It makes sense that individuals, brands, and businesses want to learn how to monetize Instagram. The social media giant is a popular platform for marketing and digital brand development with over one billion monthly users.
It’s just undeniable- the Gram is a wonderful space to drive highly visual and engaging content. Over ten years after its creation, it still leads the pack in photo- and video-sharing online.
So how can you make money from this visual space? Check out our easy-to-use guide on how to monetize Instagram.
6 Different Ways To Monetize Instagram
To make money on the Gram, you can either collaborate to sell and promote other people’s products or create and sell your own products. Here are some of the ways you can make money in both ways:
Become an influencer
There’s no way that you can talk about Instagram without talking about influencers. Influencers have so much power over sales on the platform that Instagram states 87% of its users said an influencer inspired them to buy something.
How do influencers make their money? Well, sponsored posts and paid posts, of course. Brands and businesses are willing to spend big money on influencer marketing. If you have a big audience, good engagement metrics, and a niche personality that compliments the brand, then you can become an influencer for them.
Being an influencer is all about asking if the brand offering the sponsorship fits your personal brand. And, if it does, then it is a wonderful way to make money without having to change much of what you’re already doing.
“Sell” ad space on your page
Also connected to influencing is the option to sell “ad space” on your feed. As an influencer, you generally have to integrate a product or service into your content creation – so you create the content. But if you just sell ad space, then brands and businesses can pay you to post content that they’ve already created, like putting an ad on a YouTube video.
The plus side of this is that you don’t have to spend time conceptualizing and creating content. The downside – it can come off a bit cheap, impersonal, and detached from your brand, which goes against the authenticity benefit of influencer marketing.
Sell brand products as an affiliate marketer
Sponsored content is all about promoting the product (ie: you just give air space to the brand you’re working with). Affiliate commerce goes beyond just increasing brand recognition to making sales and conversions.
As an affiliate marketer, you may have your own checkout code, for example, that customers can use to get a discount when they buy an item. Every time one of your followers uses the code, you get paid a small commission.
Create your own Instagram/Ecommerce store
Instagram isn’t just a great place to collaborate and make money from selling and promoting other brands’ stuff. You can also establish your own eCommerce or online store and sell your products online.
Instagram has made doing business on their platform more viable through the Marketplace and Shopping features. Read our article on these new monetization features to learn more about how to monetize Instagram.
Promote your freelancing skills
Instagram is brimming with creative skills and talent, making it a hunting ground for freelance talent and creative collaborations. Use your Instagram account much like a freelancing profile to promote your skills and find gigs.
For example, if you’re an aspiring musician, you can share clips of your music with links to where users can listen to it some more. Many photographers also promote their craft and meet new customers via the Gram.
Direct traffic to your other digital income spaces
If you’re thinking about how to monetize your Instagram, then you may already be quite active online. A website, blog, Youtube page, whatever you’re into… you can also use Instagram to drive traffic to your other digital income streams.
If you’re selling ad space on your Youtube channel, for example, more people will want to buy it if you have a ton of people engaging with it. Use Instagram traffic to boost the other elements in your social media presence.
How to Monetize Instagram: Best Practices
Find your niche
You need to understand the ins and outs of your monetizing technique. If you’re an influencer, for example, your content is all about developing a personal brand that aligns with the industry you want to target. Understand your brand, your industry, your audience, and the brand you’re working with.
Grow your audience
Don’t go and buy fake followers, please! Not only will fake followers fail to have any kind of impact on your engagement and other metrics because they don’t care about you or your account. This is now actually illegal and is considered fraud, so you don’t wanna do it!
You want to grow a real audience full of followers who enjoy your content and your brand. You can check out our tips on how to grow an audience here.
Create sustainable networks
If you want to use this ‘how to monetize Instagram’ guide practically, then you need to develop connections. You’re a business and a brand so, of course, you want to connect to the right audience. You also need to make connections with other businesses or brands that can help you develop, as well.
Stay Professional
Speaking of viewing yourself as a business – you must stay professional. All interactions, orders, and clients matter. You want to maintain a top reputation so that your Insta income is sustainable!
Develop a rate card/analytics template
Finally, it’s a good idea to check out the landscape and find out what the standard rates are for the services and/or products you offer. If you’re going to do this, you should do it right and get your money’s worth.
Time To Start Making Some Cash!
Instagram is probably already one of your fave places to be. If you’re already spending tons of time on there, and you have a decent enough following, why not learn how to monetize Instagram and get more coin for yourself?
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