have more followers on Instagram, but this doesn’t mean that you need to have millions of followers before you can make money.
An article published by Business Insider mentions that individuals with less than 3,000 followers can start making money on Instagram. You can also learn how to make money on Instagram without followers with the right Instagram strategies.
How much money do 1 million Instagram views make?
Mega-influencers or top-tier influencers (accounts with at least one million followers) earn at least $15,356 per month.
Will Instagram pay you for reels?
Yes, as the platform now has Instagram Reels Play, an invite-only bonus program that lets you earn through your reels content. You’ll receive a pop-up notification and an invite visible on your professional dashboard if you’re invited to the program.
Who is the highest-paid on Instagram?
Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s top Instagram earner, making $85.2 million in 2021 from sponsored posts. He has approximately 513 million followers as of December 2022.
Use Instagram to Earn Today
Because of the number of ways users can earn on Instagram, it’s no surprise why countless influencers and businesses have flocked to this platform. And the good news is that most of these methods don’t require users to have a massive Instagram following.
So, with all the tips mentioned in this article, which one will you try out first?
