Ever since the dawn of Instagram, influencers and brands have started growing exponentially and this hasn't gone unnoticed by the world! As more and more people are passionately trying to make it big as an influencer while following their passion, only a few know the right way to achieve their goals quickly. So if you want to monetize your account but don't want to buy Instagram followers then you can try out the following methods to achieve your goal!
Ways to monetize your account
Once you've gained some real Instagram followers who look forward to your posts and pay heed to what you have to say about the trending topics in your industry, you can try out the following ways to monetize your account.
- Leverage sponsored posts
Sponsored posts showcase a product or service which helps the audience form an opinion and decide whether they want to buy or invest in it. Initially, you can focus on creating an eye-catching profile and increase engagement on your page through organic growth as you can't buy Instagram followers and expect them to buy or invest in products you suggest. Once you have decent engagement, you can approach brands with a portfolio that includes supporting statistics so they're convinced and then they can sign you up for reviewing their products. If you're not sure how much you should charge initially, you can ask around from fellow creators or google how much creators are charging in your field.
2. Approach brands
If you're an expert in a field or have sufficient knowledge to guide or advise your followers, then you can approach brands who offer products in that field to become their brand ambassador. While sponsored posts are easier to bag, they aren't long term contracts but being a brand ambassador allows you to tie-up with a company for a longer duration as you share updates, highlights and major announcements from the brand and show them in a positive light to your followers. Brands also like to sign-up with influencers whose work aligns with theirs as it helps them reach out to the masses with ease, so go ahead and approach some brands already!
3. Host giveaways and contests
Most content creators resort to cheap tricks and try to buy Instagram followers to monetize their account. But they tend to forget that one of the best ways to engage people is to offer them something in return. So make sure you plan and host giveaways or contests at regular intervals of time as this not only allows you to gain more Instagram followers but also helps in increasing your reach. Depending on the success and reach of your previous giveaways, brands and e-commerce sites will get in touch with you for further discounts, exclusive deals and much more which will benefit you and your followers greatly! You can even use them to convert followers to engagement, gain more leads and convert potential buyers into clients with ease!
4. Try affiliate marketing
If you want to step things up a bit, then you can try your hands at affiliate marketing. Unlike an influencer, an affiliate marketer is more focused on increasing sales for the company. You can do so by providing exclusive discounts for your followers which they can enjoy by using the special code provided by you. You can become part of affiliate programs or explore platforms like ClickBank, Amazon's Affiliate platform and several others to get started.
5. Earn through IGTV ads and stories
You must have seen brands investing in movies for some product placement so they can promote their products while showcasing them in movies. While this might seem a little unusual for Instagram, you can do the same to promote and advertise. Brands can pay you for product placement in videos if you have the creative edge to smoothly embed them in your IGTV or stories and generate more sales from them by convincing your followers into buying those products.
6. Set up your Instagram shop
If you are planning to take your business online then you would be glad to know that Instagram can help you achieve that in no time! All you need to do is create a business account, and then link your product catalogue associated with your Facebook shop with Instagram as it's necessary to link them both and you also have to be an admin or business manager on any page. Follow these steps to get approval and you're ready to roll! The only catch is that you can only sell physical goods and not services using an Instagram shop.
7. Share what you know
You can use Instagram to highlight a particular skill or talent that you have been hiding away till now! While this might seem a bit difficult at first, sharing your knowledge or something unique with your followers will definitely help you convert followers to engagement. Be it baking, painting, holding live consulting sessions or posting about your experience and rewards, all of it can help you build credibility. Once you see decent responses coming in, you can start conducting online classes, or launch an entire course which people can enrol in to learn things from you!
Now that you have some cool tricks up your sleeves, go ahead and start building your strategy to monetize your Instagram account and let us know which method benefitted you the most!
