One of the most amazing things about social media is how it’s created ways for people to earn an income online and for businesses to grow and generate revenue. However, there are a number of hacks that can help users make even more money online.
And that’s why we’re here—to help you maximize the potential of your Instagram income, whether you run a business or a creator account.
We’ve put together 11 money-making tactics so that you can get started cashing in on Instagram, today.
Bonus: Claim your free pack of 15 creative Instagram post templates made by Hootsuite’s professional graphic designers. Easily customize them in Canva, and start getting more engagement today.
Can you make money on Instagram?
That is a resounding YES.
In fact, some of the biggest celebrities like Selena Gomez and creators on Instagram can bring in millions of dollars from a single Instagram post. However, micro influencers can also still make hundreds to thousands of dollars per post, too.
Helping creators make a living on the platform has been a top priority for Instagram, especially as competition heats up from TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube. (If you want to learn more about how to make money on social media, check out our guide.)
Last year, Instagram was the second-most downloaded app in the world. It’s the fourth most-visited website globally, the fourth most-used social media platform, and has 1.65 billion users every month.
All of which is to say: that’s a massive potential audience. With an enormous and diverse pool of people who could potentially be exposed to your content, there are plenty of opportunities to earn money on Instagram.
Want more proof? Grab the popcorn and watch this video from Hootsuite Labs.
Psstt: If you’re looking for more Instagram stats—you know, for those random Instagram-related trivia questions—you can find 35 of them here.
How to make money on Instagram: 11 ways to cash in
Being present, active, and engaging on Instagram (and keeping up with trends) is one of the best ways to find success on the platform in 2024—and earn a bit of cash while you do it.
Here’s how both brands and influencers can use Instagram to make money.
1. Create an Instagram store
Who can use this: Brands and creators
Creating an Instagram Shop is a great method for making money directly from the app. Brands and creators alike can add products that users can buy right off the app using Instagram’s native e-commerce tools.
The best part? Setting up a shop is incredibly easy, and this feature is available to both business and creator accounts. Learn more in our Hootsuite Labs video below:
Instagram Shops are an impulse buyer’s best friend (or worst nightmare, depending on how you look at it). Your shop will be linked directly from your profile, but you can also link your products right inside your posts so they show up in your followers’ news feeds alongside regular posts.
Creating an Instagram Shop is also a great way to provide quick customer service to folks who use social media (over 5 billion). Customers can DM you or comment on posts to learn more about your brand.
Hint: if you’re feeling overwhelmed in your DMs, consider using a chatbot to support your customer service team. Plus, we’ll also discuss how chatbots can help further monetize your Instagram later in this post, too.
When you post something with a buyable item, the little shop icon appears on the post, letting viewers know that it’s available for purchase.
And once your shop is up and running, it’ll be accessible via the little Shop button at the top of your Instagram profile, like so:
Users can click on it to find all of the products you’ve listed and shop around from the available selection:
2. Tag products in shoppable Instagram posts
Who can use this: Brands and creators
Once you’ve set up your Instagram Shop, you’ll want to promote the products you sell regularly. The best way to do this is by creating and scheduling shoppable Instagram photos, videos, and carousel posts alongside all your other social media content.
As we mentioned, shoppable posts will be denoted in your feed with a tiny shopping bag icon in the top right corner. If you’ve featured a product within the photo, you can easily tag it so interested buyers can purchase with just a couple of clicks—and without ever leaving the app.
And take it from me, once a user has input their purchasing information (i.e., card number and shipping address), buying becomes all too easy on the platform.
Products are taggable in photos and videos alike. In an image post, the product can be tagged in a specific location in the image, like so:
In a video or Reel, the product will simply be attached to the post so that anyone interested can tap the shopping bag icon and find linked product information, like in this example:
You can create shoppable Instagram posts natively in the app or use your favorite third-party scheduling tool Hootsuite.
To tag a product in an Instagram post in Hootsuite, follow these steps:
Open your Hootsuite dashboard and go to Composer.
Under Publish to, select an Instagram Business profile.
Upload your media (up to 10 images or videos) and type out your caption.
In the preview on the right, select Tag products. The tagging process is slightly different for videos and images:
Images: Select a spot in the image, and then search for and select an item in your product catalog. Repeat for up to 5 tags in the same image. Select Done when you’re finished tagging.
Videos: A catalog search appears right away. Search for and select all the products you want to tag in the video.
Select Post now or Schedule for later. If you decide to schedule your post, you’ll see suggestions for the best times to publish your content for maximum engagement.
And that’s it! Your shoppable post will show up in the Hootsuite Planner, alongside all of your other scheduled content.
You can also boost your existing shoppable posts directly from Hootsuite to help more people discover your products.
Note: You’ll need an Instagram Business account and an Instagram shop to take advantage of product tagging in Hootsuite. If you’re running a Creator account, you’ll need to do this manually within the Instagram app.
#1 Social Media Tool
Create. Schedule. Publish. Engage. Measure. Win.
3. Promote special offers
Who can use this: Brands and creators
The online audience is a sucker for a good deal (I mean, who isn’t?), plus Instagram users love to buy stuff: 35% of all Instagram users will make purchases on the app this year.
So why not use Instagram to showcase all the great things about your company—specifically, anytime you’re having a sale. Not only does posting your sale, promo code, or special offer on Instagram advertise a sale to your followers, but it also makes the information easily shareable.
Here’s a great example of what this kind of post could look like:
4. Set up a chatbot
Who can use this: Brands and creators
An easy way to provide excellent customer service and make sales through direct messages is to set up an Instagram chatbot.
A chatbot is integrated directly into your Instagram account and website and can answer any frequently asked questions from your followers. If the question is too complicated for the conversational AI chatbot, then it will automatically pass the inquiry to a real-live member of your team.
And how can a chatbot help you earn on Instagram? Simple!
An Instagram chatbot can recommend products in your shop directly to your customers within the chat, leading to faster and more streamlined sales.
If a customer inquires about what color foundation you have in stock, the chatbot can serve up three options that the user can quickly add to their cart without ever leaving the platform.
You can also use a chatbot to automatically send direct message links to products, lead magnets, or service pages. Many creators use this to link products to followers who request them.
For example, a creator shares a video that features a product they love (or that they’re being paid to promote—more on this later) and writes in the caption, “Comment with ‘keyword’ to get the product link!”
They use a chatbot that’s set up to automatically send a message with the product link to anyone who comments with that keyword. Because links sent in messages are clickable, this is a great way to get around the inability to share links within a caption or comment.
And it can help you generate even more sales. Creators can do this with sponsored products or to cash in on affiliate marketing while brands can do this with products that aren’t in their Instagram shop, with lead magnets to build their email list, or with service pages to increase customer signups.
Take a look at this post showcasing this tactic in action:
5. Partner with creators
Who can use this: Brands
Partnering with influencers, also called influencer marketing, allows you to share your company with the creator’s audience (and the creator also gets a spotlight for your audience—it’s a win-win).
When you’re researching influencers to collaborate with, make sure to pay attention to their content and values. You want to pick someone with goals that align with your own so that the partnership makes sense to customers and doesn’t seem like some oddball marketing scheme.
For example, this partnership between a book influencer on Instagram and audiobook software Audible makes perfect sense:
Try to collaborate with creators who would likely try and/or like your products—they’ll be much more excited about the partnership and sharing your product or service with their audience.
You can offer the creator money, goods, or an affiliate deal in exchange for posting about your company.
6. Collaborate with brands
Who can use this: Brands and creators
We just covered how brands can partner with creators, so it should be no surprise that the opposite is a great way for creators to make money—by partnering with brands. However, brands can also reach larger audiences and make more sales by partnering with other complementary brands.
One great way to collaborate with other brands is by hosting a collective giveaway. Here’s an example of what this could look like—pet camera company Furbo partnered with pet supply company Springer Pets to put on a giveaway of products from both brands:
While both brands are in the pet industry, they’re not a direct competitor, making the collaboration *chef’s kiss.*
The reason brands may want to collaborate with each other is to introduce themselves to new, but relevant, audiences, increasing their potential customer base and leading to more sales.
Now, let’s talk about how this can work for creators, especially because partnering with brands is likely the most well-known way creators and influencers can make money on Instagram.
Find a small or big brand that aligns with your values—that part is important. Partnering with a brand that has nothing to do with your regular content, or even directly contradicts your regular content, will make you seem inauthentic.
Brand deals can take many forms. For example, you might be paid to make an Instagram post that features a specific product, or you might be offered free products in exchange for content.
Here’s a great example of what this could look like:
Pro tip: When participating in a paid partnership or sponsored post, be transparent. Use hashtags, mark the post as sponsored content, and be clear about the partnership in your captions.
Not following Instagram’s branded content guidelines can result in posts being removed.
7. Use Instagram ads
Who can use this: Brands
Hey, the basics still work. Advertising on Instagram is one of the ways you can make money on the platform and actually track your progress. You can turn any post into an ad by boosting it, and your Instagram analytics will tell you how much of a difference the boost made.
You can also tag your products within your ads, making it easy to use your ads directly to make sales. Check out this shoppable Instagram ad:
8. Create a subscription
Who can use this: Creators
It’s like Patreon, but fully on Instagram.
This is a great way to offer things like:
Exclusive chats with you
Q&As
One-on-one assistance
Paid tutorials or masterclasses
Workshops
Exclusive content
Once you create and select the perks that you’ll offer paid via your subscription, a Subscribe button will appear at the top of your Instagram profile.
Users can click to see how much a subscription costs (you can choose increments between $0.99-99.99/month) and what perks they’d get by subscribing.
It’ll look like this:
Depending on what you include, you can charge more for your subscription. For example, if you plan to offer monthly masterclasses, you may get away with a $24.99/month price point. Or, if you just want to offer additional content, a $4.99/month subscription may make more sense.
9. Go live to earn badges
Who can use this: Creators
For creators in the U.S., Instagram’s live badges are a method of making money directly through the app. During a live video, viewers can purchase the badges (which are available in $0.99, $1.99, and $4.99 increments) to show their support.
To turn on live badges, go to your Profile and tap Professional Dashboard. Then, enable Instagram monetization. Once approved, you’ll see a button called Set Up Badges. Tap that, add an account for direct deposit, and you’re good to go!
Source: Instagram
If you’ve enabled live badges, mention it when you go live (remind your followers that if they’d like to show their support with money, it’s easy to do so!) and express gratitude when someone purchases a badge.
Saying thank you goes a long way, and will likely encourage others to pitch in.
10. Become an affiliate
Who can use this: Creators
This tactic is related to brand partnerships, as joining an affiliate program still requires connecting yourself to a business that sells specific products or experiences.
Affiliate programs essentially pay you to market other people’s products (so you want to make sure the products you’re highlighting align with your values). If your followers buy something from a brand through you—usually using a specific link or discount code—you get paid.
This is the perfect way to use that chatbot hack we discussed earlier. See how the below influencer shares a keyword to comment for interested buyers to receive a link directly to the product—which is likely an affiliate link!
11. Link to your website
Who can use this: Brands and creators
Other than direct messages, your bio is the only place you can share links. However, in 2023, Instagram increased the number of bio links from one to five—which is exciting but can still be limiting.
This is where link-in-bio tools come in, allowing you to create a micro landing page for your Instagram bio link. This way, you can use the other links for your other social media platforms.
Use your link-in-bio to link to:
Your main website
Specific product or service pages
Blog posts
Affiliate products
And more
This can be a great way to increase traffic to your website, boost ad revenue, or help you make more sales.
How to make money on Instagram FAQ
How many followers do you need on Instagram to make money?
While you can start implementing many of these tactics right after creating your account, others require a solid follower base.
Instagram’s Partner Monetization Policies don’t list a set threshold, but it does say, “Creators and publishers must have an authentic, established presence on Instagram from Meta. This also includes maintaining a sufficient follower base.”
We recommend growing your Instagram account to 500-1,000 active and engaged followers before you apply to Instagram-hosted monetization features.
How many views do you need on Instagram to make money?
The more views your content gets, the more likely you are to make sales and the more money you can ask for when it comes to brand sponsorships. However, again, there’s no set threshold or view-to-income ratio.
How do you get paid on Instagram?
There are a number of ways to make money on Instagram, from setting up an online shop and selling products or merch to creating subscriptions, promoting special offers, and so much more.
This article outlines 11 tactics for getting paid via Instagram.
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