Instagram is the fastest-growing social media platform. On average, a user spends a good 53 minutes on the app. With terrific engagement, companies are ready to invest a reasonable sum of their marketing budget on the platform. From being just a photo-sharing app, Instagram is now an excellent platform for cashing the audience.
People, who are on their way to becoming an influencer, often wonder what bar you need to hit before you can start earning money through Instagram? We have answered all their queries in our article. Continue reading to get the answer.
How Many Followers Do You Need to Start Earning?
Well, there is no definite answer to this. For earning money, the follower count can be anywhere from 1000 to a million. Some experts have set the seal on 1800 to 2000, but you could also monetize with a minimum of 1000 followers. It is just that the users with higher follower count have a greater chance of finding brand sponsorships.
For earning money on Instagram, what matters the most is the engagement rate. Higher engagement on posts means better brand sponsorships and affiliations. When the audience trusts you, it will be a five-finger thing to sell your products. Before sponsoring with companies, build an active audience that loves to engage in your posts.
How To Make Money On Instagram
If you have good content and an engaging audience, then earning some bucks is an easy task. The main ways through which influencers monetize their followers are:
Sponsored Posts
This is the most common way of monetizing your account. The base requirement is to have a decent follower count and good engagement on your posts. Captiv8, a social media analyzer, estimates that brands can spend up to $255 million per month for sponsored posts on Instagram. This shows how lucrative a sponsored post on Instagram can be.
However, you need to work hard before you can attract some relevant brands. Initially, you need to build an audience, and for that, post engaging content and engage with the audience. Share pictures and build an influence organically. You need to get your audience’s confidence before you can start posting sponsored content. A golden rule is to stay loyal to your audience and never criticize a brand.
Affiliate Marketing
Besides sponsored posts, affiliate marketing is also a great way of earning a few bucks for each product sold. You can only make money if a follower buys the product using your link or code. Unlike the above technique, this one requires strategy and smartness. You should be good at persuading the audience to buy the affiliate’s product.
The retailer usually provides you with a specific link or a unique promo code with a discount. Then these links and codes can be used to track your sales. For every sale, you earn a decent amount of cash. However, many retailers are running a scam in the name of affiliate marketing. Therefore, beware and check the brand before affiliating with it.
Promoting their own products
The third technique requires effort, but it can be very profitable. Instagram is a perfect place for users who wish to sell something without owning an e-commerce store. Instead of promoting other people’s products, use the platform to sell your own. In case you are already running a business, selling your products on Instagram is a great social media marketing strategy.
This is the only money earning technique where a large follower count isn’t a necessity. You just need to post pictures and write persuasive captions, convincing the user to buy your product. To increase sales, you can launch your own website or use an e-commerce platform like Shopify and Zazzle to generate traffic from Instagram.
Conclusion
Over these few years, Instagram has changed into a powerful marketing tool due to high engagement rates. It is an excellent platform for earning money online. There is no numerical threshold that needs to be crossed to start generating income. It is just that a high follower count partnered with a reasonable engagement rate can attract more significant and better brands.
