If working hard and making money is the American dream, not working hard and making money is the Instagram dream. But making serious income using social media requires some serious strategy. Whether you’re a creator or a business, you’ll find the most success in making money on Instagram if you do your research.
Keep reading to get inspired by thirteen examples from creators and brands, and find tips for making money on Instagram that apply to everyone.
How much money can you make on Instagram?
Numbers are tricky, because creators and brands are notoriously private about how much money they’re making. On top of that, calculating income from Instagram is complicated—if you sing a song on a Reel, the sound goes viral and you get a record deal from that internet fame, then tens of thousands of people buy tickets to your concert, does that count as making money on Instagram? What if you post food videos, then provide a link to your recipe blog, and host ads on your blog that make you money?
It sounds bizarre, but that’s the way most successful creators’ journeys go. How much money you can make on Instagram depends on your credentials, audience size, engagement, strategy, hustle, and a dash of dumb luck.
Here’s how much some creators and celebs have reportedly cashed in:
- $901: The average amount of money an Instagram influencer with 1,000 to 10,000 followers can make per post, according to Business Insider
- $100 to $1,500: How much a creator can be paid for a swipe-up advertisement on their Instagram stories according to Brian Hanly, CEO of Bullish Studio (a talent agency for influencers)
- $983,100: The amount Kylie Jenner reportedly makes per ad or sponsored content post
- $1,604,000: The amount Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly makes per post
- In 2021, Hype Auditor surveyed almost 2 thousand influencers (most based in the U.S.) about how much money they make. Here’s what they found:
- The average influencer makes $2,970 per month. “Average” numbers aren’t the best to go by, since there’s so much differentiation between the highs and lows—as is referenced in the next stat!
- Micro-influencers (accounts with one thousand to ten thousand followers earn on average $1,420 per month, and mega-influencers (accounts with over one million followers) earn about $15,356 per month.
How to make money on Instagram as a business
Being present, active, and engaging on Instagram (and keeping up with trends) is one of the best ways to find business success on the platform in 2024. Here’s how to do it.
1. Promote special offers
The online audience is a sucker for a good deal (and Instagram users love to buy stuff: 44% of Instagrammers say they use the app to shop weekly).
Use Instagram to showcase all the great things about your company—specifically, anytime you’re having a sale. Not only does posting your sale, promo code, or special offer on Instagram advertise a sale to your followers, but it also makes the information easily shareable.
This holiday sale post from clothing brand @smashtess has lots of comments that are just people tagging their friends. It’s an awesome way to promote the sale and also have the sale shared organically.
2. Schedule shoppable Instagram posts with Hootsuite
You can create and schedule or auto-publish shoppable Instagram photos, videos, and carousel posts alongside all your other social media content using Hootsuite.
To tag a product in an Instagram post in Hootsuite, follow these steps:
1. Open your Hootsuite dashboard and go to Composer.
2. Under Publish to, select an Instagram Business profile.
3. Upload your media (up to 10 images or videos) and type out your caption.
4. In the preview on the right, select Tag products. The tagging process is slightly different for videos and images: Images: Select a spot in the image, and then search for and select an item in your product catalog. Repeat for up to 5 tags in the same image. Select Done when you’re finished tagging. Videos: A catalog search appears right away. Search for and select all the products you want to tag in the video.
5. Select Post now or Schedule for later. If you decide to schedule your post, you will see suggestions for the best times to publish your content for maximum engagement.
And that’s it! Your shoppable post will show up in the Hootsuite Planner, alongside all of your other scheduled content.
You can also boost your existing shoppable posts directly from Hootsuite to help more people discover your products.
Note: You’ll need an Instagram Business account and an Instagram shop to take advantage of product tagging in Hootsuite.
3. Partner with creators
Influencer marketing allows you to share your company with the creator’s audience (and the creator also gets a spotlight for your audience—it’s a win-win).
When you’re researching folks to collaborate with, make sure you pay attention to their content and values: you want to pick someone who has goals that align with your own, so the partnership makes sense to customers and doesn’t seem like some oddball marketing scheme.
For example, it makes sense for a plant-based bakery to partner with a vegan influencer (more sense than Bill Nye partnering with Coca-Cola, that’s for sure).
Try to collaborate with creators who would be likely to try and/or like your products, anyway—for example, dancer @maddieziegler has long had a partnership with activewear brand @fabletics. You can offer the creator money, goods, or an affiliate deal (more info on that in the “Join an affiliate program” section of this post, just above!) in exchange for posting about your company.
4. Partner with other businesses
Like partnering with creators, partnerships with other businesses give folks on both sides of the deal an opportunity to interact with a wider consumer base. Try contacting other businesses like yours and hosting a contest or giveaway—it’s an excellent way to gain followers and tap into a new audience.
This giveaway from @chosenfoods and @barebonesbroth requires entrants to like and save the post, follow both companies, and tag a friend in the comments. Both brands are building their audience—followers just waiting to be converted into consumers.
5. Drive traffic to your website
80% of people surveyed said Instagram helps them discover and buy new products or services. Evidently, the more people who see your brand on Instagram, the better chance they will buy from your website. To help you make more money online, you can use Instagram indirectly to drive traffic to your website. With the help of all your Instagram visitors, you can boost sales, grow your email marketing list and expand your loyal community of customers.
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