How to Make Money on Instagram

Instagram, you probably know it. Money can also be earned through this social medium. Many people make money on Instagram, in various ways. You too can start earning money on Instagram. In this article, I explain how it works, how many followers you need, in which ways you can earn money, and more.

Curious about other social mediums to earn money online? Then take a look at making money online with YouTube.

How many followers do you need to make money on Instagram?

Many people think that you need tens of thousands or maybe even hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram to make money, but nothing could be further from the truth.

You can also earn great money with Instagram from 1,000 followers. Obviously not as much as someone with 100,000 followers, but you have to start somewhere. Moreover, it will also motivate you to continue, if you know that you can make money on Instagram.

Ultimately, it all depends on how engaged your target audience is that you have. If you have 1 million fake followers, it is of no use to an advertiser. But if you have 1,000 followers who are actively liking and leaving comments, then you are very interesting.

Admittedly, with 1,000 followers you will not be able to live on your income from Instagram for a long time. But you can grow to 10,000 or 100,000 (or 1,000,000) followers, and then there is nice money to be made.

How do you get more Instagram followers?

If you want to make more money on Instagram, you need more followers (while keeping your target audience engagement the same).

So you are looking for followers who fit in well with your target group and who are actively working on your account -> quality followers.

You can get them all naturally. For example by applying the following:

• Post relevant content for your target audience
• Use Instagram hashtags when posting your posts that match the post
• Follow accounts in the same audience
• Repost relevant Instagram posts from bigger accounts & tag them
• Be active with your account on similar accounts (comment & like)

If your account itself is of sufficient quality, you will automatically receive more and more followers. This is also likely to grow exponentially, so stay tuned.

This is how you can earn money with your Instagram account

There are plenty of ways to make money online. Likewise, on Instagram, there is no 1 way to make money. Below I discuss 6 different options to earn money with your Instagram account.

1. Post sponsored posts

As an ‘influencer’, probably the most well-known way to make money on Instagram is through sponsored posts.

That can be a post like other regular posts, or a post (or several) in your story (so that it is visible for 24 hours). In addition, you can also include a link in your bio to the advertiser of the sponsored post.

This can be a pure advertisement or a post in which you, for example, use the advertiser’s product and promote it there in a natural way (it is good to add something so that it is clear that it is an advertisement).

2. Promote your own products or services

Another way to make money is to promote your own products or services (rather than the advertiser’s).

Maybe you have a big Instagram account in the beauty or fitness niche. And you also have a webshop where you sell fitness clothing (just as an example). Then you can then use your own Instagram account to get your product among the people.

Because the target group of your account corresponds to the ideal target group of your webshop, this can yield nice results.

Or maybe you are a coach in a certain target group, and you also have an Instagram account that fits. This way you can ideally offer your own services via your Instagram.

3. Sell your own products via Instagram Shop

This one fits a bit with the previous one, but then you sell directly via your Instagram account.

You can open a shop on your Instagram page. They call it Instagram Shopping. This way you can offer your products entirely via Instagram.

Potential buyers can also find you in an overview if they are looking for certain products. Ideal opportunities to also find new buyers.

4. Apply Affiliate Marketing

make money in the affiliate marketing business has also been around for many years, and there are many people who know how to use it successfully. Also on Instagram.

The concept is very simple. You promote something (for example from Coolblue), and if the customer clicks on your links and buys a product, you receive a commission. That commission differs per advertiser.

Many large advertisers are active in this area. Consider, for example, companies such as T-Mobile, de Bijenkorf, Achmea, Bol or Thuisbezorgd. But also smaller companies. They are registered with various affiliate programs, for which you can also simply sign up.

You can also make such an appointment directly with companies. For example, every time someone uses your discount code you get a commission. This way you can also give your followers something back (in the form of a discount).

Also Read: Why & How to Setup an Instagram Business Profile

5. Make money on Instagram with IG TV

Somewhat the same as posting sponsored posts, but this one is just a bit more extensive.

With an Instagram TV (IG TV) post you can talk a little longer about a product. So if you’re a fan of something yourself (and have a deal with an advertiser), you might want to make a longer post about it via IG TV.

Make sure that it remains relevant for your target group, and does not do too much of this. It can come across as a lot of spam, and that’s not why your target audience follows you (at least, I expect not).

6. Sell your photos

Instagram is all about posting beautiful/interesting photos. If you don’t, you probably don’t have an interesting account to follow.

If you take all those photos yourself, then of course you have a copyright on them. And you can use it to sell your photos.

You can place them on marketplaces such as Twenty20 or 500px. Here, companies and others are actively looking for photos to use. And so for you a chance to earn money with your photos.

In addition, you can also use your photos to place on products. A well-known website for this is Printful, where you can place the photos on clothing, but also on bags, socks, phone cases, and more. Those products can then be sold, making you money.

Don’t post too many promos

So many different ways to earn money with your Instagram account. Make sure you don’t place an ad too often. If you do that too often, your target audience may start to see your page as an advertising pillar, making you less interesting.

Always keep your target audience in mind. So place things that are interesting for your target group, and don’t place ads too often. This way you can probably continue to grow your account so that you can eventually earn even more money with it.

Also, keep in mind that you will probably find an account you follow less interesting if only paid posts are posted.

Frequently asked questions about making money with Instagram

A few questions that are often asked about making money through the ‘Gram.

How do you become an influencer?

Many people (especially young people) are looking for ways to become an influencer.

In the end it is very easy: make sure you have a relatively large number of followers on your account, and then you may already be able to call yourself an influencer.

No one has determined exactly how many followers you need for that. You could also call yourself that if you have 10 followers. It’s just a name tag.

How much money can I ask for by mail?

An interesting question is how much money you can ask per post.

That of course depends on a lot of things. For example, how many followers you have, how involved they are, or in which market you are active.

Ultimately, of course, you can decide for yourself. Many influencers ask about 150 to 300 euros for a placement. Where you can probably easily ask for 300 euros with 100,000 followers, and something from 50-75 euros if you are at 10,000 followers.

How do I find advertisers?

That can be done in different ways. You can actively search for brands yourself and ask them if they are interested. Or they find you.

What you can also do is sign up with a platform like LinkPizza, where advertisers are actively looking for platforms to place their ads on.