How to make money with Instagram in 2023
How to make money with Instagram in 2023
Instagram has become a money making machine.
Who would have thought it a few years ago when it seemed like it was good for little more than sharing photos with our friends?
But how is it possible to earn money in this photo and image application?
What are the methods most used by influencers?
How to become one?
Do you really need to become an influencer to make money?
As you can see there are many questions and the interesting thing is that they give us the clue that Instagram is a gigantic business market, but do not think that it is easy to earn money on it. Some will cost more than others.
Now without further ado, let’s see the ways to earn money with Instagram.
Table of Contents Hide
11 ways on how to earn money on Instagram 2022
1 Post sponsored content
2 Promote affiliates
3 Start and promote your own product
4 Ambassador of a company
5 Use Instagram to boost Youtube (or other platforms)
6 Creating Captions and hashtags for the content
7 Creating masks and filters
8 Selling your photos
9 Selling your own account
10 As an Instagram expert
11 With IGTV Instagram TV
Things you should keep in mind to earn money with Instagram:
Can you make money with Instagram easily?
Tips to make money with Instagram
What not to do on Instagram?
What is the best way to earn money on Instagram?
A personal advice to monetize with Instagram
11 ways on how to earn money on Instagram 2023
But before enumerating them let me tell you something:
Look, the main thing for you to earn money on Instagram is that you put a lot of time or effort into it (ideally the latter).
This is like everything.
At first, you may only use Instagram as a hobby, but it may be that you have a special gift for making videos or photos of a very good quality and little by little you start to gain followers.
That is already a start, and if by chance you see that you can start making money with the platform, the next logical step would be to start posting much more frequently and even increase the quality of the content.
For this, it is best to specialize in Instagram and become a full-fledged instagramer; the same happens if you dedicate yourself to YouTube, Twitter, blogging or Facebook.
The best: specialize and go with everything. This is how in the end you can get the “economy of scale” to raise the number of followers to figures where you can make real money (see how much Instagram pays).
And now we go with the ways to earn money.
1 Post sponsored content
Sponsored ContentThis is the most popular and favorite method of making money with Instagram; the reason: What is simple and easy to implement?
The theme works as follows. An influencer with a following is a person that many people admire in one way or another. If that influencer recommends a product, its followers are much more likely to buy it. This is based on a lifetime of trust; what on the street is known as “word of mouth” (or word of mouth, as you prefer). Normally we distrust brands and corporate messages more than the message of a “common” person.
So when you see a story from your favorite instagrammer with a product, you already know that the post is most likely sponsored; In other words, the influencer will be charging for showing that brand.
Come on, this in the end is a matter of audience and publicity, not very different from what was the television of a lifetime. So many followers or “Instagram psychics”, so much you will charge.
Who does this strategy suit?
Obviously you will have to have an acceptable number of followers. If your niche is of high value, then with less they can start paying you interesting figures.
An example of how to earn money with sponsored content:
If you want to see examples of how people earn content this way, just put #ad or #sponsored (which are legally valid) and millions of results will appear. Picking one at random:
As we can see, this case is a typical sponsorship of a product (neutrogena) that can be found in Walmart supermarkets in the United States.
The fact is that this profile has (“had” when you read this) just over 5,000 followers, so you can easily see that it is not that difficult to start making money with this platform. The number of accounts of traveling people or people related to fashion or beauty who have thousands of followers just because of their hobby.
2 Promote affiliates
Earn money from affiliates This is a similar way to the previous one, but with the difference that the influencer already has a contract with a company that offers a service or a product, and in this case they are going to dedicate a content strategy focused on promoting it.
This is an even better example of word of mouth than the previous one. If we have a solid fan base and our product recommendations are going to have a much higher conversion rate than typical commercial messages with a corporate touch.
An important issue with the subject of affiliates is that they are relevant to the audience and the channel. If you have a wellness channel, do not include personal loan affiliates. But this is not necessary for me to tell you, because the issue of affiliates comes naturally, and don’t worry, there are affiliates of everything or almost everything.
Whether we dedicate ourselves to travel, gastronomy, health, sports, luxury, clothing, internet, software, investments, etc., there will be an affiliate with whom we can start offering it as a personal recommendation.
Oh, and don’t forget to add that it is about sponsored content (#ad), just like in the previous point about sponsored posts.
These affiliates can be obtained directly from the companies or you can also go to some specialized companies in the sector that brings together hundreds and thousands of different affiliates, such as Awin, Clickbank, ShareaSale, Rakuten, CJ Affiliate, and many more.
A particularly popular market for affiliate marketing on Instagram is clothing, with the typical photo of the outfit of the day and the corresponding affiliate link.
Here is an example of a post with an affiliate link from Vegetta777, one of the best-known influencers in Spain in the gaming sector:
As we can see, the affiliate link comes in a “rare medium” link that cannot be clicked, but this is so because those links cannot be clickable in these types of posts. Also, these types of link shorteners are always used, because if you saw the entire affiliate link it would look very ugly in the post (you’ll notice if you use it one day).
Where to put our affiliate links then?
In our bio (preferably with a shortener) permanently
In our bio temporarily
Using a link service like linktree, with which you can create a link page when someone uses the one in your bio. By the way, those links can be for much more than just affiliates.
Put a link in Instagram Stories as Swipe Up (only for Business accounts with more than 10,000 followers)
You can put the link (not clickable) with a shortener in your story and if your followers “copy and paste” it in their browser, they will go to the affiliate page
3 Start and promote your own product
This is the classic way to try to start a business: offer your own product. For this, obviously, you have to undertake and create that product. Sometimes it is as easy as offering something that others offer, but with better quality. In the internet age those products are usually in the form of services but we also have people offering their physical products.
This is especially advantageous for those businesses that are essentially visual. But the possibilities go far beyond that.
Today the world of digital business is experiencing a huge boom and we can find products of all kinds.
I am going to give you some examples of products or services that can be promoted on Instagram:
Portraits and artistic works
Eco-friendly products
mentoring services
Consulting services
Promote your online store
Sell dropshipping products
If you realize you can use Instagram to sell products but ideally you will have your own website or space where you offer them. This can be an ecommerce website, Etsy or a website where you make yourself known and offer your services as an expert in a niche in the online sphere.
Here we have an example of our own product, in this case a trading mentorship from the well-known (in the world of trading, of course) JonTrader channel:
The possibilities of earning money in this way are multiplied and enormous synergies are created with businesses.
4 Ambassador of a company
This is almost the same as sponsored posts but done permanently and with a certain brand, with which a commercial agreement will have been made.
This case occurs when a company wants to establish a long-term relationship with an influencer, for which the influencer agrees to promote the company’s products in a certain number of posts. Of course, for this strategy to be effective, it has to be fully aligned with the content of the account: if it’s a travel account, then we’ll have to look for companies like Airbnb.
To give you an idea of what you can earn as an ambassador, according to data from 2015, the famous influencer Danielle Bernstein (@weworethat) used to charge between $5 and $15,000 to sponsor one of her posts. To this he added a possible negotiation if it was done with an ambassador plan (source; translate from English with your browser’s translator). By the way, Danielle is now promoting a book of her own in her Instagram bio with a link to Amazon.
5 Use Instagram to boost Youtube (or other platforms)
methods to earn money with youtube The synergy between Instagram and YouTube is obvious. In fact, a good part of the instagramers are also well-known youtubers.
Both platforms are essentially visual, with one of “shorter” content with photos and videos, and another with longer content with videos that last a long time and that is more aimed at being the new “television”. In this sense, Instagram is perfect to use while we are resting with our mobile phone, having a coffee or on the way to work by public transport, while YouTube is better for watching videos of interest at home.
Anyone who feels like a fish in the water in YouTube videos has a perfect swimming pool on Instagram.
It is different if we compare Instagram to a site like Twitter, where short-term information and the written word are more important. It is not that there cannot be some synergy there, but it is light years away from what there is with YouTube.
6 Creating Captions and hashtags for the content
Here we already enter the field of “technical” and that is that in this case we are not talking about influencers but about people who are dedicated to creating content for those instagramers who do not have time to do so.
Sites where we can find these things are typical: Fiver, Freelance, Upwork, etc.
Obviously we are not talking about big companies, but this is to give you an idea that Instagram is not only about big influencers like Kim Kardashian and companies, but there is room for everything: from the one who publishes a post and charges $50,000 to the that offers jobs from home as simple as creating a few posts for 5 dollars.
7 Creating masks and filters
These filters have had spectacular growth and are associated with the stories that are massively published every day on the platform.
But what does this mean about filters and masks?
Well, from the creation of effects in the videos that we are going to publish as stories, creating a special effect in the video.
This is a copy of the system that Snapchat had, but after all it is not something that this social platform had patented, so Instagram adopted it and it has gone well.
Good, but what does this have to do with making money with Instagram?
Well, a lot, because creating professional filters requires experience and skill, and doing so can increase the quality of the story and therefore, the likes and possible conversions. This is where the possibility for experts in this field comes in, who can offer their design services to the many small companies and individual businesses that are trying to fight for the instagram market.
As in the previous case of “captions”, platforms like Fiverr are perfect places to find specialists in the sector.
So by the boat it may seem silly, but the fact that there are hundreds and even thousands (there are more than 300 on Fiverr alone) of specialists in this niche, charging what they charge, gives us an idea of the money that moves in these lares.
So if doing video editing is your thing, you might be able to earn some serious money thanks to Instagram and its filters.
Here you have a video where they explain well how these masks work (it’s a long topic actually):
8 Selling your photos
This is a variant of the selling your own products section, but it deserves a separate mention for being the quintessential Instagram product: the photo. After all, the platform was created with the aim of having people share their photos and images on an ongoing basis, so by pure logic it had to be a special platform for photographers.
The typical thing is that you are already a photographer and that by getting into Instagram you manage to reach a large audience due to the quality of your photos. If these are good, you can get clients and interesting things.
It can also happen that you are an amateur photographer (without realizing it), and that one day, almost by chance, you find that there is an agency asking you for your photos. But be careful about putting watermarks on your photos because if they can’t be stolen, and if they are very good you can be almost sure they will: the image market is also listed on the internet. The good ones are not given away.
If as an amateur you have raised a significant following for your photos on Instagram, then you can show your account as your own portfolio to professional companies selling photos on the network.
Then there can be creative ways to sell your photos, such as in the travel industry, with many influencers selling their photos from particular sites and getting paid for it.
The key to the success of these personal photos is that they have a better acceptance than corporate photos and with a more professional “look”.
Sites to sell your photos can be: Adobe Stock, Fotolia, Getty Images, Shutterstock, etc.
9 Selling your own account
This is a well-known method for veterans of the web, since the sale of blogs and websites has been a very popular business in the online niche. Instagram was not going to be an exception and with such a huge monetary potential, it didn’t take long for users to appear willing to sell their accounts with an interesting number of followers to potential buyers.
What’s more, just like in the world of blogging and online SEO, some experts also appeared in creating accounts that gain many followers in a short time and then sell them to the highest bidder.
It is also possible that you are fed up or fed up with the account and want to sell it. Anything can happen and of course, on Instagram, everything (or almost everything) has a price.
This can be done on different sites such as: forobeta or foro20, for users in Spanish, or Viral Accounts or Fame Swap, in English.
10 As an Instagram expert
And how could it be otherwise, you can also earn money as an Instagram expert or consultant.
With millions and millions of global companies increasingly interested in Instagram, the role of experts becomes vitally important, and that is that a good Instagram connoisseur can make a difference in a company’s strategy.
This is similar to the SEO services of the network, but focused on the niche (super-mega-niche) of this platform, with experience in implementing the most effective strategies in order to have good engagement and growth of followers.
It goes without saying that automated tasks and those who know how to handle them are becoming increasingly important in this field. As with the other sectors of the digital economy, the possibilities that automation brings are increasing.
11 With IGTV Instagram TV
Instagram has launched a television service with which you can make and watch longer videos called IGTV.
According to Instagram, you can earn money by taking out small ads in the videos. This is looking to compete directly with YouTube or sites like Facebook, but we will have to see how the program goes.
The advantage is that since it has synergy with this latest social platform, it could grow faster. But to beat YouTube you have to hit very hard.
Obviously, in order to earn money with this type of ads, we are going to have to generate a lot of visits, especially, again, depending on the country and the type of ads that we are going to get.
This may be fine for influencers or channels that already have a large following and can start testing monetization with this system.
Things you should keep in mind to earn money with Instagram:
Returning to the topic of earning money online, we are going to see a series of important issues that you must take into account when considering whether your Instagram account (or future account) has the potential to generate income:
Niche to which your content is focused
Imagine what a niche like health and fitness, luxury items and clothing, trading, betting, SEO, online marketing, etc., can earn compared to less commercial niches.
Now, this does not mean that you should focus on seeking to publish in a “money” niche, since most of the people who achieve success on this platform are dedicating themselves to what they “like” and being themselves. Don’t worry, in the end almost all niches have their business opportunity, and if it is not one way it is another.
The country or currency in which you move
These figures are in US dollars and not all countries or users will be able to enter that money, although the Hispanic market is very large and is growing a lot, so there is potential to earn, and plenty of it.
The engagement
What is the use of having 10,000 followers if 90% do not pay attention to what you publish and only visit you when San Juan lowers his finger (as my mother said)?
Well, little.
That is why this is a very important parameter that is also closely followed by brands, which are willing to pay good money for those micro or nano-influencers that have a very “engaged” fan base; that is, very participatory.
This engagement is measured with the likes and comments on your posts: the more the better. In other words, if your account has 2,000 followers but 100 likes per post, it is better than one of 10,000 with an average of 10 likes.
One piece of advice on this matter is to focus as much as possible on engagement, or rather, do not use Instagram with the aim of increasing the number of followers as a measure of success.
But it’s not really about “focusing on engagement” either, which I don’t quite understand. What it is about is that you create genuine and interesting content. If so, success will come by itself, and this will be measured in good engagement. This is nothing more than saying that engagement is the meter that tells you that you are doing things well. If you manage to reach figures of around 5% engagement, you can consider yourself a crack
Once you are getting more participation in certain content, what it is good for you to do is study it well and see that this is more or less what you have to do from now on.
How often you post
Ok, it is not essential because it does not mean that you have to be posting massively every day, but there is a truth in the world of social networks: the more activity you show, the more likely it is that your list of followers will grow.
If you only post once a month, no matter how good your content is, you will hardly be able to gain many loyal followers. However, if you are able to post once a day or every other day with quality content then you are almost guaranteed to grow your list quite quickly.
aggressiveness in promotion
Well, Instagram is a site where people are interested in following people and their photos or videos. Company accounts are viewed with suspicion. That is why we should not abuse too commercial posts all the time because that will end up burning many of your followers. A post like this once in a while (1 in 4, 6 or 8) is fine.