9 Legit Ways to Make Money on Instagram in 2023

Are you running an online business and are looking for diverse ways to market your business?

Do you know that you can use Instagram to reach more target customers, engage them, convert them and make money on Instagram?

I know you have heard of Instagram stories where individuals and businesses use Instragam to generate, attract and convert target customers.

Like them, you want to grow your business and get a market share of Instagram as you grow your brand.

With the right social media marketing strategy on Instagram, you can tap into a part of over a billion Instagram users and convert them into customers.

Want to know how to use Instagram and generate revenue?

This article will guide you. You will learn different ways you can monetize Instagram, build a following for your business, and make more sales and revenue. Some of these ways include:

  • Start Instagram shop
  • Use affiliate marketing
  • Running sponsored ads
  • Become a coach on Instagram or sell digital products

Ready to know how to turn Instagram into a money-generating machine for your business?

Can You Make Money with an Instagram Account?

Yes. Instagram has introduced multiple sources of revenue to help content creators make money. For example, figures like Kylie Jenner earn up to $1.2 million per post on Instagram.

However, you don’t have to be another Kylie Jenner with 244 million followers to start earning on Instagram. Instagram marketers like Elaine Chiu and Vicky Franco have less than 30,000 followers on Instagram and earn hundreds of dollars per post.

Here are some of the ways to make money on this fast-growing social media platform.

  • Promoting affiliate links on your Instagram page
  • Selling physical products to build your e-commerce store
  • Sharing sponsored posts as an influencer marketer
  • Becoming a brand ambassador on Instagram
  • Selling Instagram captions as a service
  • Selling your expertise as a digital product
  • Selling artistic visuals
  • Promoting your services to freelance clients
  • Providing social media marketing services

How to Make Money on Instagram

You’ve probably heard about celebrities earning millions of dollars on Instagram, and you wonder how they do it. The truth is, there are many ways to make money on Instagram.

However, the number of earnings you can get on Instagram will depend on your audience type. Are they committed to your brand? Do they respond positively to your posts?

Now, let’s turn our attention to the various ways to make money on Instagram.

Promote Affiliate Links

Affiliate programs are up-and-coming when it comes to Instagram monetization. However, you need to identify a high-paying affiliate program and register for it.

Gemruby's Instagram with an Affiliate Link

Once you register for an affiliate program, you become one of a brand’s affiliate partners. You’ll receive a unique, trackable link or a promo code to post on your Instagram page.

When any of your followers click the affiliate link and complete a purchase, you’ll earn a commission from the sales generated. If you do it right, you’ll earn vast sums of money.

Some of the affiliate networks you can join include Clickbank, Awin, and Shareasale. You can also invest your energy in individual affiliate programs offered on companies’ websites.

ShareASale homepage screenshot

Source: Shareasale.com

When promoting a brand on your Instagram through affiliate marketing, the links are clickable. To grab your followers’ attention, use captions to tell about the marketing links.

Besides adding affiliate links, it’s essential to give brief information about your promotion. Highlight the reasons you love it and a few benefits.

Don’t forget to include a call-to-action (CTA), inviting other users to click on the link on your bio. Most importantly, you need to be as creative as possible to make people take action.

Affiliate marketing is one of the major ways to generate cash for your business. Research by Statista shows that companies are spending over 8.2 billion dollars in affiliate marketing

word image 20 -

Source: Statista

This is proof that many brands have affiliate links to sell their products or services. As you run your affiliate links, it is essential to consider promoting products or services that your target customers are more likely to buy.

Do in-depth research of your target customers. This will help you know the products they are more likely to buy. Then, visit the websites, sign up for their affiliate program, and get clickable links to your products.

You can then use your Instagram audience to drive traffic to those sites and get them to buy using your affiliate links.

Here is how you can set up affiliate programs on Instagram.

Sell Physical Products

To generate sales on Instagram, you don’t only have to promote other people’s brands. You can also promote your products and grow your brand If you are an entrepreneur.

You can sell products online on your Instagram account. You don’t need to post messages or promo codes for other brands. Instead, focus on your products and brand.

A great example of a brand that sells its products on Instagram is Megaspreecity. They regularly showcase their jewelry products, such as bracelets, necklaces, and rings.

word image 21 -

Source: Instagram

Thankfully, Instagram has launched incredible business account features, including in-app checkout, product tags, shoppable stickers, and the shop button. All of these have made the shopping process on Instagram easier.

If you already have an ecommerce store, you can sell the items on Instagram. Fortunately, Instagram integrates with e-commerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce.

If you have your own products, you can also directly target customers to your eCommerce store and get them to promote your business products or services.

Ensure that the products you sell can effectively solve your target customers’ pains. For example, include social proofs that will help build trust with target customers and help them convert.

One of such proofs is testimonials. Get your past or current clients to leave testimonials on your website.

It will help convince customers that your products are quality and can solve pains. Because they can see first-hand other customers who used the products and benefited from them.

Here are some marketing strategies you can use to sell products on Instagram.

Sell Your Products

Consider promoting your brand instead of other companies’ products. Add relevant links to your posts on Instagram to let interested followers learn more about your products.

Alternatively, you can switch to an Instagram creator account and start creating shoppable posts to sell your products in-app. Here is an example of a shoppable post.

A Shoppable Post on Instagram

Source: Instagram

Give target customers all the information they need to make a purchase decision. These include:

  • How and where to get the products from
  • How to use the products
  • The benefits they get out of the purchase of the products

Dropship the Products

As a beginner on Instagram, you can subscribe for dropshipping services to not ship your products or handle returns. Instead, you’ll run your store without holding an inventory.

The supplier will ship it from their warehouse to your client’s doorstep. So you won’t have to worry about packaging, storing, or shipping the products.

It is essential to ensure that your products are available from the warehouse. Your target customers will get discouraged. They may not buy from you again if they order something and get a message that the item isn’t available.

Print-on-Demand

Another excellent strategy to use when selling physical products on Instagram is the print-on-demand service. Also, this applies to other online stores that sell physical items. This is how the print-on-demand strategy works.

word image 21 -

Source: Shopify

For example, if you sell coffee mugs, t-shirts, or other physical products, you can only print and ship them after receiving orders from your customers.

Make Money from Sponsored Posts by Becoming an Influencer

With the growing popularity of influencer marketing, you can become an influencer and start earning by sharing paid promotion posts as an Instagram marketing expert in your niche.

According to MuseFind, 92% of clients trust influencers more than advertisements or celebrity endorsements. That’s why many people hire influencers to promote their brands.

Percentage of Consumers Who Trust Influencers

So, how does influencer marketing work?

Well, you must first become an influencer. In other words, you must build your online authority by posting relevant and helpful content to other Instagram account holders.

You can earn more trust from your target audience by sharing valuable insights and branded content on a specific niche of their interest. That will help you get big brands to partner with you.

After becoming an influencer and building your Instagram profile, you can share paid content for various brands in your niche.

Since Instagram users crave honesty and transparency, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires you to disclose paid content posts, which have the sign “#ad.”

Here is an example of a sponsored post on Instagram.

A Sponsored Ad on Instagram

Source: Instagram

Influencers with millions of followers make thousands of dollars per post. So, you need to have many Instagram followers to earn a vast amount of money through paid posts.

However, many followings won’t bring much impact if the engagement rate is low. That’s because most brands often pay attention to engagement rates, not followers.

As an influencer, always ensure that your followers engage with your content. They can do that by liking, sharing, or commenting on the post. You’ll earn from every engagement on your sponsored post.

Have a deep understanding of your target customers. Then, create content that addresses their challenges and shows them how to solve the pains with the help of the content.

This will help strengthen the trust as you promote sponsored posts for businesses in your market niche.

Sell Instagram Captions as a Service

Today, businesses of all sizes use Instagram to promote their products or services. So writing captions for small and big businesses on Instagram can also help you make money.

Most big brands often employ in-house content creators. However, small businesses may need to hire freelance talent to lower their marketing costs on social media platforms.

Businesses often look for creative specialists to help them write captions affordably. Therefore, you should be able to write creative and memorable posts.

Tips for Creating Instagram Captions

Source: LinkedIn

If you can create engaging captions for businesses on Instagram, invest your time and energy in this niche and start making money. All you need is a well-optimized portfolio.

Optimize your profile by indicating the skills you offer to both small and big businesses. It will make your portfolio stand out from the crowd. You may even earn a full-time job offer.

Consider posting a few samples of captions on your Instagram page for interested people to see. Here are examples of different Instagram captions you can use for your brand marketing. If the captions are more engaging and creative, you will likely hook more clients.

good example of Instagram caption

Source: Instagram

Become a Brand Ambassador

You now know how paid posts can help you earn from Instagram. You simply build your portfolio as an influencer, then share endorsed posts on your page at a fee.

Jade Roper: showing Sugarbearhair product

Source: Instagram

What if you want to have prolonged relationships with clients who pay you for sponsored posts? In that case, you need to become a brand ambassador.

Most brands will want to build long-term relationships with you to promote their products and services frequently. In exchange, you’ll get paid regularly, let’s say every month or year.

Thankfully, Instagram is the best influencer marketing platform for businesses. Users can quickly get brand ambassador programs and promote products for different companies.

An excellent example of a brand ambassador is Huda Kattan, with over 48 million followers on Instagram. As a famous beauty blogger, she dominates the cosmetics industry.

Huda Kattan's Bio on Instagram Source: Instagram

When companies hire ambassadors to promote their brands, they often select Instagram influencers who represent their target audience. So, get a niche that interests you most and focus on it.

As an ambassador, expect to earn between $40K – $50K per year. So considering the figures, becoming an ambassador for brands on Instagram can make you rich.

Becoming an Instagram ambassador takes some time and requires hard work to build your influence and followers.

However, the rewards of becoming an Instagram business ambassador are many, including making significant money on the social platform.

Here are some tips that can help you as you work on becoming an Instagram ambassador.

Sell Your Expertise as a Digital Product

Did you know that you can turn your knowledge into a product and sell it on your Instagram page? If you can sell physical items, selling digital products will be easy.

So, what’s a digital product?

Simply put, they are virtual items one can pay for then download them instantly. Of course, you can’t touch them, but they have value in the digital media industry.

These products include eBooks, graphic design works, templates, music and audio, and stock photos. You can also market online courses on platforms like Thinkific.

To venture into online courses, create content in your area of expertise and share it with the world at a fee. Many people want to learn online, creating a chance to make money.

Steph: Online Course Sales Coach instagram page

Source: Instagram

Some online courses that can translate into profitable businesses include graphic designs, copywriting, and photography. Thankfully, these online courses are highly marketable.

You can also use great tools to help sell your digital products as you reach more target customers.

As you create and market digital products, ensure your products provide value to your target customers.

Before you create the products, you can run a survey on your target customers. You will know their most intense pains then focus your digital products on those pains.

Give them simple and actionable plans and strategies to help them solve their pains as they learn and use your digital products.

When you create step-by-step online courses and post them on Thinkific or Udemy, you will need to promote them on your Instagram account. That will help you reach many people.

While advertising and selling digital products on Instagram is affordable, driving sales can be tricky. For this reason, you need to promote the products regularly to make more sales.

These tips will help you promote digital products and drive more sales on Instagram.

  • Partner with other influencer marketers to help you market your products
  • Research and add relevant hashtags to your posts on Instagram
  • Invest in Instagram ads if your budget allows you to do so

Sell Artistic Visuals

You’ve probably viewed millions of high-quality photos, videos, or animations circulating on Instagram. So, it makes sense to create such visual content and sell them on the platform.

Thousands of brands upload highly professional photos on Instagram to outdo their competitors. However, some pictures are over polished and may not depict the actual item.

Since most clients crave authenticity, they trust user-generated content more than brands’ edited photos. That allows you to create and sell authentic pictures or videos on Instagram.

Percentage of Consumers that Trust UGC Content

Source: Growmap

Most brands often encourage clients to take photos or videos of their products and post them on Instagram for a prize. So, it creates opportunities to make earn from Instagram.

Starbucks’ #RedCupContest is an excellent example of user-generated content on Instagram. The company allows consumers to take photos of their coffees for prizes.

Starbucks' Red Cup Contest on Instagram

Source: Instagram

It also happens in the travel industry. Companies invite top-rated travelers to take photos and share their experiences at brand properties and get free accommodation in return.

So, if you want to earn from Instagram by selling artistic visuals, ensure that you take high-quality and authentic photos. Use appropriate hashtags to promote the content.

Find Freelance Clients

Currently, Instagram has over one billion users worldwide, making it a reliable platform for networking. Besides posting photos, you can also market your skills on Instagram.

Notably, most professionals use this social media platform as their online portfolio, helping them reach out to potential clients. An excellent example is online freelancers.

Whether you’re a copywriter, filmmaker, public speaker, photographer, or makeup artist, you can use an Instagram account as your online portfolio.

To get started, optimize your profile by specifying the services you offer as a freelancer. You can even showcase the projects you’ve completed in the past to win the clients’ trust.

For Example:

Lorraine Nam is a freelance illustrator who understands the power of using Instagram to showcase her work. She shares several paper arts with color and apropos content.

Lorraine Nam's Profile on Instagram: Freelance Illustrator

Source: Instagram

When you dedicate your Instagram account to work as Lorraine does, you’ll impress many potential clients. So share as many samples as possible to showcase your expertise.

Besides showcasing your work, let the visitors know that you are ready for new freelance offers. Staying credible in your niche of expertise will help you win more clients.

If you have a business website for your freelance services, the better. You can include the website link in your Instagram account and drive more target customers to it where they can learn more about your skillset, see your expertise and hire you.

Within your portfolio samples, you can show them the value you offer. For example, you can show articles you wrote for clients that are ranking high on the first page of Google.

Show target customers your high-quality content that educates, engages, and shows them how to solve challenges.

You can also give them statistics on the traffic you drove to your client’s business with your freelance services.

Provide Social Media Marketing Services

As a platform with one of the highest sales potential, Instagram is a perfect place to market and sell products. Notably, millions of businesses and marketers are already on Instagram.

It’s no doubt that the number of Instagram account holders increases daily. As a result, more brands want to use Instagram to promote products, get more clients, and increase their sales.

With the growing competition on Instagram, brands are looking for professional marketers to help them stand out. So, the demand for social media marketing services is at its peak.

If your social media marketing skills are impressive, take advantage of this opportunity and start marketing different brands. You’ll earn thousands of dollars, depending on your skills.

Over 80%of B2C and B2B marketers are already using Instagram and are earning millions of dollars. A good example is Astha, a social media marketer with 2,840 followers.

Asther's Profile on Instagram bio

Source: Instagram

If you’re a social media marketer, you can use Instagram to market other brands on the platform.

Although Instagram is a great channel to market a business, most brands don’t effectively use it.

As a social media marketer, you can take this chance to help promote other brands in your niche and help them grow their audience & customers on Instagram at a fee.

Should You Try Making Money on Instagram in 2023?

Now that you know nine ways to make money on Instagram, you probably wonder if it’s the right choice for you. The truth is, you can earn thousands of dollars on Instagram.

Millions of people and businesses are already earning from Instagram, and it’s never too late to get started. These exciting stats will help you make informed decisions.

  • Over one billion people use Instagram monthly, making it the second-ranked social media platform based on active users. (Instagram)
  • Over 50% of global Instagram account holders are younger than 34 years old. Millions of teenagers and young adults use this social media platform. (Statista)
  • Over 115 million active users on Instagram are from the United States. The number is expected to increase to over 127 billion by 2023. (Statista)
  • As of April 2022, 50.4% of Instagram account holders were female, while 49.6% were male. (Statista)
  • More than 130 million Instagram account holders make purchases directly from shopping posts every month (Instagram)
  • Influencer marketers on Instagram earn between $50 and $1 million for every post they share on the platform. (Mediakix)
  • About 36.2% of B2B decision-makers utilize Instagram to research new products and services. (Hootsuite)
  • The average engagement rate of Carousel posts on Instagram is 1.94%, followed by images (1.74%), then video posts (1.45%). (Bannersnack)

How Many Instagram Followers Do You Need to Make Money?

You can start generating revenue from Instagram, whether you have 1K or even 10K followers. But first, you should try and get as many followers as possible to increase your earnings.

244 million followers on Kylie Jenner's Instagram Page

Source: Instagram

However, the amount of money you’ll earn on Instagram will depend on the factors below.

  • Your Niche: The niche you are marketing. Does it integrate with a product category, like fashion, beauty, fitness, and food?
  • Followers’ Engagement: More followers in your niche translates into more income. However, thousands of inactive followers mean less revenue.
  • Revenue Channels: The kind of revenue channels you explore will influence your income on Instagram. For instance, posts can earn you more money.

Some of the influencers and celebrities who earn significant amounts of money include:

  1. Cristiano Ronaldo |@cristiano | $1,604,000 per post |309 million followers |
  2. Dwayne Johnson | @therock | $1,523,000 per post |250 million followers |
  3. Ariana Grande | @arianagrande | $1,510,000 per post |248 million followers|

Do you want to make money as an influencer? Then, expect to earn the following amounts of money, depending on the number of your followers.

  • Micro-Influencers: Have less than 10K followers and can earn $88 per post on Instagram
  • Middle-Tier Influencers: Have between 10K and 100K followers and can make $200 per post on Instagram.
  • Top-Tier Influencers: Have between 100K and 1 million followers and can earn up to $670 per post, on average.

Requirements for Making Money on Instagram

To start earning from Instagram, you need to understand how this fast-growing social media platform works. But first, here are some of the requirements you must fulfill.

  • Master How Instagram Works for Businesses

There are two categories of Instagram accounts: Personal and Business. The company launched business accounts in 2016 to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses.

If you want to open a business account, you should watch instructional videos on doing it. Thankfully, Shopify also shares an in-depth guide on how to sell on Instagram.

  • Start an Instagram Shop

You can quickly integrate your product catalog on your Instagram profile with the Instagram shop. That makes it easy to promote your products directly to other Instagram users.

This ultimate guide can help you set up an Instagram Shop. In addition, it showcases critical pointers that will help you understand how to make money through the Instagram Shop.

A Product Listed on Instagram Shop

Source: Gadgets Africa

  • Integrate Ecommerce Shopping Apps with Your Instagram Account

Suppose you already have product listings on other eCommerce websites, such as Shopify and BigCommerce. Then, you can integrate it with your Instagram account to promote the items.

All you need to do is download different eCommerce shopping apps and try them out. An excellent example is Shopify. It has several apps that integrate well with Instagram.

  • Check Out the Do’s and Don’ts on Instagram

You don’t want your Instagram business account to get closed before you earn anything. In this case, master all the rules on what to post, including the types of photos and videos.

Adhering to all the Instagram rules will increase your chances of making money. However, if some of your posts violate the regulations, Instagram may “shadow ban” them.

Tools to Help You Grow your Instagram

Millions of users on Instagram check the App daily. So, if you want to stand out and grow your following for marketing purposes, you’ll need to use some of the following tools.

  • Scheduling Tools: Scheduling Instagram posts will help you save time and keep your profile consistent. Tools such as Buffer, Later, and UNUM can help you do that.
  • Hashtag Tools: Tools such as Display Purposes, AutoHash, and Focal Mark can help you get top-ranking relevant hashtags to use on your Instagram posts.
  • Influencer Marketing Tools: Some of the tools to help you reach out to top-rated influencers include AspireIQ, NeoReach, and Upfluence.
  • Analytics Tools: If you want to track the performance of your Instagram posts for marketing purposes, you can use analytics tools such as Squarelovin and Keyhole.
Upfluence: A Tool for Finding Top-Rated Influencers on Instagram

Source: Get App

How Much Money Can You Make on Instagram?

You can earn between $50 and $1million per post on Instagram. However, the earnings will depend on the number of followers and the engagement rate.

You’ll probably earn a few hundred dollars per post if you are a beginner. But as your following grows, you’ll start earning thousands of dollars per post.

Most influential celebrities such as Kylie Jenner, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Ariana Grande earn between $1 million and $1.5 million per post on Instagram.

If you want to grow your earnings per post, consider improving the engagement rate. Find one niche and specialize in it, whether fashion, beauty, lifestyle, or travel.

Thankfully, Instagram keeps coming up with new monetization techniques, including:

  • Introduction of Live Badges. Instagram followers can to support content creators by purchasing hearts at $0.99-$4.99 during broadcasting.
  • Introduction of IGTV ads. It allows content creators in specific markets to earn revenue from their posts
  • Unveiling of new creator shop options, native affiliate tools, and bonuses for hitting milestones
  • Testing incentives that would award creators bonuses to post reels

How to Make Money on Instagram FAQ.

1. Do Instagram users get paid?

It depends on the products or services the users sell on Instagram. The groups of people that get paid on Instagram include content creators, influencer marketers, and social media marketers.

However, the amount of money you’ll earn on Instagram depends on your Instagram content, level of commitment, and your audience’s engagement rate.

2. How many followers do you need to make money on Instagram?

You don’t have to look for millions of followers to start making money on Instagram. You can get started with 1,000 followers so long as they are engaged with your content.

A micro-influencer with highly engaged visitors can be more valuable than celebrities with millions of non-engaged followers. So, focus on improving your content’s engagement rate.

3. How can I increase my real followers on Instagram?

To grow the number of followers on Instagram, implement the following strategies.

  • Post relevant content on your page
  • Start highly engaging conversations and respond to comments
  • Create more compelling captions by injecting some creativity into the posts
  • Optimize your Instagram bio to hook new followers
  • Network with other influencer marketers in your niche
  • 4. Should I post every day on Instagram?

    Yes. According to CoSchedule, you should post 1-2 posts on Instagram daily. That helps you stay consistent, ensuring that your posts maintain your unique style.

    If you don’t post regularly, your followers can forget your existence, leading to poor results. So, consider scheduling your posts using third-party apps like Hootsuite for consistency.

    Executive Summary

    The above article has given you great tips and strategies on how you can make money on Instagram.

    Implement all the strategies to reach more target audiences, and increase conversion and sales to make money on Instagram.

    It is essential to track the activities of your account. This will help you know how to target customers to engage with your different marketing strategies on Instagram.

    It will make it easy for you to optimize and work more on the strategies that are more likely to drive conversions and sales as you increase your online presence.

    You can use social media listening tools to track how your target customers talk about your business and leverage it to increase earning potential.

    Work on building your brand and followers through creating user-generated content that target customers want. Ensure the content is optimized with keywords target customers use in their search.