How to Use Instagram to Make Money

Are you dismayed by the fact that you don’t have enough Instagram followers? I bet that’s why you’re not sure about the prospects of making money on Instagram. Well, the purpose of this piece is to allay your worries and tell you how to use Instagram to make money.

It even gets better because you can also earn with very few followers. Just stick around, let me take you on a tour that’ll kick-start your Instagram earning journey. Instagram was created in 2012 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Kreiger and bought by Facebook for $1 Billion dollars.

As you well know, Instagram is one of the leading social media platforms in the world today. By now you must’ve heard that people are raking in cash from different sources on the internet.

That’s right! Instagram is one of those sources. You too can tap into Instagram’s massive audience base and make money off it.

Instagram Followers

Do you need massive followers to make money on Instagram?

There’s nothing wrong with thinking that making money on Instagram requires massive followers. That has been a general perception all along. So, it’s not out of place to have that kind of perception.

But, if I have to answer that curious question, I’d tell you that you don’t need as many followers as you think. However, there are determining factors. So, let’s quickly brush up on these factors.

1. How frequently your followers engage with your posts

This is essential because it is what strengthens your social media presence. The more audience you have to interact with, the more popular you get on Instagram. That way, when you make posts, people will like the post and make comments.

On the other hand, you also have a role to play yourself. It’s vital for you to also engage in other people’s posts. That way, the interaction is mutual and you can establish an online relationship.

2. Identify a niche to fit into

Normally, there’s always that temptation to become a jack of all trades as a newbie, because you’re excited. But venturing into that would be counter-productive because it can derail and distract you. You’re just trying to find where to belong and you can’t really afford to get distracted.

So, it’s imperative that you identify a niche to belong to. It could be fitness, fashion, music, or entertainment, food, and more. Just find where to belong and let people know you’re good at one thing. That way, you have the audience and then you can gradually build on that. You can then decide to be a jack of all trade and it’ll be cool because you have the audience already.

3. Dedication

This is a factor that many people neglect. Dedication is so important that you cannot afford to underrate the effect it has. It is through your level of dedication that people see how serious you are about your craft.

It’s no news that a lot of businesses have suffered and got suffocated because of a lack of dedication. If you intend to monetize Instagram, then it requires you to be frequently online.

So, when it comes to rendering services to people, dedication is key to your growth. Now, what services can you render to make money on Instagram?

How to Monetize Instagram

Now that you have identified a niche, it’s time to take the next step. Earning on Instagram depends on the kind of audience you have. Your dedication, and what you have to offer in terms of the content you put out for people to see. Here are some ways you can earn on Instagram.

Working as an Influencer

This entails collaborating with businesses and brands to get their products and services in the faces of your audience. That way, you’d be earning through sponsored posts. The term “influencer” is a common word that many people use.

So, a social media influencer is a person with a strong online presence on social media platforms. Such a person has a reputation for making engaging posts and that’s how people are influenced.

The idea of being an influencer is just to get people to engage in your content. However, you must note that being an influencer requires a lot of work because it requires a strong online presence.

You need to grow your follower base and that takes patience and time. When you have the audience, you can take gigs from brands when they reach out to you.

How to Set the Cost of Your Service as an Influencer

Typically, influencers take on content creation gigs. It could be through posts, videos, ads, or even storytelling. Brands can use these pieces of content to advertise their products or put them on their site, it’s up to you.

Sometimes, it may not even be about money, that’s negotiable. So, an influencer can get gifts, free products and more, in exchange for their services.

When negotiating with brands for your services, you have to know that it isn’t just about the content you offer. This is because it’s an avenue to get access to your audience.

You can set a price for promoting for brands on a weekly or monthly basis. This means for the period of one month or week, you’ll be promoting their services. Some influencers bill clients on a per-day promotion basis.

How to Source for Brands to Collaborate with

Like I said earlier, the way to get gigs is either by contacting brands or when they reach out to you.

• Contacting brands

At this stage, you have the audience and you’re confident of influencing them with your content. This is usually for people who are just trying to get their feet into the world of influencing.

You’re not that influential yet, so offers may likely not come because there are several others like you. So, your negotiating powers may not be strong yet.

You can reach out to brands by making a post and tagging them or by sending direct messages to them. This is a way of introducing yourself and inviting them to come and check out your activities.

This will enable them to see how you interact with your followers and if they are convinced, you can pull it off, and then you’ll get gigs.

Brands reaching out to you

When it comes to influencing, this is a big deal. This is because there are so many influencers out there. So, if a brand singles you out to reach, then it means a lot. This is simply because you have a strong presence on social media and you’re a cool person.

You have to understand that your character also matters. It’s a no-brainer because no one would draw inspiration from dealing with a jerk.

Business is about image and reputation. So, you need to present a great character to get people to entrust their businesses into your hands.

Working as an Affiliate

Being an influencer entails creating awareness to market products through your followers. So, as an affiliate, you get to earn from the commission you make from sales.

Affiliates have promo codes that are peculiar to them. It is also a link that can be traced back to pay you. So, when the affiliates put products out there, they expect to get clicks which could turn into sales.

So after successful sales, tracking is done to see which links those sales came from. If it originated from your link, then you get paid a commission for those sales.

Links On Your Bio

Now, normally you can’t have more than one link on your Instagram bio. This implies that you only get to promote one product at a time. But there’s a viable solution to this problem, especially if you have more than one product to promote.

What you simply need to do is get a landing page and advertise the products. So, that means you only need to put the link to that landing page in your bio. On the other hand, it can be a clever practice to infuse promo codes in your posts.

Taking Your Business to Instagram

Yes, this is another great option if you’re looking to earn on Instagram. If you have a business, you can take it online by promoting it through a link to your website on Instagram. But if you don’t have a website, it’s not too late to start one, read how you can get started for free. There are tons of people who are into this method and they’re raking in profits every day.

First, you need to know your audience in terms of what they want. If there are many youths as your audience, then you know that you won’t go wrong with marketing flashy products. This is because youths want to look trendy.

When it comes to sales, there are lots of services you can render to your audience.

Below are some of the services

• Sale of Beauty products – You can go into the sale of beauty products. You can sell hair wigs, creams, oils, and lots more. This is a viable venture because most people are concerned about their looks.
• Sale of fashion products – This also has a lot to do with looks. You can sell trendy clothes, trousers, caps and lots more.
• Sale of accessories – People constantly want to replace their old accessories and this is where you come in. You can provide these accessories to them at a cost. This could be phone accessories or accessories in general.

When it comes to the things you can sell online, the list can never be exhausted because lots of products abound. It even gets better because different people have different needs.

So, those are major ways you can earn but you know when it comes to making money, the methods are unlimited.

Setting up an Online Shop

There are ways to set up an online shop and because it’s virtual it is quick and easy. You can either use other websites or use a social media platform. But it’s advisable to have an online store on social platforms.

Here are some reasons:

• Social platforms have a very wide audience
• Users are always online interacting with one another
• Even if users don’t have the intention of buying immediately, they can stumble on your products and decide to buy
• It is a less costly venture.

Instagram Marketing

There are diverse ways you can put your business out there for people on Instagram to see. The aim of promotion is to get your business in the faces of your potential customers. This means you have to know their interests and what posts they engage in the most.

So, you can either do the marketing yourself or pay for people to do it for you. Here are some effective ways you can promote your business.

By Paying Influencers

This is a great way to market your business especially when you’re too busy with other things. You can pay influencers who have many followers that interact with their posts.

You’re in business, right? So, you must be willing to splash a little cash on advertising. If you want to get your business in front of a large audience, using influencers would be your best bet.

Targeting posts with a high number of engagements

Online marketing is a full-time business, so you have to be on the lookout for posts with a high tendency of going viral. This is because such posts usually have a high number of people interacting with one another.

The posts could be about anything but controversial posts are usually the ones that have a high tendency of going viral.

So, you can tag along and market your business while giving your inputs about those topics. That way, anybody can see it and show interest.

Tagging Random People

This strategy is not as complicated as you may think. You can make posts and tag random people. This is because you may not know who might be interested in what you have to offer. You have to be familiar with these people to an extent. Otherwise, you’ll only be putting them off. Think of this approach as a way to test the waters.

So, don’t feel laid back because you probably think your potential customers are strangers. Go on, approach them politely and tell them about your business and what you can offer them. Remember, it’s better late than never.

Conclusion

Online advertisements are more effective than conventional radio and television station adverts nowadays. This is because while most people are away from their radio and TV sets, they’re glued to their phones.

They could be chatting with friends and loved ones or making random posts online. It could also be said that social media is fast becoming a home to some people. This is because it can be very addictive at times.

Instagram can be a great way to meet new friends, show off your business and get creative and make some money at the same time.

Thank you for visiting, I would love it if you would leave a comment and share this blog.

LILY