Both new and established content creators can benefit from efficient Instagram monetization, the process of earning money directly from your posts. Whether you’re selling your own products, already a brand ambassador, or looking for lucrative partnerships with brands you love, you can turn followers and engagement into dollar signs. While there are many ways to make money online, Instagram continues to create more options for monetization, and the following tips can also be applied across different social channels like TikTok and Facebook.
1. Add the right links to your bio
If you’re planning to monetize your Instagram account, you must post intelligently but also provide users with the resources they need to interact with you outside of the app. This means linking your website, tip jar, email address, and/or other important elements in your Instagram bio.
While you can only place one link in your bio, services like Linktree allow you to build one link that takes users to a menu featuring your other links. Take a look at influencers and creators with following counts and posts similar to yours, and identify what information they include in their Instagram link in bio.
Influencers like @falonbrianne feature descriptive bios and link-in-bio tools that allow followers to shop with Falon’s affiliate links.
Remember to make the most of the bio itself, as well. Create a bio that helps brands and users identify what your page is about; this may include your areas of interest (like cosmetics or fitness) or your profession. Instagram also allows creators with business accounts to select a “category” when editing their profile, including options like “digital creator.”
2. Create UGC for brands you love
UGC, or user-generated content, refers to media created by consumers, often promoting a product, instead of by brands. Consider sharing with your Instagram followers what products you’re already using and loving in your niche. With this strategy, you have a better chance of being noticed by brands you like to negotiate a brand ambassadorship, discount, free products, or other monetization options.
Creators like @ellbird often tag the brands featured in posts they were going to share already to increase visibility.
Posting regularly about brands and products that you genuinely feel passionate about frames you as more authentic and trustworthy to your followers, and also gets you on the radar of brands seeking influencers to promote their products. And you don’t have to simply post a picture of you holding up a product and saying you love it.
3. Use Instagram Shop features
With IG shop, you can direct customers to your website or have a fully immersive in-app shopping checkout experience. Both of these are highly lucrative ways to leverage your product sales if you’re selling from your own boutique. However, it’s crucial to determine which one works best for you since you usually can’t mix these options.
You can also use Instagram’s shopping features to create collections of your favorite products from brands you love (or already work with). This allows users to shop your picks and checkout without leaving the Instagram app. Instagram has partnered with excellent third-party platforms like Euclid and Shopify to streamline orders and shipping. Using the platforms, you’ll be able to streamline your customers’ shopping experience.
If you have a website for your products, consider adding your Instagram posts to your site to encourage more traffic between the two channels.
4. Monetize your videos with ads
Another way to get paid is to allow a brand to run ads during your videos. To set this up, go to creator account settings and then enable the monetization option for in-stream video ads. Then, publish videos as you would.
How much you’ll be earning will depend on how many views your video will get in the feed. For instance, your videos need to be at least 2 minutes if you want them to earn. The platform recommends that you aim for at least 2 to 4 minutes long.
5. Become an affiliate or brand ambassador
Another excellent way for you to take advantage of Instagram monetization is by becoming an affiliate marketer or brand ambassador on the platform. You can work as a brand ambassador for the products and brands you believe in.
In the same way, your followers may also find it helpful if you share a link or a discount code for the products you promote. Being an affiliate marketer, you get a certain percentage from the generated revenue whenever someone purchases a product using your custom link.
Being a brand ambassador can also increase your exposure to other brands, especially if/when the brand you’re already working with features you on their Instagram.
There are several tactics you can use to become an affiliate marketer. For smaller brands, DM’ing or emailing the brand may work, while bigger brands may feature a signup link on their website. If you’re already posting about products in your niche, it’s likely that brands will reach out to you.
6. Use Instagram Live badges
If you’re using Twitch or TikTok, then this might already be familiar. As a content creator, whenever you’re live on the platform, your followers can send you badges they’ve bought in support of you. Think of it like a tip jar. Thank your followers by username while you’re on the live to increase the odds of more badges.
This is an excellent tool because it allows fans to showcase their love and support for their favorite content creators. Although this feature benefits content creators with a high following, it doesn’t mean that smaller content creators can’t use it, especially if you have a unique niche. So, start early. This way, you can create a solid, established fanbase that you can rely on.
Monetizing Instagram
From paid partnerships to setting up an online shop, now’s the time to explore the critical content monetization features on Instagram. Following these tips allows you to find the right one for your customers and brand. While it can initially be daunting, you have to be patient at first and trust the process.
Over time, you’ll eventually have a more solid understanding of the respective features tailored to your needs. Doing so allows you to monetize your content and your marketing efforts.
Editor's Note: This article was originally published on pixlee.com. Any statistics or statements included in this article were current at the time of original publication.
