Five proven ways to make money on Instagram

Instagram remains one of the most popular social media apps. In fact, it was one of the top five downloaded apps in the App Store and Google Play in 2023 and it surpassed one billion global users.

It was second only to TikTok in download count. The platform’s active user numbers are equally impressive.

The good news is as an Instagram user, you can make good money from the app. Many Nigerians have become millionaires.

According to Instagram Business, 60% of people use this platform to discover new products, 80% of them follow at least one brand, 200 million accounts check out a business profile each day, and 66% of profile visits are from non-followers.

Much like Tiktok and Facebook, social media marketing on Instagram is at an all-time high.

So how do you make money from Instagram ?

Get sponsored

This is likely the most well-known way that creators can make money on Instagram. Creating sponsored posts or stories is the primary way Instagram users can cash in on their account. For example, if your content is focused on images or videos of tourism or properties, a real estate company may pay you to do a sponsored post on their properties.

How to get sponsored on Instagram

So how do you find a sponsor? In some cases, interested companies will reach out to you. But if you don’t want to wait to be approached, check out companies that can help you find and work with brands, then reach out to them, showing your results (analytics) and how partnering with you can help them get more customers.

Note:

Sponsored posts and stories on Instagram are held to the same standard of truth in advertising as any other form of marketing. Make sure to include a disclosure in each paid post and story. You’ll do this by setting up branded content in your account settings then tagging your business partner. Use hashtags, mark the post as sponsored, and be clear about the partnership in your captions. Not following Instagram’s branded content guidelines can result in posts being removed—plus, it’s sketchy.

Promote your business

Apart from having a personal account, you can set up a business account to grow your business. For example, if you have an E-commerce website where you sell your products or a blog that generates advertising revenue, a professional-looking Instagram account could provide a promotional boost. You can link to your website in your profile or highlight one specific product in your bio section to direct more people to it.

Even if you don’t have an external website for business, you can sell your products on Instagram by creating a business page, link your facebook business page to your Instagram page and direct your followers to those pages.

You can also boost a post on your page by paying Instagram to run paid ads for you. Like the saying, “You use money to make money”. Paid Ads really work.

Be strategic!

Take quality photos of products you’re trying to sell or projects you’re promoting and make them findable. Add a call to action that links directly to the external page or the action you want your followers to take. Create your own hashtag and check out which ones competitors are using. Encourage your customers to post pictures with your stuff and tag you in them.

Use Instagram’s insights feature to learn how your posts are performing and which your audience are engaging mostly with. You can also add a button to your profile that links to an email address or phone number so interested parties can contact you easily

Sell Affiliate Program

Affiliate programs essentially pay you to market other people’s products. You do this by posting the affiliate link on your bio. If your followers buy something from the brand through you, you get paid.

This is similar to brand partnerships where you sell a company’s products through your page. It requires you to connect yourself to a business that sells specific products or experiences.

Instagram followers pay close attention to Instagram posts, so using captions to tell about affiliate marketing links is a great way to grab their attention. However, putting links on a post won’t work as all links in Instagram posts are non-clickable.

Selling an affiliate program can fetch you lots of money once what you are selling resonates with what your followers would buy. So, you want to make sure that the products you’re highlighting align with your values.

Become an Instagram Coach or Consultant

If you are killing it on Instagram and have a massive, engaged following, why not make money by teaching others to do the same thing? Sell digital / information products such as E-book, instructional materials in your field where you have been trusted.

Health, fitness, Culinary, DIY contents are some of the hottest selling contents on Instagram. When you position yourself as a thought-leader in your field, you get lots of followers and become a coach/consultant. If you know how to do it, and have done so yourself, you can make a lot of money.

Grow your account and become an Influencer

This is one of the ways to become crazily rich from Instagram and many creators have perfected this act. Nigerians Influncers like Pamilerin, Aproko Doctor, Craze Clown, Hustlersquare, Broda Shaggi, Tayo Aina, etc have used this to make a name and career for themselves.

The good thing about being an Influencer is you are trusted by both brands and your followers when promoting a product.

How much do Instagram influencers make?

The top five Instagram influencers as of April 2021 have over 200 million followers each and include Cristiano Ronaldo, Ariana Grande, Dwayne Johnson, Kylie Jenner and Selena Gomez, according to Search Engine Journal.

Influencers with a million followers can earn somewhere around $670 per post according to Instagram. A content creator on Instagram with 100,000 followers can earn about $200 per post, while someone with 10,000 followers can make about $88 per post.

How many Instagram followers do you need to make money?

The amount of followers you need to make money on Instagram varies depending on your industry. While you can make money with 1,000 followers or 1 million followers, make sure to focus on engagement.

With just 1,000 or so followers, you can make money on Instagram. Neil Patel, a widely known digital marketing specialist, says the key is engagement — followers who like, share and comment on your posts.

“Even if you have 1,000 followers who are engaged, the potential to make money is there,” he writes on his blog.

Micro-influencers with a highly-engaged audience can be more valuable to brands than huge celebrities with millions of followers.

So, the formula is: more followers + more posts + more engagements = more money.

Remember, brands don’t just want impressions and views, they want users to take actions – leads, email sign-ups, and sales.

Remember, numbers Matter !

Companies are attracted to dedicated communities on the social networking app, even ones that number in the low thousands. If your followers fit the profile of consumers that a brand is trying to reach, you may be able to make some money. Not interested in going the influencer route? Try selling your own products.