How to Generate Revenue from Instagram

Everyone wants to make money on Instagram. I can bet you've thought of it before. However, a majority of us spend money accessing it, and we earn nothing from the social media site.

Since the launch of Instagram, it has featured an endless feed of photos. It is now more than just pictures to something between your friend's best taste, a glossy magazine, and a boutique shop.

Instagram can be a source of inspiration and aspiration.

You can make money on Instagram in three ways. They are;

• Work as an Instagram influencer-: Brands will pay you to post their content and talk about their Company/products.
• Become an affiliate marketer-: Sell other people's products and earn commissions.
• Become an entrepreneur-: Create your product and sell it on Instagram.

Read on to know more about these three main methods of making money on Instagram.

1. Work as an Instagram influencer

The first thing that comes to most people's minds when they hear the word Instagram influencer is probably “Sponsored post.”; This is of no surprise since that is how Instagram influencers make their money. In the first quarter of 2019, there are over 550,000 active influencers on the site. 

The requirement to be an Instagram influencer is to have a competitive engagement rate, and a decent-to-impressive follower count. This strategy is perfect for those who can leave a good impression with a stranger on Instagram. One great thing about this style is that it involves marketing without the troubles of e-commerce; you don't have to create a product or fulfill others. You have to be yourself and post about those brands or services.

Just like every other thing in life, this method has its downsides, and one of these is that it might not be one of those top brands that will do business with you. Also, there are so many scammers out there targeting aspiring influencers.

Even if you successfully get a company to do business with, you'll probably have to reflect on your integrity. You may get a request to post and say something beautiful about a product that you know is harmful to the consumer's health.

If you want to be an Instagram influencer; here's how to get started:

Step 1: Choose your niche

Make sure you select a niche you love because you're going to be living and breathing your brand. You should also consider how your potential partners perceive things. Brands will contact you based on your target market. Recent research shows that most brands prefer micro-influencers because they have a more real connection with their domain.

Step 2: Build trust and grow your audience

Most influencers have between 15,000 and 100,000 followers. Don't worry if you're not there yet. There are so many strategies you can try out if you want to grow your followers on Instagram.

Regularly give your followers something to like and even save on their phone, but ensure that it is in-line with your niche.

Step 3: Partner with brands

You can link up with brand partners via these two main routes;

• Find those brands and pitch to them directly.

Contact the brands yourself and tell them why they should use you to build their brand. When pitching, your focus should be on the type of audience you have, their engagement, and the potential for growth.

• Sign up for an influencer marketing platform so that they can easily find you. You can use platforms like Famebit, AspireIQ, and Upfluence.

Step 4: Post transparently

In some countries like the UK or America, you are legally mandated to tell your audience when you're posting an ad. If this is the law in your nation, you should ensure that your disclosure is visible and easy to understand.

You can use the Paid Partnership tag that Instagram created some years ago. Or you can use the #ad hashtag above the content.

2. Become an affiliate marketer for Revenue Generation on Instagram

This strategy is not like the Instagram influencer method because it is more about making sales than spreading awareness. In this method, you only make money when your followers buy your product.

Although it also has the positive side of not having to produce the product or fulfill an order. However, you must have a good strategy if you plan to grow without boring your audience. Also, the term affiliate marketing appears spammy, but if you approach with a great strategy and ethically, you can make a lot of money from the business.

What you do here is that you recommend your favorite product, and you provide the link to buy the product. Your merchant will track the sales back to your effort. Your merchant will then pay you a commission on the product.

If you want to be an Instagram affiliate marketer, here's how you go about it;

Step 1: Choose a niche

You have to pick a niche that you feel you have the most knowledge

Step 2: Find merchants to affiliate with

You can opt to join an affiliate network, choose a brand directly or both.

An affiliate network acts as an intermediary between marketers like you and brands who run affiliate programs. These affiliate networks usually have clients because of the need for large organizations to automate their marketing.

Step 3: Post about the product

Most buyers on the internet appreciate transparency; thus, you should divulge the relationship you have with the product.

3. Sell your product

This third strategy requires a lot of skill as it goes beyond marketing into e-commerce. Instead of using your brand to sell and advertise other people's products, you do that for your own. Whether it is your fashion-line, consultancy services, photos, etc., Instagram is a great market. And if you're already an entrepreneur, selling on Instagram will be a plus.

Step 1: Imagine your product.

You can decide to sell something natural or an extension of what you're doing. Whatever comes to your mind and your love can make you money, except, of course, it is illegal, then Instagram will disable your account.

Step 2: Build your product.

You need to build and package your product for you to truly make sales.

Step 3: So up your account such that it is shoppable

Instagram has some shipping-focused features such as; product tags, shoppable stories, Instagram Checkout, and the Explore tab.

If you want to take advantage of these features, then you should have a business account.

Step 4: Build your e-commerce website

You should set-up a website that will give your customers more information about the brand or the product. You should also consider building a landing page to guide your customers through the purchase steps.

Step 5: Post your products

You can use Instagram stories or regular posts to inform your audience about your product. You should also use some Instagram analytics tools to measure your success.

Step 6: Fulfil your orders

Depending on your product and the number of sales, you can choose to handle inventory yourself or hire an expert to do the work.

When your customers purchase your product, it will be helpful to contact them to know if the product solves their problem; this will keep them coming. 

Date: December 10, 2019 / Categories: Marketing, / Author: E O