This is a collaborative post about social media.
With over one billion active users sharing tens of millions of pictures and videos each day as of October 2020, it’s no longer surprising to hear stories of Instagram users who make a significant amount of income from their Instagram page. As one of the leading and fasted-growing social networking sites, Instagram has quickly evolved from a humble photo and video sharing app to an invaluable marketing platform with endless opportunities for brands and influencers.
If you open your Instagram page and start interacting with posts from users you follow, you’ll quickly realize that most of the people making money on the platform are just normal people who’ve taken time to build up an audience and followers around the content they produce. And this is something anyone can pull off.
Before you get started, it’s important to understand that brands are looking to invest their marketing money only where there’s an engaged following, reach, and influence. Therefore, you need to focus on these three things first. With that in mind, here’s how you can get started on Instagram, grow your account, and make money on the platform:
How to Make Money on Instagram
Find Your Niche
Did you know that 74% of consumers rely on social media platforms like Instagram to make purchase decisions? What’s even more interesting is that almost half of these consumers rely on the recommendations and opinions of influencers. That explains why 80% of marketers and brands find influencer marketing effective, delivering a higher ROI than other marketing channels.
Brands are increasingly working with micro-influencers and influencers with a more engaged, targeted following to promote their products and services. But to build up an engaged following, you’ll need to consistently produce and post quality content in a particular field or niche. Choose a niche you’re knowledgeable and genuinely passionate about. The content you produce for your followers should reflect whatever truly interests you and suits your personality, not some random trends.
Learn from Successful Instagram Influencers
If you want to make money on Instagram, whether as a micro-influencer, influencer, or an entrepreneur selling your own products, you need to stand out. Remember there are over one billion monthly users on the platform. So, apart from defining your niche, creating high-quality posts, and committing to a consistent posting schedule, you have to learn from what other successful Instagram influencers are already doing.
For instance, the most successful influencers on the platform usually include a question in their caption and spend time engaging with other accounts and replying to DMs and comments. They don’t just post content and keep it going. You want to create a strong sense of community and build an engaged following around your brand.
Secondly, successful influencers network within their niche and collaborate with each other to identify new opportunities. Why struggle alone when you can find opportunities from other people? In fact, collaborating with other influencers will make the process of growing your account easier and faster.
Other influencers can also be great assets when it comes to brainstorming content creation for your page. How are other people curating lifestyle brands in similar niches as your own? What hashtags are they using and how are they communicating with their followers? Paying attention to leading influencers in your industry can help you come up with great ideas of your own—and learn the ins and outs of successful influencer marketing in the process.
Use Influencer Marketing Platforms
Brands and businesses of all sizes include Instagram influencer marketing into their overall marketing strategy to reach their audience, increase their brand awareness, and drive sales. Instagram has since become the best performing social media platform for brands looking to reach their audiences quickly. As a micro-influencer or influencer on Instagram, you can use influencer marketing platforms to find the brands you want to help promote their products and services.
An influencer marketing platform simply brings content creators/influencers and brands together, thus helping all the parties involved. Using an online influencer marketing platform like Scalefluence will free up your time so you can focus on producing quality content for your audience and promoting brands. You won’t have to worry about spending hours or days trying to find the brands that best fit your audience. To get you started, check out this article on how to make money on Instagram using Scalefluence.
Start Pitching Brands
Keep in mind that the key to generating real revenue on Instagram isn’t the size of your following, but the ability to cultivate a more engaged, targeted following. Even an Instagrammer with a following of a few thousand people has the potential to start earning money as long as they have a good engagement rate.
A decent follower count of anywhere from 1,000 to 100,000 and a high engagement rate tells brands and businesses that you have the reach and influence to help them promote their products. It means that your followers are not only seeing and interacting with your content but also listening to what you’re saying.
Once you’ve defined your niche, established your brand, and built up a more engaged following, the next thing is to start reaching out to brands for sponsored posts. Here’s how to go about it:
- Identify the top five brands you want to work with. Write down a list of at least five brands that authentically fits with your niche and brand.
- Research the brand. Take time to research the brand before sending your pitch. Find out the social media channels they’re active, their target market, the influencers they’re currently working with, and the email or phone number of the actual person to contact.
- Reach out to the brand directly. After your research, send the brand a direct message straight from Instagram, send a pitch via email, or give them a call explaining why you’re a good fit and how they can benefit from your reach and influence.
- Create a profile on your influencer marketing platform of choice. This makes it easier for brands and agencies to discover you on their own.
Sell Your Own Products with Instagram Shopping
Are you already creating your own physical or digital products? Rather than promoting other people’s products, go ahead and start selling your own. This strategy isn’t just about marketing products or services but getting into the world of actual e-commerce. Whether it’s your high-end fashion line, simple art illustrations, e-books, drawings, and paintings, or any other form of visual content, turning your engaged followers on Instagram into your customers could earn you those extra bucks you’re looking for. Here’s how you can get started:
- Imagine your product or service. If you love fashion, beauty, or photography, take time to figure out what product or service you can create and market it to your audience on Instagram. Don’t look too far from what you’re already doing. In fact, your product or service could just be a natural, intuitive extension of the things you love and are passionate about.
- Build your product. Once you’ve figured out the product or service you want to sell, it’s time to build it. If you are already running a business, this may be the time to leverage the platform for your business. Invest in custom packaging for your product. Instagram and its users are big on aesthetics and visuals. One way to grab attention instantly is to have aesthetically pleasing product packaging, one that appeals to your target audience.
- Set up your account with Instagram Shopping. Set up an Instagram business account and take advantage of what it has to offer.
