Instagram has become not only a social platform for sharing personal travel and food experiences etc but has also become a popular platform for businesses to market their products or services especially for the e-commerce industry.
The pandemic in 2020 has brought forth a surge in e-commerce and revenue in the ecommerce market is projected to reach US$2,793m in 2021. Instagram is like an instant trending social media platform where you can catch the latest trends very quickly from the bite sized content and your eyes are treated to a visual feast whenever you scroll down your mobile.
From Instagram Stories to IGTV (Instagram TV), to setting up virtual storefronts and having “fans” to be able to tip their favourite influencers, there are many ways you can make money on Instagram.
Here are 4 best ways that can help you monetise your Instagram account:
1. Sell products
When Instagram shopping just started, it was basically tagging products in your posts and linking them to your website where users could make a purchase. Today, it comprises several features bundled in a single package.
You can add Shopping Tags to highlight products in your organic Instagram posts which include photo, video and carousel posts. Up to 5 products per image or video post and up to 20 products on multi-image carousel posts can be featured.
When a user taps a Shopping Tag on your post, they will be directed to a product description page where all the details can be seen – product image, features, price and a link where they will be taken to your website directly to purchase the product.
You can also tag products in Instagram Stories using the Shopping Sticker. Stories can feature one product sticker per story. What’s more, you can change the colour and text of product stickers to suit your branding!
2. Teach people your skills
People usually follow someone on Instagram for a reason. They share similar interests and passions as you, love your content and look forward to learning from you. So why not teach them to be like you by showcasing your skills and sharing your knowledge?
There is a huge return in creating information products because people always appreciate information and skills that can add value to their personal or professional lives.
Alternatively, you can consider becoming an Instagram marketing expert and help budding entrepreneurs or creators to improve their branding. Since you have the expertise, why not use it to your advantage and help people at the same time? Use your knowledge and become a social media consultant or write and sell ebooks to make money on Instagram.
3. Product placement videos
Product placements have been around since vlogging started in the 2000s and it simply means creating a video that shows you using a product and earning some money for advertising it.
Product video tutorials, DIYs (Do It Yourself), testimonials or even wacky shorts are some of the ideas you can use for producing such videos. You can choose to either do this with normal videos or Instagram Stories.
However, if you want to catch the attention of your target audience, it is more advisable to give IGTV a shot. A lot of brands and companies actually use IGTV to scout for the creators or influencers they want to work with so you should make full use of this feature and opportunity to land more gigs.
4. Subscriptions and memberships
People love to be part of a like-minded community especially when it provides them with some exclusive knowledge or expertise they can’t gain elsewhere. Eg. Chris Ducker runs the YouPreneur community and charges around $60 a month for access.
Through their online content, weekly podcasts, exclusive live events and online mastermind community, they are the number one resource for many entrepreneurs worldwide. Selling subscriptions and memberships are your opportunity gateway to offer the exclusive know-how and make additional income by doing so.
In conclusion, we hope this has opened up more revenue-generating ideas be it whether you are an individual wanting to make some extra income or entrepreneurs who want to increase their brand awareness and of course, get some business growth too! Have fun monetising your Instagram account!
