5 Ways to monetize Instagram

I’m not sure who hasn’t heard of Instagram before, but if you haven’t, Instagram is a social media platform that focuses on pictures in a grid format to tell a story. It now includes Instagram stories which helps brands and creators tell a story whether that be their daily life or their business. It’s an amazing platform for brand building as it allows followers to get to know the company or person behind the scenes. It has been changing the way business is conducted, as this era wants more authenticity. Don’t have Instagram as your brand building social media platform? You better get on it.

When Facebook purchased Instagram, I knew it would become a big platform, but I didn’t know that it would become a huge platform that would help shape social media today. It is a platform that has definitely changed the way our society functions. People don’t just take pictures just because they want to capture the memories anymore. Many people take picture specifically for the ‘gram. The top niches on Instagram include beauty, fashion, travel, health, and fitness. These niches are quite profitable on Instagram, but anyone can make a profit on Instagram if done correctly.

Curious how people are making money with Instagram? It’s pretty amazing to me that so many people are making huge profits leveraging this social media platform. Below are five different ways to monetize Instagram.

Lead Generation

Have a business? Instagram is the perfect social media to build a brand on, which makes it a great place to capture leads for businesses. You can send people to your website. (Don’t have a website? Check out this tutorial on how to make one.) You can send people to your online store. (Want to start a shop without having to have your own inventory? Check out this tutorial.) My favorite place to send people to is a landing page or opt-in page using ClickFunnels so that the email is captured and you can make all the sales you want in the future. You know what they say; the money is in the email list. Using ClickFunnels gives a direction to the person that clicked the link, in that they only have one option, to opt-in versus sending someone to a website where there is no call to action. After they opt in, it can lead to a series of funnels where sales and upsells can happen. Try out ClickFunnels free for 14-days here.

Influencer Sponsorships

Influencer marketing is a large industry. I am a firm believer that Instagram contributed to this mass industry. An influencer is someone who has built a brand and usually has a large following whom adores them. Influencer marketing is when a business leverages an influencer to promote their brand or product. You can see how this type of marketing is very powerful because followers of an Influencer believe in what they have to say so they would rather buy from a brand the influencer has promoted rather than from an ad that just shows up out of nowhere to them. Can you think of the last time you checked out something from an ad? When was the last time you checked out a product because someone you love was talking about it? Do you see the difference? Both are forms of advertisements, but both give off two different feelings to the end user.

Influencers usually start getting paid for sponsorships when they hit the 10,000 follower mark. Industry standard is usually $100 for every 10,000 followers to make one Instagram post, but now engagement rating is usually taken into consideration also.

Brand Ambassador

A brand ambassador is someone who promotes a brand with a post and usually tells their follower to insert their code at checkout. They make a commission every time someone uses their code. This is very profitable for the brand as brand ambassadors are promoting their business and only paying out the brand ambassador when he or she actually is successful at a sale.

Sell Instagram Shoutouts

An Instagram shoutout is when a business buys a post from a large Instagram account to promote their brand, product, or service. This is a very profitable business model. Instagram shoutouts vary in services. Some posts are only up for one hour, some are up for 3 hours, while others are up forever. Starting price can start at $30 for a one hour shoutout and can go into the hundreds. It just depends on how the seller operates their services. These Instagram pages are usually highly targeted in a specific niche so that when it promotes a shoutout, the followers who see it are already interested in that niche. Many businesses that use this type of service are in the ecommerce world, but of course other types of businesses use this too.

Run an Instagram Agency

Instagram marketing is still a mystery to many businesses, which is why running an Instagram Agency is very profitable. The agency sets up a system once for the client to help them grow their Instagram profiles so that the business can make more sales. By helping the business grow their page monthly using an automated system; the agency can create a residual and passive income stream, as they don’t have to do things manually. This business model creates a lot of time freedom and can be operated by one person only unlike other types of agencies. With Instagram being a very large platform, many businesses turn to the platform and need someone to help them grow and manage their profiles. Instagram agencies can start services for $100 a month that can quickly scale to thousands a month per customer provided that their service is helping their clients make sales.

The one thing that these different monetization methods require is a growing and engaged audience. Without a growing and engaged audience, business and monetization is at a standstill. A business can have such a great brand story, but if it’s not paired with the right strategies then no one is seeing any content. If no one is seeing content, then sales don’t happen. Instato will help you grow your Instagram on automation so that you don’t have to spend hours on Instagram. You can get a free 3-day trial here.

If you want to have a more thorough understanding on how Instagram works, then I recommend Instagram Mastermind course by Aaron Ward. Aaron has a 6-figure Instagram agency and shows you everything he knows about Instagram. This course will show you how to gain more followers, engagements, and sales. As a bonus, this course also includes how to monetize Instagram. The course is always getting updated as Instagram algorithm is always changing. It comes with a private group where you can get help and get questions answered. For more information on this amazing course, check out Instagram Mastermind.