Dreaming of turning your Instagram account into a money-making powerhouse?
In our guide on how to make money through Instagram in 2024, we’ll unlock the secrets to achieving a whopping 200% ROI.
From leveraging your passion to exploring diverse income streams, this comprehensive guide will empower you to capitalize on the immense earning potential Instagram offers.
Ready to turn those double taps into dollars? Let’s dive into the lucrative world of Instagram money-making strategies.
Introducing Instagram As An Earning Source π
The business strategy of Instagram is unique and emerging. Since its introduction in 2010, the model on which it operates has been quite the same. An image-sharing platform, but the algorithm it works on has evolved with time.
It also needs to create a profile like other platforms; depending on your unique brand, your audience, and your level of indulgence, you can make money on Instagram. Let’s get to the point and find out how to actually make money from the visual social platform.
Nowadays, Instagram is a perfect platform for selling products that photograph great, or you can say that if the products you are selling are photogenic, or you can leverage people by showing them, you can sell them. Not only this, if you love picturing yourself and have a huge following, you can earn by promoting products or services for others.
If You Are Looking to Make Money, Here Are a Couple of Requirements
1. Focus on Reach and Influence
Why would any business want to pay money to an Instagram user?
Apparently, to get exposure to their audience, they tend to make money in the process by compelling their followers to buy and recommend their products.
For this, Instagram is a perfect place where you can send posts to more of your fans’ feeds. You just need to know the right timings to post and perfect hashtags, and then your organic reach will be higher.
But if you have only a few hundred followers, you will not be able to reach a lot of people, and your product and content will not be able to drive sales for the brand.
Thus, you require thousands of followers in order to market the brand’s products. You need to become a compelling personality on Instagram.
2. Engagement of Followers
Even if you have a good number of followers and you are happy, it’s not enough fellas in order to earn money. Β It will surely increase the rate of your posts appearing in more Instagram feeds.
But what if you still have a cold account, i.e., cold reactions. It will be kind of devastating.
It’s just a game of engagement, guys. So, if you are not getting a good response even if you have a large number of followers, then you are doing it wrong. Your posts are not hitting the point where they should be, and you are not reaching people’s hearts.
You need to understand your audience to get the engagement rate. If you have only 1000 followers engaged, the potential to make money is there. Brands and businesses will approach you due to profitable actions you can drive to their products.
Legit Ways To Earn Money With Instagram In 2024 π₯
1. Become an Influencer
If you have the potential to be an influencer, you can earn loads from Instagram. With the status, you can promote brands and advertise their products on your Insta account. An influencer is a person who has influence over people, and what they share and do impacts people.
A profile with a remarkable number of following, and if they can convince their audience about the trends. These people are the influencers. Brands want them to be their partner and to sponsor posts that help spread the word about their products.
Top influencers make thousands of dollars per post. Isn’t it amazing that you can make thousands of dollars per post? As an influencer, it’s extremely important for you to know your audience. You must be aware of who your audience mainly consists of so you can promote those brands that would fit your audience. I would recommend you to switch to a business account; moreover, you get your account’s Analytic report.
I know what’s banging in your head: how will brands you want to work with be willing to pay you the money for featuring their product. Don’t worry, if you have made a noteworthy following there are more chances that big brands will reach to you. You can also find brands that fit your aura and values the best.
If you think you have an ample number of followers who are influenced by you, you can reach out to brands yourself directly to try to negotiate a deal, or you can also list yourself on an influencer marketplace to increase the chance of being found by a big brand.
One more tip: Be cautious so that you don’t lose the trust of your existing audience in the process of making money. Just make sure that your audience is aware that you are promoting products by adding a #sponsored hashtag to maintain their trust.
2. Become an Affiliate Marketer
Affiliate marketing is just selling other people’s products through your skills and taking a cut in that. Many well-known brands sell their products through affiliate marketing. You can be an affiliate marketer on Instagram as well. Many people make money from Instagram in this way.
There is a vast difference between influencer and affiliate marketer, an affiliate work towards making sales for the brands they work with for getting the commission.
Affiliate marketing is very different as they make money through trackable links or promo codes so that they can make sure how many customers are converted.
You need to create appealing posts so you can promote the products without being pushy. Considering that you can only add one link to your bio, you might wanna include a landing page to your affiliate link. You can include the product link to where it can be purchased in the caption of every post.
It can be challenging at first, but when you realize your potential, you will earn well.
3. Sell Photos and Videos
Instagram is all about pictures and visual content. If your products look appealing, they will be sold on Instagram. You can also sell poster pictures, paintings, drawings, animations, videos, and other image or video-based products. Do add the visit the link in every post’s bio that can refer your readers.
If you think you have high-quality pictures, there’s a chance you can get paid for them. Don’t just limit yourself in photography skills, explore other possibilities as well that can enhance your pictures such as editing. But in the end, try to be original. You can also use Instagram to promote your photogrammetry portfolio using relevant hashtags.
4. Sell Your Own Products
You also can sell physical products that you own or purchase from suppliers. This traditional e-commerce retailing usually requires inventory, which means you will need to invest and stock some products.
Let’s Have a Look at Some Bizarre Statistics on Instagram
With surprising and staggering numbers, Instagram is catching up with Facebook’s growth. Facebook has 3.049 billion monthly active users, and Instagram has reached 1.4 billion users over 24 years in 2024 since its launch. With nonstop popularity and unstoppable force, it’s no wonder that Instagram is now becoming a massive platform.
To help your business and to learn how you can earn money, you must know these spectacular stats of Instagram:
- An Estimated 71% of US Businesses Use Instagram
- Β 80% of Users Follow a Business on Instagram
- Instagram Ads Increased by 28% in the Second Half of 2017
- Β Posts with a Location Get 79% More Engagement
- 80% of Influencers Prefer Instagram for Brand Collaboration
- Β 59% of 18-29 Year Olds Use Instagram
- 80% of Instagram users are outside of the US.
- There are 16,600,000 Google searches for “Instagram” per month.
- Β Over 25 million business profiles are using Instagram worldwide, up from 15 million in July 2017
- Β By 2019, itβs estimated that Instagram ad revenue will reach over $10 billion, according to The Drum.
How to Build a Notable Instagram Account In 2024 π₯
I know you want to try it right. In this case, either you can follow your own marketing tactics, or you can get help from a social media marketing agency to get a notable amount of money through Instagram. Have a quick look at how you can build an Instagram following which can pay you.
1. Fill Your Bio Wisely
Whether you’re launching a business on Instagram or just aiming to make some extra cash, having a smart posting plan is crucial.
Your Instagram bio is a valuable and delicate part of your profile. It’s a snapshot of who you are and your values. Think of it as your pitch to newcomers.
So, it’s essential to craft it in a way that’s catchy, straightforward, concise, and right on target.
- Take these three aspects in mind.
- Use emojis to direct the user towards CTA.
- Do not forget to add a bio link to direct the user to your customized landing page.
- Your bio should add the value you are offering to your users.
2. Engage With The Customers And Post Regularly
In a general manner, how we maintain our relationships with our friends and family is the same thing we have to do here. Instagram also works in the same way. The more you are gonna post, the more followers you will gain. Your growth rate of the Instagram following also increases.
Just don’t let any conversation go unattended. You also can attach hashtags and create your own hashtag, incentivizing your followers to send their content that gets featured on your profile. It will increase authenticity, brand reliability, and loyalty.
With regular posting, you also need to take care when you are posting. Time plays a crucial role in order to increase engagement. Though everyone stays connected to their phones the whole day, it will be preferable if you post during breaks when people are free.
In the case of Instagram, posting on Weekdays is much better than posting on weekends.
3. Take Care Of Hashtags and Captions, Too
Hashtags have been playing a very important role since 2007. These hashtags work exceptionally well on Instagram. It clusters posts with the same theme. On Instagram, you can add 30 hashtags per post, and I think that’s enough.
Don’t use random hashtags. Always consider relevant hashtags. Find out what the popular hashtags are and whether they match your post or not. If you find that they match your niche, go for it.
Now, let’s look at the caption. You get 2000 characters to be creative in front of your audience. There no rules. You just need to know your audience and be willing to experiment. Just a couple of words and emojis are enough to make yourself stand out from the crowd.
4. Focus On The Quality Of Content
The competition on Instagram is very high. There are more than 1 million advertisers on this platform, and 80% of Instagrammers follow one business account.
Instagram is used by people to get a visual taste of the lives of their friends, family, and followers. They also wanna see the authentic side of the brands they are following. Do not bombard offers from your followers. Try to educate and inspire them with quotes.
You can conduct contests and reward your customers, too. Do promote your product also, but only about 20% of the time.
5. Consider Video Promotions
Videos are the new way of communication. It’s a great way to enhance your storytelling. Video marketing is on the boom right now, so savor the flavor of it and promote your products.
On Instagram, you can post videos of up to 60 seconds. According to a study, popular publishers are also posting a healthy dose of videos to promote their brand. If you talk about the engagement rate, it’s just double in videos than in photos.
The best thing is that you can modify sloppy videos, edit your previously shot videos in other apps, and upload them on Instagram. You can also add sound or just keep it simple. You don’t need to be too formal or perfect, remember it’s social media platform.
6. Build a Strong Relationship With Influencers And Businesses
Posting high-quality content and pictures in order to compel people will not take you so far. But if you wanna grow fast, you need external help to get attention from Instagram. You need to nurture relationships with the powerful profiles of Instagram in your niche and borrow their magnetism.
You can request the influencers to promote your profile in exchange for promoting their posts. This might help you.
Another way is to buy Instagram shoutouts. It’s basically paying a per-post fee to accounts with an immense following for mentioning you or recommending you.
Take a Deep Dive Into Instagram Do’s and Don’ts
Instagram also has its own book of do’s and don’ts on how you should post, which type of images or videos to post, how many times you should post, etc. If you follow these rules, it could improve your earnings on Instagram.
1) Donβt Add Too Many Hashtags
Instagram also has a limited number of hashtags per post, so you can’t just spam your Insta account with irrelevant hashtags.
According to a study by Sprout Social, Instagram captions should ideally be 138 to 150 characters. In the case of ad captions, stick with 125 characters. The suggested number of hashtags is also between 5 and 10; though we can add 30 hashtags, it is not recommended to add that many to a post.
Instagram may ” shadow ban” your posts if they contain more than 20 hashtags. It means your posts will stop showing up in searches for those tags. That will decrease your chance to make money, and it will reduce the reach of your posts.
2) Do Add Locations
As an influencer, if you are out on an event collaborating with any brand, make sure you add the location. Do also add the resources; there’s a good chance they will re-share, and you will get in front of a broader audience. It can become the opportunity to get the perfect exposure.
3) Use Filters
Try to urge your audience by using beautiful, bright, and vibrant images. If bright doesn’t fit the tone, you should not force it. Make sure that you use filters to enhance your picture’s features. Your profile should have a proper aura and certain look, so if someone goes through your account, they can get your niche as well as concise.
4) Follow You Niche
This is really important if you have a particular niche. You should be engaging, interacting, and supporting your niche in order to build a following. The more you give, the more you get back.
5) Stick To Your Goal
For most brands, the ultimate goal is to drive traffic to their site or to inspire people to contact them. To achieve this, you have to make sure that you are conveying this message to your followers by adding relevant and encouraging content.
Add a link to your site in your bio if you want them to visit your website. As a business account, make sure you also add your email and number so that if anybody wants to connect with you, they can reach you.
6) Don’t Just Be Professional, Show Who You Are
Don’t just post professional images. Also, add those candid images that show who you are. Show behind the scenes or a day in your life. Make it a slight personal to build trust. Once you show both personal and business levels, the more you are going to connect with your audience.
7) Post Regularly, But Don’t Post More Than Three Posts A Day
Do not post more than three times a day. You should be consistent in posting, but too many posts will clog up your audience’s feed. I suggest that one or two posts a day are enough. If you add too many posts a day, the chances are more that you will be unfollowed soon.
8) Do Show Your Uniqueness
This will take time, but once you know how to establish that feeling, make sure you make it visible throughout your profile. Adopt particular colors or specific types of images that represent your branding and use that consistently in your profile.
Make it distinguishable. You need to mirror what you want to show your audience through the posts.
FAQs
π Is a large following necessary for Instagram earnings?
While beneficial, even micro-influencers can leverage niche audiences effectively for earning opportunities.
π How can I optimize my Instagram profile for monetization?
Craft a compelling bio, showcase skills/products, and use high-quality visuals to attract potential collaborators or customers.
βοΈ Can I make money without selling products on Instagram?
Certainly, explore sponsored content, brand collaborations, and affiliate marketing as alternative revenue streams.
β How to calculate and maximize ROI on Instagram?
Track expenses and earnings, experiment with strategies, and focus on what brings the best returns for your efforts.