With over 1 billion monthly active users, Instagram remains one of the most popular social media networks. Thus, starting affiliate marketing on the platform could help you build an engaged and profitable audience.
Interestingly, many people view the platform as just another direct advertising or marketing forum.
Forgetting that many brands now have affiliate programs and are looking for interested people to help them market their products and services.
You can, of course, apply to those brands and promote them to your audience. Remember, you don’t need millions of followers to succeed.
But, if you want to get the best out of Instagram, you need to stand out from competitors.
But how?
In this post, we will explain how to make money on Instagram with affiliate marketing, leverage influencers’ power, and more.
So, let’s get started!
About Instagram
According to stats, Instagram is one of the most popular photo-sharing social media networks, with the highest engagement rates; it’s estimated to have up to 1.2 billion active users by 2023.
In addition, 81% of people research products and services on Instagram, and about 4.18 billion users do so monthly through mobile devices.
And that’s why influencer marketing (affiliate marketing) has become so popular and effective. You can share stories, videos of your products and services and even scroll through an Instagram ad of any random company.
How To Create An Instagram Account
The first thing is to create your Instagram account.
However, you can either use your personal or business account.
- Visit the website and click on “Create an Account.”
- Register your email address
- Then choose a username.
- Create a password
- Add your phone number.
While it’s true that you can use a personal account, using a business account can get you more conversion rates.
For example, you have access to Instagram insight on your content. With that, you know what is working and how to improve it. In addition, you will know the specific audience interested in your products.
How to switch to an Instagram business account
From your profile,
- Locate settings by the right-hand corner.
- Then go to Account
- Click on switch to professional account
- Pick a category that fits your business
- Then select business
You can then start building out your profile page. So, optimize your profile description using relevant keywords.
What Niches Are The Best for Affiliate Marketing On Instagram?
Even though all niches are productive, but here are the top ones to build an engaged community
- Health & Wellness
- Fitness
- Lifestyle
- Animals
- Traveling
- Food/Cooking
- Self Improvement
- Beauty
- Make Money Online
How Do People Make Money On Instagram?
There are basically five ways to make money on Instagram
1. Create Sponsored Posts
You can become an Instagram influencer and get paid to promote a company’s products and services to your followers. And when they make a purchase, you earn a commission.
2. Sell Your Own Product
Once you have created an account, you can market your product to followers on the platform. For example, you can create a store on Etsy and link your Instagram account to it so your followers can check out the products.
Whether you use a personal or business account, your strategies to sell your products are essential.
3. Offer Freelance Services
If you are creative or have eyes for graphics, you can render such services on Instagram. For example, website design, graphic design, content writing, and likes.
4. Be A Brand Ambassador or an influencer
People see influencers as reliable and reputable individuals because they engage with their community and thus respect their recommendations.
You can also earn a stable income if you join a brand as an ambassador. Here are some of the places you can check
5. Sell Other Company’s Products Through Affiliate Marketing
Step By Step Guide To Start Affiliate Marketing On Instagram
Affiliate marketing is a process where you (an influencer) promote a brand’s product or service and earn a commission when a sale is made or lead generated through your affiliate link.
There are two methods.
- You apply to the company to promote the product and service
- Partner with an influencer
One of the effective ways to succeed with affiliate marketing on Instagram is to create high-quality content and regularly engage with your audience.
However, partnering with an influencer within your niche gives you more benefit; for example, you gain followers from their audience. Moreover, people trust their recommendations.
Checklist to start affiliate marketing on Instagram
- Choose a niche you are passionate about.
- Identify your target audience.
- Then build your community following by creating eye-catching content regularly. While it’s true that you don’t need millions of followers to start, you, of course, need an engaged audience.
- Then, join affiliate networks like ShareASale, ClickBank, Amazon Associates, CJ Affiliates, and more.
- Choose affiliate products or services you have used, like, and benefit your audience.
- Recommend products and services and get paid when people buy through your link.
- Post quality content consistently, use high-quality and clear images and respond quickly to comments on your post.
- Add a link in your bio.
- Use hashtags to increase engagement for your products or services.
- Check how your content performs using Instagram insights.
- Include a disclosure at the top
How To Partner With Influencers On Instagram
Working with an Instagram influencer to promote your affiliate programs is a good idea. But, you need to set your commission rates, find out how much your competitors pay influencers and likes.
But let’s look at the categories of influencers on Instagram
1. Micro-influencers have less than 10,000 followers but earn enough money on Instagram.
2. middle-tier influencers have up to 100,000 followers and can make up to $500 per post.
3. Top-tier influencers have more than 100,000 followers and earn up to $5,000 per post.
6 Vital Tips To Select An Influencer On Instagram
1. Do Your Research on Potential Partners
The market should be influenced positively by the influencers you choose.
- Do they have a negative buzz in their niche?
- Are they able to work well with other Influencers or brands?
It’s important because if you associate your brand with the wrong influencer, it could take a while for your goodwill and reputation to recover.
2. Select Those that Fit Your Niche
Once you have established that the influencer is trustworthy and well-known in their niche, it is time to go through their Instagram feed.
For example, suppose you are in the SEO industry; you need to find an influencer passionate about SEO and regularly posts about it.
Make sure you include your product in the feed of influencers. Are their followers similar to your potential customers? To determine if it’s the right choice for you, you must analyze the potential Influencers and their followers.
You don’t have to read every post. However, it is worth checking through and looking at the comments to determine if the influencer is right for your business.
3. Consider a Micro-Influencer
Micro-influencers refer to influencers with followers ranging from 2000 to 10000. These influencers have a high level of interaction with their followers, and their audience is more loyal and engaged than those with millions of casual fans.
A survey found that micro-influencers are more popular than macro-influencers. Another reason is the cost; most Influencers get paid per post.
Each business has a different budget, and you may not have the budget for this much. So instead, you would work with micro-Influencers in a traditional affiliate marketing model (commission-on-sale).
According to The Verge, sponsored content costs from $2500 to $4500 for an Instagram influencer with approximately 30,000 followers. This price range can be much higher for smaller companies and, if you’re lucky, it can serve as a great way to “test the waters” when working with influencers in this capacity.
You should not target macro-influencers if your company doesn’t have a marketing budget; there are always micro-influencers to choose from.
4. Consider Your Most-Engaged Prospects
Your customer base is the very first place to consider when it comes to looking for influencers. It’s easier to reach them because they have already supported your product or service and paid money for it.
You don’t have to rush to every customer. Instead, you must think strategically and get to know the active ones.
People are likely to respond if you share in-depth and genuine reviews of products or services you have used.
5. Use Instagram Hashtags
Instagram hashtags are a great way to build a community online and get people excited about your brand.
Hashtags can help you grow your Instagram reach and improve your influencer marketing strategy. Your post will be displayed on the hashtag page.
And if people choose to follow hashtags, they may see your hashtagged post even if you aren’t already following them.
6. Search For Influencer From The Right Sources
You now know how to find influencers on Instagram. It’s time to learn the sources where you can find them.
It would be best to focus on the Instagram micro-influencers post in your niche. Here are three options:
- Low cost/high effort – Searching hashtags, clicking on posts, clicking into profiles, and scrolling constantly!
You can search for the relevant hashtags to see which people have posted quality content. Though time-consuming, people with a narrow niche can benefit from this process.
However, it will be more difficult for those with a broader niche to find relevant content.
- Medium effort/Medium expense – You can use social analytics tools. You may pay a fee for analytic tools that will give you quick insight into Influencers within your niche.
Analyze the names you are interested in and see how they interact with followers.
- Low effort/high cost – Ask a company to connect you with potential Influencers. You can pay a fee to communicate with well-known social influencers.
However, it may be a wrong choice unless you have much money and launch an Instagram Influencer campaign.
Even many Influencers with just a few thousand followers won’t notice every comment you make to a casual post. And this won’t make your profile look professional.
An Instagram Direct Message is slightly okay. But it would be best if you mixed it with other DMs, and it is often a challenge as to whether they will ever read it.
If they don’t have you following on Instagram, your message will appear in their inbox as a “message solicitation.” Unfortunately, these messages are often ignored.
However, Influencers at the micro-level are more likely than others to check these DMs. That’s why it’s worth a try for those with smaller followings.
Email is still the best method; some Influencers will include their business email at the top of their profiles. But keep it short when you email them.
It is just like any other cold sale email. Remember that even if you offer to pay Influencers, it is still a numbers game. So keep sending out these emails, and you will soon receive acknowledgments.
You may not receive many responses, so don’t be discouraged by the low response rate. Instead, keep working on your offer and tweaking it.
How Instagram Influencers Gets Paid
There is a vast difference between traditional Influencer marketing and strategic Affiliate Influencer Marketing. Moreover, the pay-per-post method is old and not a tracking system for conversions.
Instead, you are promoting your brand to their followers via their feed.
Hence, I recommend an affiliate marketing Influencer model that makes payments on every sale.
This method is feasible through a unique coupon code that your influencer would enter in their Instagram profile. Also, you can add captions to the post.
The model has some benefits:
- Only pay after the sale is complete
- Pay per post can be a great way to increase brand awareness.
Top Influencers might be hesitant about this model as they are used to paying per post. However, it’s more likely that micro-influencers are open to this payment model.
To attract them even more, offer a sign-up bonus that includes free products and a higher commission rate for affiliate Influencers.
Consider increasing your commission rate to 30% if the average influencer’s commission rate is between 10% and 20%. It’s worth it, even if your ROI isn’t 11 times but five times.
FAQS
What are the best affiliate programs on Instagram?
Some of the best affiliate programs where you can earn commission on promoting products and services include:
- Amazon Associates Program
- ShareASale
- Impact Radius
- FlexOffers
- ClickBank
- CJ Affiliates
How can I increase my Instagram followers?
There are many strategies to increase your Instagram followers. One of the best ways is to create quality content and use hashtags relevant to your niche.
Another way is to follow influencers in your niche and mention them in your posts. Of course, you can also promote your account by purchasing ads on Instagram, but this strategy costs money, and it’s not for everyone’s budget.
How many followers do you need to become an affiliate?
While there is no exact number of followers you need to become an affiliate, it’s best to have 1000 followers.
This way, the company will know that your followers are interested in seeing their products promoted.
Experts recommend having at least 10,000 followers to attract their attention to brands. Companies will want to reach a broad audience interested in their product or service before hiring an influencer.
How can I earn from Instagram?
There are primarily five ways to make money from Instagram
- Selling products and services through affiliate marketing
- Paid partnerships with brands
- Offering sponsored posts or ads
- Sponsored contests and giveaways
- Sell your own products or services by linking to an external site
How do I get affiliated?
There is no fee for joining Instagram, but there are two ways for users to promote their account: (1) buy ads on Instagram’s ad platform; (2) become an Instagram “affiliate.”
The first option will be more expensive than the second one.
The most popular way for brands, influencers, and bloggers to make money on Instagram is by becoming an affiliate.
How do you get 1k followers on Instagram?
While it takes time and effort to get an engaged audience, the three best ways are
1) Follow people whom you would like to follow you back
2) Comment on posts
3) Tag friends in your posts
How do I promote my post on Instagram?
There are many easy and inexpensive ways to promote your posts on Instagram. The first option is to use Instagram ads, and the second way is by using hashtags. Hashtags help categorize or group content easily on search engines and social media platforms like Instagram.
How do I get my affiliate commission?
Many affiliate programs pay affiliates through Paypal accounts while others pay through wire transactions, western union, and more.
Conclusion
Growing your business on Instagram with affiliate marketing is possible; influencer marketing is a powerful tool to use, as seen in this article.
The general rule is that the more followers you have, the more opportunities to make money on Instagram. But you don’t need to have millions of followers to succeed. Remember, most influencers also started with few followers.
The best way to increase your follower count is by posting content that people enjoy and are willing to share with their friends.
Remember that your website is still the best place to grow your affiliate links.
If you are yet to start a website, get started here.
Thank you for reading!
And if you have any questions, please drop them in the comments.
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