Have you wondered how many Instagram followers you need to make money? This seems to be a big question for all Instagram users. Don’t look around! We will let you know the exact answer in this post.
The social media platform is no longer a place to only share our moments. Because of their significant growth, more and more people use these platforms to make a living. A user with a million followers can earn somewhere $650 per post.
And yes, with over 1 billion users, Instagram is one of the best choices for creators to make money. Before answering the question, just find out how much money you can make money on Instagram first.
How much money can you make on Instagram?
Actually, there is no exact answer to how much you can earn from Instagram, it depends on your credentials, followers or audience size, engagement, strategy,…
We tried to collect and here’s how much some creators and celebs have reportedly cashed in. Note that this is just for sponsor strategy. We will tell you some other great ways to make money on Instagram later.
- $250-$300: According to a Business Insider interview, this is the average amount that micro-influencers (under 10k followers) can get paid per sponsored post
- $300: The amount a 10k-15k followers account, reportedly collects on sponsored Reels.
- $750 to $1,000: The amount from @farmernicknyc, 63K+ followers. For IGTV videos from two to three minutes, he charges $1,500.
- $8,500: The amount from @lilmiquela, 2.5 million followers), reportedly earns per sponsored post.
- $102,000: @goldenretriever’s, 1.9 followers, said annual earnings on Instagram in 2020.
- $275,000: The amount Kendall Jenner got paid for a single post on Instagram to promote the Fyre Festival in 2017.
- $1,015,000: The amount gets paid for a single sponsored post in 2020 on The Rock account.
4 ways to make money on Instagram
Instagram is not like Youtube where you can make money through a partner program. Instagram has not launched any program for creators to make money directly from it. However, there are many other ways to get money from Instagram that we will tell you below.
Get sponsor
Getting a sponsor is the very first way Instagram users think about when they want to cash in on their accounts. For example, if you’re building a feed full of food and drinks, a restaurant or cafe may want to connect and pay you to share a photo and mention their services on your post or your story.
In most cases, potential companies, brands, or businesses will reach out to you and give you an offer if they find your content matches their products or services. However, you can also check out some agencies that can help you find and work with potential businesses if you don’t want to wait to be approached.
Open online store
Following the pandemic, more than half of the survey’s (a survey of about 3,700 consumers) respondents now shop online more frequently and rely on the internet more for news, health-related information, and digital entertainment. With that statistic, opening an online store on Instagram is a smart strategy in this period.
Creating a store profile is likely the easiest way to make money on Instagram. You open an online store, then promote and sell your products on that account.
If you don’t know which products you should promote, you could consider a dropshipping business or a printed-on-demand store that allows you to sell products online without owning inventory or managing the shipping process.
Leverage affiliate links
Leverage affiliate links or you could know it is affiliate marketing that allow you to earn money from the sales they inspire. It’s not sponsored posts that you get money from a post you share. With an affiliate strategy, you will get paid if people buy products from links or promo codes you share.
Commission can range from 10-20% per order, relying on if the partnership involves a pay-per-click or cost-per-acquisition model.
If you don’t know how to start an affiliate marketing community, you could join some networks like Pepperjam, CJ Affiliate, Rakuten, or ShareASale. The network will bring you several opportunities to start your career.
Live badges
Live Badges is launched in 2020 allowing followers to support their favorite influencers during broadcasts by purchasing hearts. Hearts cost from $0.99 to $4.99. When a viewer buys a badge, a heart icon shows up next to their name in the comment of the live chat. Their comments are also be highlighted.
Tips to make money on Instagram
Choose your niches
Defining your angle is the first thing you have to do before starting to know how many Instagram followers you need to make money. Because with each specific niche, you will earn a different amount.
For example, the beauty and fashion niche may be more profitable than the F&B niche. It is largely attributed to followers’ spending behavior and how much money companies are willing to offer for influencers in the niche.
Be authentic
Instagram’s head Mosseri said that Branded content was the economic engine behind the creator ecosystem in a lot of ways, but it didn’t work if it didn’t feel right. He mentions that in a recent Instagram Live session with Mark Zuckerberg.
The truth is if you just focus on making money, it may become out one way or another. Nobody wants to work with and put money on poor content and low-quality accounts. Hence, just make an effort to the content you’re putting out there, people will feel that.
Build trust
Instagram got the point so they give some ad regulations. Sponsored content that flouts regulations risks being removed or fined. Some prohibitions and restrictions from Instagram about partnering with a brand are:
- There are some certain products like drugs and weapons that can’t be promoted. And some others can only be promoted with restrictions like alcohol.
- Don’t include pre-, mid-, or post-roll ads in videos or audio content.
- Don’t include banner ads in videos or images.
For more details, you could read more here.
Promote your work on other platforms
There is a big matter if you don’t think about Cross strategies that mean promoting your work on other social platforms. Create a channel on Youtube or write a blog to broaden your reach. That can provide the information that potential customers want as they make their purchasing decisions.
Besides, you could use email newsletters to not be at the mercy of the Instagram algorithm when announcing to your audience about new content.
Provide good customer services
With online shopping, customers put higher expectations because they aren’t able to directly experience the products. They are careful to check brand awareness, feedback, or reviews. Hence, if you don’t want them to abandon after purchasing the first order, make sure to provide good products and services.
Try to reply to the engagement your followers send to you. Respond to questions and comments efficiently. Or say thanks to your audience in Instagram Live sessions.
What’s more, set boundaries through comment filters and controls, take time off, or connect directly with your followers if needed. Aim to build your followers by cultivating long-term relationships and partnerships.
How Many Instagram Followers Do You Need To Make Money
The fact is that the more Instagram follower you have, the more chance you can get paid on this platform. And yes, we assume that all your followers are real not bots.
Influence.co – a global influencer marketing community provides the following breakdown:
- 0 follower: $0. Of course!
- 100 followers: Still $0. Even if you open an online shop, do not get a sponsor. It’s so challenging for users to purchase something from 100-follower-shop.
- 1,000 followers: You can start making money with this amount. A post from you will be paid around $10. Remember, We are mentioning monetization posts such as sponsored posts or product-promotional posts, not regular posts. For example, you put out 1 – 2 pieces of monetization content per week. You can make about $40 – $80 per month.
- 10,000 followers: At this point, you are known as a micro-influencer. Brands are willing to work with you and offer from $75 to $100 per sponsored post. You could totally publish more than 2 monetization posts per week to make more money if you receive many offers from brands.
- 100,000 followers: You are now a macro-influencer and can expect to make $250 – $1,000 per sponsored post.
- 1,000,000 followers: Well, You are called a mega-influencer and one sponsored post on your account will cost over $1,000.
And more…!
The above information is a just reference if you try to be an influencer. You can totally make more money with your business. I mean your store.
Final Thoughts
Now, you can answer yourself how many Instagram followers you need to make money and how to get paid on Instagram. There are four primary strategies to do that:
- Become an influencer and get sponsors from brands
- Open an online store to sell products
- Be an affiliate selling other people’s products
- Receive heart badges from users through Live
Whatever your purpose is, at least 1000 followers are needed to start your career. However, besides followers, there are many other factors you have to grow on the monetization way.
First, create unique and engaging content to attract more users. Brands don’t want to work with a mess account. Second, if you have 10,000 followers, your post just gets 1 comment. People will consider your followers are bots. Nobody gives an offer to an account with lots of fake followers.
Tips: Building Instagram followers are tricky at first, you could consider buying real Instagram follower services. Yes, you can buy Active Followers if you choose the right provider like Buildmyplays to start your career.
Hopefully, this post will help you archive an overview of how many Instagram followers you need to make money!