Are you in search of how to make money on Instagram? I have discovered 11 sure ways to do it.
Making money on social media sites like Instagram is a thing nowadays. If you’re active with your account, you might want to make something from it right?
Instagram is growing in popularity by the minute. Influencers are always looking for ways to skyrocket their followers, and brands are looking for influential ambassadors.
With the right approach, you can profit from all these people. Whether you’re looking to make money, build relationships, or both, here are 11 sure ways on how to make money on Instagram.
1. Open your own online store
One of the best strategies you can use to make money from Instagram is to sell physical and digital products from your account.
Yet, selling these products on Instagram could be more complicated than just linking your website and letting your followers purchase products through there.
You need to have an online store, a website, or a landing page in order for people to visit, browse and buy the product.
Opening your own online store will be a big step to put yourself in direct and full control of your business. An online store is an easy and convenient way to sell products.
Website builders such as Wix, Squarespace, and Square are especially great for small stores; while Shopify and BigCommerce help to create bigger online stores. All these platforms have features to connect to Instagram and sell there.
Remember, people are always on the Internet, making it easier for them to find your products.
2. Link your online store
Now you have an online store and Instagram account on each of your hands. All it remains is for you to link both of them.
Instagram Shopping moved under the wings of Facebook shops in early 2020; so you’ll need a Facebook Shops Account to link up. Once you’ve got that running, you’re ready to connect.
Different builders have different ways of performing this linkage –all five integrate with Instagram. Given that your products abide by the rules of Facebook Commerce Policies, you’re good to go.
Wix
You may have known that Wix prides itself in its ease of use; which Instagram integration isn’t an exception. You can connect your shop to your dashboard:
- Click the Sales Channels tab
- Click Instagram on the down menu
- Select Start Now
- Click Connect Instagram Profile
- Click Connect Account
If you’re not yet linked, Instagram might require you to sign in. Once you do, you should be ready to go.
Squarespace
Connecting to Instagram Shopping is one of the features available on Squarespace Basic and Advanced plans.
After you have an operational store, head to your Facebook business page and create a new catalog. You’ll be asked to input your login details, and it can take days to be approved.
Since Facebook and Instagram are usually linked, then you have your store linked to your Instagram account and the catalog will be automatically accessible.
Shopify
The connecting steps for Shopify may have been tweaked lately due to Instagram’s absorbance into Facebook’s monolith. Here’s how to go:
- From Shopify admin, go to Facebook sales channel, then Overview
- Click Set up to Start in the Instagram Shopping section
- Connect the necessary Facebook accounts to the sales channel
- Read terms and conditions and select Request Approval
Usually, between 24-48 hours your products will be reviewed and then your requests approved. After that, you can go to your Instagram account and confirm the product catalog
BigCommerce
On this platform, there are a few more steps than normal since e-commerce is BigCommerce’s field of enterprise.
- Go to Channel Manager, then Facebook, then Connect
- Select the Facebook Accounts you wish you connect to
- Enter shop details, including business address and tax information
- Select shipping options for orders placed through Instagram
- Set up your return policy
- Select Accept Terms
- Choose Payment
- Select your Default Category
- Select Export to submit catalog to Facebook
Sometimes, it takes a day or more to approve this request. The extra steps here depict the extra depth BigCommerce to deliver optimum eCommerce features for selling your products.
3. Publish sponsored posts
In addition to selling products on Instagram, you can also post branded photos and videos, or tell your followers about other things that may interest them.
Sponsored posts are posts that companies pay you to put out, and to promote on your page.
Sponsored posts have become a more common practice for bloggers these days where bloggers get paid to promote the business they endorse. This is a very legal and smart strategy.
Besides, once you have a lot of followers, businesses would start contacting you about sponsored posts. Everything will be done only if you want to.
Businesses are hiring bloggers and artists to promote their products, services, books, and events using visual content. This is a good way to supplement your income as an Instagrammer.
But before getting into a partnership with some company, you’d better study the product to ensure that your audience is interested in it and talking about it.
4. Become a brand ambassador
Being a brand ambassador is a trending job nowadays. People become more interested in networking with each other for the sake of business.
Thus, an increasing number of companies are hiring individuals to help them market their products.
If you’re looking to make money on Instagram, one of the simplest ways of doing it is by becoming a brand ambassador for select companies.
This involves being paid to post about their products and promote them to your followers.
It’s essential that you only promote high-quality items so you don’t get a bad name for yourself amongst your target audience.
Besides, if you have decent-sized followers on Instagram, you can always approach brands and become their ambassadors.
Here you can either give them a detailed proposal of how you would market their products. Furthermore, they can ask for your rates if you have worked with big brands before.
5. Affiliate marketing
First off, you need to know what affiliate marketing is.
Affiliate marketing allows you to make money by referring your audience or customers to a business. Besides, it can be a website, a product, or a service that you want to promote.
Become an affiliate of a good company online that will provide the same stuff and product you post in your Instagram account. You will get great rewards if you do this.
You can sign up for affiliate marketing programs and connect them to your Instagram account.
The most popular affiliate platforms include ShareaSale, Clickbank, Amazon, and Commission Junction. This will allow you to create product-specific links that you can promote on Instagram.
When you post something as an affiliate about a product, you will give a link that will lead your audience to the online store where they can buy the product.
If they click on it and make a purchase, you earn money.
6. Create visual content for sale
Content is essential. When you create visual content with a specific business strategy in mind, you are monetizing your art for the benefit of your business or personal brand.
Consider what this means for your visual content marketing efforts. The more engaging your images and videos are, the more people will be compelled to share them and check out your brand or business behind the scenes.
You can use every product as visual content. Instagram is a great way to provide value and offer creative insights into your brand. It’s also a fantastic platform for selling your products in front of your audience.
Social media marketing is a huge trend in the entrepreneurial market. It has become a crucial aspect of growing businesses and establishing an online presence. It is another great way to make money on Instagram.
These services include planning, creating, managing, and promoting content on social networking websites. You’ll need to understand marketing fundamentals and how to grow businesses.
If you can market a business, you can market yourself or your brand, too.
8. Write captions for businesses
There are lots of businesses that are looking for help with writing captions to go along with their photos. Captions are not just words, they are also a way of catching the attention of people. If you have a gift for writing, then this side hustle is perfect for you.
Lots of businesses would like to have their products or services featured on Instagram. While some may be too small to pay you, have expertise in a particular field, or an indie band starting out, you could build relationships with them. Besides, you can enjoy early access to their work in exchange for your caption-writing services.
9. Make Instagram stories masks and filters
It is already known that people love stories on Instagram. Now you can give them reasons to keep coming back for more. Instagram stories masks and filters will increase your engagement rate on Instagram.
These Instagram story masks are already popular among Internet marketing specialists because they allow the creation of personalized visual content that is sure to be noticed by the user.
Use what you already have in your hands with photos and make some cool stories masks and filters, then post on stories, and link to your shop/link in the bio section of your Instagram account.
10. Look for freelance clients
If you are skilled in certain social media marketing areas such as, content creation, or blogging, you can work for individuals or businesses that will pay you to manage their Influencer’ social media accounts.
As a freelancer, you should look for clients. You can use the various freelance job sites to find clients. Take your time and write a proposal of what you would do for them.
Do your research on the company or individual and make sure to follow up after submitting your proposal.
11. Build trust and grow your audience
Cultivate your audience by providing unique and relevant content to them. Respond to both positive and negative comments so that your customers can get to know you better.
Also, be clear about your brand policies such as delivery details, warranty, and so on. Selling products online can be challenging, particularly without a strong brand presence.
To stand out, be patient and think of how your audience will respond to the types of products that you offer. If they respond, you’ll likely see good results.
The bottom line
In social media marketing, there are so many new things. We’ve seen a variety of things that are changing the conventional marketing strategy. One of them is Instagram.
Make a profit on Instagram, now that’s talking. Making money on Instagram is indeed very possible and has, in fact, become a thriving business model.
It’s the most used social media platform, especially among youths today. Well, by now you have realized that these dreams will remain only dreams until you create a plan and learn how to execute it.
Instagram is an excellent way to expand your business. Yet, Instagram can only be an excellent marketing medium if you know how to use the platform.
This is why this guide was created – to provide you with some of the best ways to make money on Instagram.