Making money online is not an easy feat. You must find the right places where your time and energy will be compensated well. While it may be challenging at first, making money online has a lot of benefits, including the chance to work wherever you are and the opportunity to work without having to change from your pajamas.
If you are using the internet, you probably know what Instagram is. But just in case, let us talk about it before discussing how you can make money from it.
What is Instagram?
It is a social media platform that lets users share photos and videos with their followers for free. It has become a particularly popular way for people to interact with businesses, public figures, and friends. Instagram offers a variety of features, including short-form videos or reels, live streaming, and private direct messaging. Facebook, now Meta, purchased Instagram in 2012.
Instagram’s feature does end with photo and video sharing and interactions; it is also a platform for earning money. It has been one of the most widely utilized social media platforms. The platform’s active user base is also outstanding. Instagram now has five hundred million active users worldwide.
Things You Need To Earn Money On Instagram
Knowing how to use Instagram and owning an account is not enough, unfortunately.
A. Influence
For you to have the opportunity to earn money on Instagram, you need a large audience, in short, a lot of followers. Brands are willing to hire large-audience influencers. Users can make more money if their audience is larger because of this.
Your potential audience size is small if you have a few Instagram followers to start with. With such a limited follower size, your content is unlikely to be seen by a significant number of people, and much fewer drive sales to your products or a brand’s products.
Although you can use hashtags to make your content accessible and potentially popular, we cannot deny that a large number of followers is a great foundation.
B. Engagement
Suppose you have an influence and many followers; will that guarantee leads and more reach? No, influence does not guarantee leads.
However, even if you only have limited followers actively engaging with your posts, the opportunity to earn money exists. It indicates that brands may be interested in investing in you because of the good measures they can gain through your account.
In addition, if people rarely engage through comments, likes, shares, and follows on your account, your chances of making money are tiny.
Do you have an influence and high engagement on your Instagram, or are you willing to earn them? If yes, then you can absolutely earn money on the platform!
How To Earn Money On Instagram?
A. Advertise Products
A while back, we mentioned that having a significant amount of followers may help gain an opportunity to earn. That said, brands are more likely to work with large-audience influencers.
By being an influencer, you can make a sponsored Instagram post, for example, a photo or video.
You can also promote a brand by including a branded hashtag, mention, or link and then making it accessible to your audience.
You will be compensated by the brands if they will hire you and ask you to do these things.
However, do not pursue sponsored posts solely to make money. It would be great if you also believed in your promoting brand. For instance, if you tested a makeup brand’s products and did not believe in their quality, you must include your honest reviews. Followers will appreciate it if you can be honest and authentic.
B. Affiliate Marketing
Sponsored posts are similar to affiliate marketing. The distinction is that instead of receiving payment for your posts, you only get paid if your audience purchases the product or service you’re promoting. Alternatively, you’ll get paid a commission if someone buys the product or service you’re promoting through your account affiliate links.
Both sponsored posts and affiliate marketing are effective, and your success is frequently determined by your target audience. While sponsored posts provide a guaranteed income, you could earn much more by promoting the right affiliate offers.
If the affiliate product you are promoting were purchased by a large amount of your audience, you would earn more money, unlike sponsored posts where your income may be predetermined by the brand you are working for.
All in all, sponsored posts guarantee income regardless of sales, whereas audience purchases determine your income in affiliate marketing.
C. Instagram Shop
Yes, you can establish your own Instagram shop. You can combine your e-commerce store with your Instagram profile using an Instagram Shop.
You may advertise your products or services to your Instagram followers directly through your posts, stories, and shop tap on your profile. This is where a large number of followers and engagement enters. If you have them, then you are most likely getting your business known.
With a large number of followers, you can reach your target audience a lot faster. In return, it will help your shop boost its sales.
D. Monetize Content
Recently, Instagram changed IGTC to Instagram reels. The said change means that video previews are now 60 seconds long. Unless the video qualifies for ads, the 15-second limit stays.
Qualified creators can then earn money on Instagram by using Instagram in-stream ads, which take the place of IGTV ads.
Instagram reels are a hybrid of feed videos and IGTV. Users with business profiles can access them through a specific tab on their Instagram account profiles, and you can upload videos as usual.
You can also earn through the badges given by your supporters. Badges are a great way for your audience to show their support if you broadcast live on Instagram. Consider them as gifts from your audience for when you broadcast. During a broadcast, your viewers can purchase a badge by selecting one of three levels of hearts, each with a different price.
Viewers can purchase multiple badges in $0.99, $1.99, and $4.99 increments during your live broadcast on the app. It would be advantageous if you would recognize badge purchasers. If viewers are recognized, they are encouraged to give more.
Conclusion
What is better than having the chance to earn money online? You can earn money and work whenever and wherever you want. It may not be as straightforward as it sounds, but it is doable. Instagram is a platform you can use to start earning money. If you will ask, is it worth it? The ways you can earn are mentioned above; use them to decide whether you should give this a try or not.