This one is going to be interesting ‘How to make money on Instagram‘ for sure. You must have heard of earning money through websites, doing YouTube videos, promoting affiliate links on Facebook, etc.
But what if I tell you that you can make a decent amount of money on Instagram as well (depending upon the quality and quantity of your followers). In recent years, Instagram has emerged as a mainstream platform in the marketing ground and has over 100 million monthly active users. That sounds kind of interesting, isn’t it?
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But here the sad part is that a majority of the audience (avid Instagram users) still do not know how to cash in their valuable Instagram selfies or posts.
See, in life, you need to remember one thing to be on top of the game: Never miss out on a lucrative opportunity and always respect the trend.
Same theory applied to make money on Instagram; you need to put in only three things; time, effort, and some smart work. That’s it. And you can easily start making some serious money from your Instagram account.
You must be thinking, it sounds interesting but where to start? Calm down,
With this article, I’ll be targeting three classes of Instagram users;
- One with huge amount of followers (say 10k to 10M),
- Other is 1K to 9K.
- Last one belongs to people (who are clueless about Instagram) they do all wrong things; they buy fake followers, they keep their profile private, they don’t use relative hashtags and what not?
So Let’s begin.
AT FIRST, YOU NEED TO GAIN ENGAGED FOLLOWERS IN YOUR PROFILE
For a blog; content is the king. And for an Instagram account (money making); its loyal followers are the almighty. Hope you got my point!
See, anywhere on the internet, making money comes down to one point is that how would you attract brands and sponsors to start collaborating with you? And they mainly look for engaged and loyal following base on any platform; same goes for Instagram. So here are the few tips you need to follow to establish your Instagram profile as a brand itself.
- Create a complete profile (fill out your bio, upload profile pic): If you have decided to start using your Instagram account in a professional manner. Then be serious, try to fill out your bio with right and relevant details that include your profession’s name, what you post about and where you’re from. You can also hashtag in your bio. For instance, Technology Blogger from New Delhi. Business inquiry: contactus@abrition.com
- Post consistently: See, it’s not about posting those eye-catching or seductive pics every day. It is not everyone’s cup of tea, especially male users. But your post needs to be meaningful at least, like posting a picture of gadget, places or inspirational quotes. In simple terms, try to publish at least one quality photo every day to grow your followers.
- Use relevant hashtags: That’s the key part here; ‘post consistently’ is likely to fail if you are combining that with using relevant hashtags for your posts. See, people posts thousands of pics every second, so it is very unlikely that your image will be visible to anyone for long. So try to use popular hashtags related to your field of interest. For instance; if you are posting a picture of any gadget; it has to be like #technology #gadget #blogger #technologyblogger and so on. To gain more followers, you can also use popular hashtags like #picoftheday #love #instame #likeforlike #tagfortag #followme #followforfollow #instagood.
- Capture good photos: At the end of the day, Instagram is mainly about posting good quality pictures. So try to focus on publishing the best quality images with appropriate filters.
- Engage with your followers: See engagements has to be from both the sides. Make sure to engage with your audience and followers. Also, you can like and comment on your competitor’s pictures that will indirectly help you in boosting your overall follower base.
- Don’t buy fake followers: That’s important, don’t use spammy methods to increase your followers count, just for the sake of making your profile eye-catching. See, those sponsors who are going to invest their money in your Insta pictures are not fools, so try to be authentic. As these tricks are not sustainable in the long run.
Now, that you have got the idea on how to attract more Instagram followers, it’s time to generate money.
1. Affiliate Marketing
Hmmm ‘Affiliate marketing’ sounds conventional right? I know if you have been through online articles which guide you on how to make money online then you must be aware of the whole ‘Affiliate Marketing’ aspect.
See, the reason I have mentioned Affiliate marketing on the top spot because here you do not require to depend on others to start generating money, neither on huge follower base nor on sponsors. You can start making money directly in no seconds.
Those who don’t know, Affiliate marketing is simply a money making mechanism where you promote a specific product and get paid commission for any sale that you’ve generated.
It is simple with Instagram; you post intriguing images of the product (you are promoting) it can be anything like clothes, accessories, gadgets, mobiles, or software. And drive sales through your affiliate URL (provided by your affiliate partner).
There are plenty of trustworthy and reputed affiliate networks you can work with. Here are some of them and they are free to join;
- Clickbank: Search for brands you want to work with, sign up for their affiliate program, get approved, and then start promoting via affiliate links.
Tip: It would be great if you have any website/blog so that you can easily get approval for promoting brands.
- Amazon Associates: This one needs no introduction, everyone loves Amazon products. Just sign up for their affiliate program and start promoting product across various categories.
- Shareasale: Similar to Clickbank, Shareasale is one of the trusted affiliate networks out there. Just find companies you want to work with, sign up for their affiliate program, get approved, and then simply start spreading quality of wow some products using affiliate links.
Here’s the catch; you see Instagram do not allow users to add a direct link to their photo’s captions (prevent them from being clickable). Here what you can do to make those affiliate links more clickable;
You can simply add your affiliate URL on your bio (clickable) and your caption without using ‘HTTP://’ (not clickable) but will definitely workout to generate sales. To avoid those long ugly affiliate URLs, you can use URL shorteners like bitly.com and goo.gl
This works method is appropriate for all kind of bloggers; Say, if you are technology blogger, you can simply post an attractive image of the gadget with an affiliate link. Make it more attractive by adding discounts and deals.
If you are a travel blogger or you are one who loves to travel, you can use affiliate marketing when taking part in reviews for different places, hotels, and venues. Just direct followers to buy through your link.
If you are a fashion enthusiast, you can simply market those clothes by posting ‘Outfit of the day’ with the affiliate link sending followers to your full outfit details.
2. Create Sponsored Posts (Find brands/sponsors through Ad Networks)
This one works very well for those who have higher follower base and also for those with moderate users. You can simply earn money by creating sponsored contents for brands and companies.
In simple terms, a sponsored post can be a photo or video that highlights the brand or specs of its product. These posts are accompanied by captions that include branded hashtags, @mentions, or links to the product. Here you can see in the following image; Indian cricketer, Virat Kohli is promoting headphones of muveacoustics on Instagram:
See, if you are a sensation on Instagram then don’t worry, brands will contact you to do sponsor content. This seems pretty obvious in areas like Fashion, clothing, travel, and beauty industry.
But there are times when you can’t be able to find a suitable sponsor for yourself and its significant that any products you promote are a good fit for your personal image on Instagram to retain those loyal follower base.
You can easily find brands to work with you by using reputed influencer marketplaces. And here are some of those you should try;
- indaHash: This one is simple, brands put up campaigns that you can participate in. Apply, get approved, and post a picture with specified hashtags on Instagram and get paid. You need approximately 700 engaged followers to be eligible for this marketplace.
- Grapevine: If you have follower base of 5000 or more, you can easily list yourself in the Grape Vine marketplace for the opportunity to work with trusted brands.
- Crowd Tap: Ideal for US-based creators who have smaller follower base. Here you have to do small content creation tasks to earn rewards.
- Tapinfluence: A good option for those Instagram creators who are looking for opportunities for sponsored content. Brands who are interested in collaborating with you will invite you to their programs.
- Fohr Card: Simply connect your Instagram, blog, Twitter, and other social platforms to create an influencer “card” that shows your different profiles and total reach for brands shopping around for a partnership. You also get access to a list of brands and their requirements so that you can contact them directly.
- iFluenz: This one is simple, you can easily browse matching available campaigns created by some brands and directly promote the ones you prefer the most.
- Popular Pays: Another easy tool for Instagram creators to find the suitable brands for their content type. You need at least 5K to 10K followers to grab those sponsors.
3. Sell Your Photos (Boon for photographers)
Enough photography, now it is the time to cash in those well-clicked pictures. If you are a professional or even a novice one, Instagram is an ideal path to sell your snaps to either individuals or agencies. Add a watermark to your shots and use the captions to list all selling details in a brief manner.
You can use sites like Twenty20 and Community Foap to put your Instagram photos for sale
You can also sell your photos as prints. Services like Printful and Teelaunch can let you add your shots on posters, phone cases, pillows, etc.
4. Promote Your Product, Business, or Services
This one is ideal for all those who are running their own businesses. See, Instagram can bring a boost to your existing consumer base.
- If you sell products such as gadget, clothes or accessories; then simply post beautiful snaps and link it with your website (where people can buy the product)
- If you have your own services; you can simply promote them using a variety of pictures and giving relevant details under the caption.
- If you are a restaurant owner, then Instagram can bring serious customer base, you can simply publish behind the scenes of your restaurant, pictures of your customers, and special cuisines etc.
5. Sell Your Instagram Account
This one is quite engrossing, right? Got bored of using Instagram? Can’t able to manage it any longer?
Don’t worry, here is the deal for you.
You can literally sell your sell your Instagram account for a good money.
There are sites like Fame swap and Viral accounts which help you in selling your Instagram account.
Now that you know about 5 easy ways to generate money out of your Instagram account, it’s time to do real action. Remember one thing, whatever industry or niche you decide to go for, one thing you need to ensure that your opinions are genuine and engage with your followers as much as you can. Try to pick sponsors smartly.
Also, if you have any query or suggestions related to making money on Instagram, let us know via comment.
