As one of the fastest-growing social media platforms, Instagram has gained over a billion active users over time. It has evolved from just a photo-sharing platform to a powerful digital marketing tool that content creators and businesses use to appeal to a wider target audience and enhance their business.
The more you engage with your Instagram followers, the more chances you get to flourish. What matters is ‘quality over quantity’. Professional accounts with fewer loyal followers have better opportunities to start making money.
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How to Make Money on Instagram?
In order to make money through Instagram, you don’t need to have a massive number of followers as you think. All you need is an ideal and feasible business model. Secondly, you need to share more than just your photos; you need to share experiences. Here are a few ways to earn money on Instagram with fewer followers.
- By Promoting Affiliate Links
The first thing required to make money via affiliate marketing is to research and list affiliate programs that pay decent commissions. Once you find the best affiliate program for your niche, subscribe to it and share the affiliate links on your Instagram profile.
Each time an Instagram user clicks on your link and purchases the product you have been affiliating with, you receive a commission. However, the catch is Instagram doesn’t allow you to share links anywhere other than in your bio and stories. Furthermore, you only get the swipe-up link option for your accounts after reaching 10,000 followers. Until then, you can share clickable links using the link sticker to grab your followers’ attention. - By Selling Products and Services
One of the most probable ways to earn money with fewer Instagram followers is by selling products and services. You can set up your e-commerce store with the help of e-commerce platforms like Bikayi or by creating your own website and using Instagram to promote your products.
You could also start a dropshipping business to avoid managing inventories and curb initial investments. Ranging from second-hand clothes to luxurious apartments and expensive cars, users could buy almost every kind of product on Instagram. However, you must determine your niche and look at the competition by searching for the keywords and hashtags you want to target. - By Publishing Sponsored Posts
Influencers earn money by sharing sponsored posts on Instagram. And here comes the best part – there’s absolutely no need to have a solid number of followers to start making money with sponsored posts.
The brands pay attention to the engagement rate rather than the number of followers while choosing the right influencer. But, in trading and business, it is important and ethical to be transparent from the primary level. This makes it necessary to disclose sponsored posts according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines for online advertising. - By Becoming a Brand Ambassador
Big brands have sought brand ambassadors to promote their products and services for ages. But what’s so different now? According to recent data, 76 percent of people prefer recommendations from ordinary people rather than celebrities.
Being one of the trending social media platforms for influencer marketing, brands collaborate with influencers on Instagram, having less follower base to make their pitch look more relevant. Micro-influencers must define their niche as brands mostly approach influencers with followers best fitted to be their potential customers. - By Creating Instagram Stories with Filters
A lot of brands and companies create Instagram stories, masks and filters for brand promotion and recognition. Several big brands already have in-house designers who create filters for their brand, but many hire freelancers.
So, what are you waiting for? If you have the desired expertise, you can easily curate an income stream on Instagram by creating AR filters for Instagram stories. It could prove to be a great way to display your creativity, and at the same time, help you earn money on the platform. - By Providing Social Media Marketing Services
Having a massive user base, more and more brands want to use Instagram to promote their products by reaching out to the target audience. With growing competition, brands need professional assistance to grab people’s attention.
Moreover, brands have begun to focus more on freelancers to reduce their digital marketing costs. Hence, social media experts have many opportunities to find freelance opportunities and showcase knowledge on Instagram. - By Creating Visual Content
The 21st-century customers crave authenticity, and therefore, they pay close attention to user-generated content. For that reason, businesses want to publish the content that their customers or users create.
So to put it simply, grab the golden opportunity now to sell photos and videos you create. The best example is the travel industry, where you can post photos showcasing your real-life experiences.
Benefits of Earning Money on Insta
Instagram has become the means of earning money for many creators recently. It has created an excellent opportunity for people to become self-employed and conveniently make money. Listed below are some of the benefits of earning money on Instagram.
- You can work from anywhere and everywhere
- You need zero capital investment
- You get infinite opportunities to work with different brands
- No prior experience is required in order to become a content creator or influencer
- Safe and timely payments by brands
There are several creative ways to make money on Instagram, starting from sponsored posts to social media marketing services. But for that, you need to invest, not monetarily but by dedicating your valuable time and creativity to Instagram. Ultimately, as an Instagrammer, how you can earn a handsome amount depends entirely on how well you can engage with your audience through your creative skills.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
There is no minimum limit on the number of followers you need to earn money on Insta. However, to get noticed by the brands for an opportunity of influencer marketing, you must have at least 1k followers.
Currently, Instagram doesn’t pay for views on reels in India, but it is working on the “Bonuses” feature that would allow the content creators to earn money from sharing reels in the near future.
Instagram doesn’t have a monetisation policy yet. If you are an influencer, the brand you have collaborated with will pay you depending on the agreement made between you and the brand.
