How to Make Money on Instagram as an Influencer

Without a doubt, Instagram has become the most used social network by young people and adults. Brands have also seen the incredible potential that this application has to promote their products, but not in any way but through the so-called influencers, who are paid for their publications. But, is it possible to earn money being an influencer? how to make money on instagram? how to be an influencer How many followers do you have to have on Instagram to earn money? Surely, these questions are going around your head… If you too would like to become an influencer and want to earn money while using this app. So, keep reading this article, I will tell you how to be an influencer and earn money.

Before we delve into the subject…

What is Instagram?

Instagram is an application that allows you to upload photos and videos adding filters and frames, and share them with friends either on the same social network or on others such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. This application was released in October 2010 and at first it was only available for iPhone, today you can also find it on Android. In December of the same year, just three months later, a million people were already using it. This caught the attention of Mark Zuckerberg, who announced in April 2012 that Instagram had been bought by Facebook, for nothing more and nothing less than one billion dollars.

And what is an influencer?

An influencer  is a person who has achieved some credibility on a topic and is capable of influencing other people when making decisions. In recent years, Instagram has become the strongest social network for influencers, who have taken advantage of its potential to become attractive characters for brands.

Why has Instagram become a tool to earn money?

As I told you above, Instagram is one of the most used social networks today. Every day millions of people use this application, therefore for brands it is a showcase open to everyone, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. These are the most important Instagram statistics that you should know if you are thinking of being an influencer (2018 data):

• It has more than 500 million active users every day . The number of users is key for this social network to become such a successful business channel.
• 25 million companies have a profile on Instagram.
• 70% of hashtags on Instagram have been created by brands .
• 80 % of Instagram users follow at least one brand or business.
• Every day, more than 200 million users consult a company profile. 2 out of 3 people who visit the profile of a brand are people who do not follow them.
• 92% of users consider the opinion of other consumers to be more reliable than brand advertising.

The main conclusion I draw from this data is that: we love this application. We like to be active users and consume content, and brands know this very well. Also, as happens on a day-to-day basis, if someone tells us about a product or service that they liked, we trust them more.

How many followers do you have to have on Instagram to earn money?

The great question! The first thing you may have thought of is that you need a lot of followers to be able to earn money as an influencer. The truth is that this is not always the case, it depends on the area in which you want to stand out. In fact, there are people who, despite having few followers, produce a greater impact than celebrities and are sought after by some brands. These people are known as micro influencers . However, there are themes that are more crowded than others and therefore, the opportunities to stand out among leading personalities will be less, so your interactions with followers will also be reduced. The result will be that your profile will not draw attention to brands. So, to answer the question, how many followers do you have to have on Instagram to make money? It is said that in general, for an influencer to start earning money on Instagram, they must have at least 10,000 followers.  

And what influencer are you?

According to the First Study of Microinfluencers prepared by SocialPubli, influencers can be categorized according to the number of followers on Instagram:

• Nano influencers: < 1,000 followers
• Micro influencers: < 10,000 followers
• Macro influencers: < 100,000 followers
• Mega influencers: < 1 MM followers
• Top: 1MM + followers

According to this classification,  the vast majority of us are nano influencers . Our main followers are our relatives, close friends and some acquaintances. We exert a certain influence on them, when we talk about something that we liked. However, this is not going to make us money on Instagram. On the other hand, as a micro influencer, you may start to earn money from some brands by talking about them. But at first, you will have to settle for free products. Some brands will compensate you with gifts when you talk about them if you are a micro influencer. But without a doubt, a macro influencer will earn money by promoting products or services on their Instagram account. So, according to this study, there is no exact figure that will assure you that you will earn money with this application . Obviously, if you have few followers you won’t get very far. The study also tells us that you can start earning with less than 10,000 followers. But, as I told you before, it depends on the competition in the area in which you want to stand out. My advice is that instead of just looking at the number of followers, focus on the quality and frequency of your content.

How much money can influencers earn on Instagram?

According to this BBC article , an influencer who has at least 10,000 followers on his Instagram account can start to “earn something”. Although he considers himself a fairly low-level influencer, he can charge as much as $130 for a post. For influencers with 30,000 followers, earnings per post (for fashion or beauty brands) increase, topping $970. If we talk about the Mega or Top influencer, these earnings are higher, even reaching six figures! But in addition to the number of followers, earnings vary depending on the country of residence, the product or service being promoted, and the brand.

How to make money on Instagram as an influencer

So, would you like to make money on Instagram? Once you’ve reached a significant number of followers (the more the better), here are some ways to make money with your account.

#1 Publish sponsored posts

Sponsored content is the most used form by influencers and the main way to generate income. This method is also used to monetize blogs . You can get paid to post sponsored content on your Instagram account, even if you don’t have millions of followers. How? There are platforms that put brands in contact with influencers . Many of them accept profiles with a few thousand followers. Attention ! _ If you think that buying followers will get brands to contact you, you are wrong. Brands are interested in the interaction of your followers, that they are active and that it is really noticed that you exert some influence on them. When an account has purchased followers it is easy to notice: there are no comments, few likes, little visibility of your stories, etc… The publication of sponsored content can be: a photo, several photos, a video, one or several stories, or putting a link to the brand’s website or its products. The more they ask of you, the more you can earn.

#2 Promote affiliate products

This way of monetizing your profile consists of promoting third-party products or services . You will get a commission every time someone buys it. To earn money on Instagram with affiliate products , the first thing you have to do is find products or services that are of interest to your audience and that are related to the content you share on your profile. You can continue to share your photos or videos as usual. And from time to time, recommend a product using your affiliate link. Thus, every time a sale is registered, you will receive a commission.

#3 Being a brand ambassador

For some brands it is important to maintain a long-term relationship with an influencer, and even more so if they have thousands of followers. That is why some companies are willing to pay an influencer to be the image of their brand. In these cases, your tasks will go beyond a publication on Instagram. They will invite you to events, new product launches,… Can you imagine this? Well, for that you will have to reach several hundred thousand followers.

#4 Sell your photographs

This is another way to earn money online , although it has nothing to do directly with this application, but rather with the quality of the photos you take and share.

The photographs that you have uploaded to your Instagram account can be sold to image banks and earn money when a company buys them. And for this you do not need to have a minimum number of followers, it is simply necessary that your photos are of good quality. There are different platforms where in a few minutes you can register and upload the photos you want to sell. It is an excellent option to generate income passively .

#5 Promote your own products or services

If big brands use Instagram to promote their products, you can too. With your content you can show your skills and professionalism, and thus gain credibility and closeness with your followers, who will be more willing to buy something from you. I have left this idea at the end because although you are not going to generate money directly, it is a good way to create an active and loyal audience. This will translate into an increase in the sale of your products.

The 5 influencers who earn the most money on Instagram

These are the 5 people who earn the most money per post on Instagram. The number of followers is the number they have while I am writing this article (December 2018). #1 Kylie Jenner. 121 million followers, 1 million dollars per post. #2 Selena Gomez. 144.4 million followers, 800 thousand dollars per post. #3 Cristiano Ronaldo. 148 million followers, 750 thousand dollars per post. #4 Kim Kardashian West. 121.7 million followers, 720 thousand dollars per post. #5 Beyonce Knowles. 121.3 million followers, 700 thousand dollars per post.

10 Practical tips to become an influencer and earn money on Instagram

1. Become an app expert . Learn to use Instagram and take advantage of all its features. 2. Motivate your followers . Brands are more willing to pay an influencer if they see that their audience is active. 3. Upload good quality photos . It is useless for you to upload 1 photo every 15 minutes if they are out of focus, moved or dark. The quality of the photos you share is key. 4. Learn to edit photos, and get results like the celebrities. 5. Don’t go overboard with sponsored content . Your followers will not like that your content is always to promote a product. In the same way, your audience will not welcome that you promote products that do not correspond to the rest of your content. 6. Be consistent . If you want to become a true influencer and earn money on Instagram, you need to post frequently. If you follow an influencer you will see that their presence on social networks is constant. 7. Create your media kit , and show yourself as a professional. A media kit is a document where you show in a summarized and attractive way all your potential to potential advertisers, through data. 8. Study the marks . Do not assume that all the brands in your segment are good options for your profile. Investigate, study and choose the most interesting companies that are most related to you and your content. 9. Sign up for influencer platforms . If you are determined, don’t wait any longer. Find and choose the best influencer platform for you (or the one you like the most) and sign up. 10. Contact brands . If you already have a significant number of active followers and you also provide added value to your profile, which makes you different from others. So, don’t sit around waiting for brands to knock on your door. Contact them directly, present them your media kit and propose a collaboration.

Conclusions

Can you imagine earning money by uploading a photo? As you have seen it is possible! If you like photography and are interested in a specific topic, start taking advantage of your Instagram account now. Get the most out of this app! I hope you have taken note of the ways that exist to earn money on Instagram, and also of the practical advice that I have given you. Before finishing, I leave you here my Instagram account so you can get to know me a little better, follow me and know what I do when I’m not writing on my blog.