You’ve probably heard stories of Instagrammers cashing in on the pictures they snap and share every day.

You might’ve even looked at your own sizeable following and thought, “Maybe I can do that too.”

Of course, everyone wants to know how to make money on Instagram. With the help of this article, you can learn to work as an influencer, be an affiliate marketer, or sell your own products.

Make Money on Instagram in 2021

Together, reach and influence offer the opportunity for Instagram creators to explore multiple streams of potential revenue, whether they want to build an empire or just earn some extra cash and free stuff.

Everyone wants to know how to make money on Instagram. We’re all on it all day anyways—usually spending money instead of earning it.

In the past few years, Instagram’s endless feed of gorgeous photos has evolved into something between a glossy magazine, your best friend’s taste, and a boutique shop.

With over a billion monthly users, 71% of whom are under 35, Instagram is the platform of aspiration, inspiration—and now, in-app checkout.

The opportunity for making money on Instagram
As of June 2018, Instagram reached the 1 billion monthly active users mark. While it got its start as a photo-sharing app, it’s transformed into a business platform. Millions of entrepreneurs are taking advantage of its selling power, from service providers to nonprofits to drop-shipping ecommerce business owners.

In this article, we’ll look at a few tactics you can start using today. So you can join the ranks of successful people who earn money from Instagram in 2021.

Prerequisite for earning money
Before you think about the ways which you can make money, you should consider some pillars of Instagram marketing.

Most importantly, getting on the Instagram Explore Page! It is equal to more view, more followers, and more engagement.

It is basically the dream of every Instagram blogger, influencer, marketer, brand, or business.

Can You Make Money on Instagram?
Absolutely. As long as you have some beautiful and creative images to use, you can spark the attention of Instagram’s millions of users.

The enthusiasts of this platform are always looking out for new ways to earn money from Instagram.

How many Instagram followers do you need to make money?
If by now you’re wondering how many followers you need to start bringing in real revenue, the short answer is “not as many as you think.”

The long answer depends on factors that range from:

● What niche you’re in and how easily you can directly tie it to a product category (fashion, food, beauty, and fitness are popular niches, based on top Instagram hashtags)

● How engaged your followers are (100K fake followers won’t amount too much)

● Which revenue channels you explore

Naturally, the more engaged followers you have, the better. Check out our tips on how to increase Instagram followers and what to post on Instagram to get more likes and followers.

While top Instagrammers make thousands of dollars per post, even those with small-but-engaged followings of 1,000 have the potential to start making money.

How to Make Money on Instagram

There are three major ways to make money on Instagram.

● Work as an influencer to post content sponsored by brands

● Be an affiliate marketer selling other people’s products

● Become an entrepreneur and sell your own products

1. Work as an influencer to make money on IG
If you can reach coveted influencer status, you can use your Instagram profile to promote all kinds of products from all kinds of brands.

If you’re not familiar, an influencer is someone who has built a reputation and loyal following by sharing regularly on their social accounts. They have a good following and they’re able to convince their audiences to jump onto trends and buy certain products. 

They have this power because they’ve spent a lot of time building trust and relationships with their audience.

Brands tend to partner with influencers to do sponsored posts that help spread the word about their products. To get to this point, you need to have a big size and reach of your Instagram account, as well as regular posts that generate strong engagement from your followers.

Influencer Marketing on IG

Top influencers make thousands of dollars per sponsored post. Keep in mind that it takes a long time and a lot of hard work and talent to get to this point. It’s attainable for sure, but make sure you manage your expectations if you choose this route.

As an influencer, it’s extremely important for you to know your audience. You need to understand who those people are – their interests, values, needs, and wants.

If you’ve created a noteworthy online presence, chances are big brands will reach out to you. But as you’re building, you also find brands yourself that you think match your personality and values the best.

2. Be an affiliate marketer for earning money on the platform
Unlike an influencer, an affiliate is more invested in making sales for the partner brand (not just generating awareness) in exchange for a commission.

This is typically done with a trackable link or unique promo code to ensure clicks actually translate into sales. Since Instagram doesn’t yet allow links anywhere outside of your bio, you can only focus on one product at a time if you choose to rely on affiliate links, making promo codes a better option for Instagram since you can actually incorporate them into your posts.

Note: You can now add links to Instagram Stories to open up new income opportunities as an influencer.

Approached ethically, affiliate marketing is actually a smart, and well-established angle on marketing. You recommend your favorite pens, or mascara, or dog food, and provide either a link to buy the product, or else a promo code with a small discount. Both link and promo code are unique to you, so the merchant can track sales back to your efforts. You earn a fee or percentage for every sale.

Meanwhile, as Instagram rolls out product tags and Instagram Checkout, marketers are no longer limited to saying ‘link in bio.’ As customers find it easier to buy on Instagram, affiliate marketers may well see their sales increase.

3. Become an entrepreneur to make money on Instagram
The third strategy for making money on Instagram goes beyond marketing and into the realm of actual e-commerce.

Rather than using your personal brand to sell other people’s products, sell your own. This might be a coffee-table book of your most popular photos. But it could also be your time and advice as a consultant; or your high-end fashion line. And if you already own a business, selling on Instagram is an obvious addition to your marketing strategy.

Turning your audience into your customers may well be a natural fit. And with the rise of e-commerce platforms like Shopify and print-on-demand services like Printful, it’s increasingly simple to run an online business that delivers real-world products.

In the past few years, Instagram has been rolling out all sorts of shopping-focused features: the Explore tab, product tags, shoppable posts, shoppable Stories, and Instagram Checkout.

In order to take advantage of them, you need a business account. You also need to create a product catalogue.

You need to invest some time upfront, but in today’s world, it’s almost natural for creators to make the leap to entrepreneurship. That’s becoming easier with the growing list of Instagram tools available to build an audience.

Sell your product to get paid on Instagram
There are a few ways to sell your own merch. For example, you can:

● Use a print-on-demand service to print and ship your own t-shirts, pillows, coffee mugs, wall art, and more.

● Sell services such as photography or consulting using your bio to direct interested people to a contact email or a link to your professional website.

● Sell digital products such as courses, eBooks, or design templates.

● Use your Instagram account to launch a business selling your own original products, or even a book.

Bottom line about making money on Instagram

In short, it started as a hobby, making people laugh, doing silly photoshoots with your dog, or sharing pictures of food. It can snowball into the chance to turn Instagram into a source of income fueled by your engaged following. But why stop there?

There’s a world of possibilities out there for creators to make money on the internet. If you want to open up more revenue streams online, be sure to check out our tips.