How to Monetize Instagram

lauryn preston

Over 1 billion people worldwide use Instagram for entertainment and social connection. Since it’s such a popular platform, many businesses and online creators use their Instagram accounts as a channel for additional monetization.

There are plenty of ways to make money off of Instagram, but being able to turn your account into a new marketing channel can help you generate revenue and elevate your brand to new heights.

While creating video ads or other Instagram ads can help increase your reach, there are plenty of other ways to expand your influence and use that influence to monetize Instagram.

In this blog post, we’ll offer actionable advice on how to grow your follower count, boost sales for your online store, and generate high-quality content that gets people interacting with your account. Whether you want to expand your personal brand or increase awareness on your business account, you can learn how to monetize your Instagram account and earn money in multiple ways.

Partnering with Kiopi for Instagram Account Growth and Instagram Monetization

Instagram monetization refers to the process of simply making money on Instagram. This could be through an Instagram marketing service, sponsored posts, offering online courses, becoming an Instagram model, etc.

The amount of money you can make on Instagram hinges on how many followers your account has.

While making money from an Instagram account may seem like a daunting task for users with small followings, it’s essential to remember that Instagram monetization is possible–regardless of how many Instagram followers you have.

If you are looking to turn your personal Instagram or business account into a source of revenue, a social media management software like Kiopi can help you understand your loyal followers and find ways to expand your reach through various Instagram features.

Kiopi allows users to organize and schedule social posts, manage social campaigns, and analyze the effectiveness of their social media strategy. This gives brands the ability to fine-tune their social media marketing efforts to meet their overall marketing and sales goals.

With the ability to schedule, monitor, and analyze posts on Facebook posts, Instagram posts, GMB posts, Twitter posts, and LinkedIn posts, Kiopi users can easily manage all of their various social media accounts in just one place.

Want to give Instagram monetization a shot? Kiopi offers a 14-day free trial to all new users, so get started today!

Leverage Kiopi’s Social Scheduling Tool for Instagram Monetization

In order to start monetizing on Instagram, you need to be making consistent content. The more organic and sponsored posts your account has, the more posts your audience can interact with, so frequently posting images and videos can help boost your Instagram account’s overall engagement.

It’s a simple concept, but the execution to monetize Instagram can be a little tricky.

Manually posting every single piece of content, you want to show your followers can be tedious and time-consuming, especially when collaborating with others or trying to post Instagram content from a PC. Luckily, Kiopi’s social media scheduling tools make it easy to plan and schedule posts from your computer, allowing you and your team to schedule content days, weeks, and months in advance.

That way, as a prospective Instagram influencer, you can make sure your social page has a consistent posting schedule made to attract attention and increase engagement.

Consistent Posting Strategy for Audience Engagement

As you probably already know, Instagram posts are curated for users by an algorithm that uses machine learning to show them the content they most likely want to see. Instagram analytics tend to favor content from accounts that post on a regular basis, so consistency is key when it comes to your social media strategy. If your content is consistent, it increases the chances Instagram will show your posts to your followers, which in turn, increases engagement, which then increases the chances Instagram will show your posts to your followers. Fall into an inconsistent posting schedule, and you risk falling into obscurity, as far as the Instagram algorithm is concerned.

Optimize Posting Schedule for Instagram Monetization

If monetization is one of the main goals you have for your Instagram page, be sure to keep it in mind when developing your posting schedule. Certain times of day and certain days of the week can have increased engagement within your target demographic or even within your own follower base.

The content of your Instagram posts should also be optimized for monetization and should use strategies that will ultimately make you money–like the ones outlined in the rest of this article.

Utilize Kiopi’s Content Calendar to Help Monetize Your Instagram Account

After developing a posting schedule that feeds the algorithm with consistent content, you have to manage that schedule somehow.

Planning content creation is key to developing an Instagram feed that is engaging and attractive, and Kiopi’s social media content calendar allows you to do it with ease. You can easily see what posts you’ve made in the past, as well as manage what posts you’re going to make in the future.

This can make it easier for you to generate content on topics you haven’t covered in a while or even plan content on new topics.

Streamlined Content Management for Increased Productivity

Kiopi’s content calendar tool provides you and your team with a professional dashboard, showing you all of the posts you have scheduled and when exactly you have them scheduled for. Having all of your social media posts in one place makes it easier to organize content and catch any mistakes, streamlining your social media management efforts and allowing you to spend more time on content creation. Our content calendar tool works great for single-person teams as well as larger-scale marketing teams.

Plan Content That Can Earn Money on Instagram

When you effectively plan out and manage your Instagram content, you can then begin monetizing that content. Whether you’re a brand affiliate looking to schedule your future branded posts or you’re a small business looking to plan a future marketing campaign, Kiopi’s content calendar can help make the process quick and easy.

Learn more about Kiopi’s social media planning features.

Hashtag Research and Strategy with Kiopi’s Analytics

As you’re working to monetize your Instagram account, it’s important to note that increasing your social media following can increase interactions with your account, as well as your brand. This can then increase the number of views on sponsored posts, the number of sales you make through affiliate links, or even the number of customers that use your business, depending on how you monetize Instagram content. That’s why so many Instagram users expand their reach by using hashtags. What are hashtags and how can businesses use them? Hashtags categorize their content by subject matter and allow the algorithm to understand better what audience would want to see their content. Hashtags are one of the most valuable free monetization tools an Instagram post can have, but using them effectively and strategically isn’t easy unless you have access to social media analytics that show you what tags are trending, relevant, and engaging to your Instagram audience. Kiopi’s analytics let you better understand what hashtags to use with your content to maximize your impressions and reach new Instagram users.

Identify Trending and Relevant Hashtags

It’s important for you to be able to reach audiences that would be interested in your content.

Using Kiopi’s analytics tools, you can get a better understanding of what your target audience is interested in so that you can use the hashtags that your Instagram audience engages with the most. It can also help you develop content around the trending topics your audience pays attention to.

Improve Hashtag Performance for Better Reach

Anyone can put a hashtag in their Instagram post, but not all Instagram influencers understand how to improve their hashtag game.

For example, if a business account is using very general hashtags, like #love or #tuesday, they probably aren’t going to get as much attention as they’d like out of their influencer marketing strategy.

Even when micro-influencers use Kiopi’s analytics to better understand audiences and their interests, they can develop effective strategies to reach that audience.

Drive Traffic with Kiopi’s Link Shortener

One of the easiest ways to start monetizing Instagram is to have a link to a blog post, Instagram shop, or website that people can access from your account.

External links allow users to buy products, view ads, and engage with your brand outside of the Instagram app. But as you may have noticed, Instagram doesn’t allow anyone to put hyperlinks in their post captions.

Fortunately, there are a few ways to get around it and share external links with your followers. This is especially helpful if you sell affiliate products.

One of the most popular workarounds is to put the link in the Instagram bio and then put a disclaimer at the end of the post caption that says “link in bio.”

Instagram users can also put links on Instagram stories, which allows anyone who views that Story post to access the link. Of course, they can also just paste the link into their post caption, but anyone who wants to access it will have to input the link manually.

Since web addresses tend to be long, many people opt to shorten their links using services like Bit.ly. These give brands a shortened web address that will send users to a specific page.

Brands also use these shortened links to track traffic and click-through rates each time they post a link to Instagram stories or to their Instagram account.

Analyzing user data can be difficult, and manually generating shortened links with the correct tracking data can be extremely tedious, but Kiopi makes it easy with our built-in link shortener tool. Utilizing this tool can help ensure your social media links are short, attractive to viewers, and can be easily analyzed for social media optimization.

Efficient Use of Shortened Links in Bio and Posts

Using shortened links is a great way to ensure your Instagram followers have a way to easily interact with your brand outside of Instagram. Not every post needs a link, though, so be strategic with how and when you share links with your audience.

Track Click-Through Rates with Kiopi's Analytics

When you use Kiopi’s link shortener tool, you can see exactly how much traffic your shortened links are getting from your Instagram account.

These analytics can help determine who is clicking on your links and how long they’re staying on your site, which allows you to better understand your audience and their habits.

When you schedule LinkedIn posts and other social media, it shouldn’t just be when you’re promoting a campaign, special event, or product. Posting relevant content on a daily basis helps build trust with your audience, which will have them coming back for more content.

Learn more about our social media content calendar.

Monetizing Instagram Through Brand Partnerships

Now that you know how Kiopi can help you monetize Instagram, let’s go into how you can turn your Instagram account into a source of income. One way to monetize your account is by utilizing brand partnerships.

Brand partnerships all you to partner with other brands to make organic or sponsored posts about their brand on your Instagram account. This means that another personal brand will pay you to make an Instagram post about the brand or its products.

Collaborate with Brands for Sponsored Content

Since brands are very eager to tap into the influencer marketing scene, many brands are more than willing to pay you to post about their products, regardless of the number of Instagram followers you have.

In fact, many brands opt to collaborate with smaller content creators or micro-influencers since they tend to have a very loyal fanbase, and loyal fans are more likely to engage with content and purchase products than casual fans are.

Learn more about marketing tools for influencers.

Leverage Sponsored Partnerships for Revenue

Brand sponsorships don’t just benefit the brand, but they also benefit you.
For example, if you post sponsored content for a specific clothing brand, that clothing brand may share your work, increasing your reach and expanding your fanbase. Additionally, many brands use past partnerships as a stamp of approval that says, “This content creator can be a brand ambassador.”
If you have some sponsorships under your belt, more brands may want to partner with you in the future.

Utilize Affiliate Marketing with Kiopi’s Support

Another great Instagram monetization tool to utilize is affiliate marketing.
When you have a brand partnership, you may get paid upfront to create sponsored posts, or you may get paid a certain amount based on the number of views or clicks the post generates.

As an affiliate marketer, this will work a little differently.

When you become an affiliate of a brand, you’ll receive links to the brand’s products that you can share with your followers. When those followers buy the product using the affiliate link, you receive a percentage of the sale.

Integrate Affiliate Links for Additional Revenue

When you sell affiliate products through Instagram, you turn your posts and your Instagram account into a source of income.

But how do you guarantee that consumers will actually buy these products?

If you become an affiliate marketer for a company that aligns with your own personal brand, your followers will most likely be interested in that company, making it more likely that they’ll make purchases through your affiliate links.

You can integrate these affiliate links into your Story posts or Instagram bio, making it easy for your followers to support you.

Track Affiliate Performance with Kiopi's Analytics

When you make an affiliate post, you can use Kiopi’s link-tracking system to track and analyze how well your affiliate link performed.

You can then use this information to craft your next affiliate content, using strategies that work with your audience.

Unlock Instagram Shopping Features

Another way to monetize your Instagram account is to use built-in features like Instagram Shop. Instagram allows users to browse and purchase products from various sellers through the Instagram app via their Instagram shop. The Instagram shop makes it easier for your followers to buy your products since they don’t have to take the extra steps to follow links and navigate your store. Whether you’re a small business or a big brand, utilizing Instagram shopping features can be a great way to earn money. Learn more about social media for small businesses.

Enhance E-Commerce Sales with Shopping Tags

Shopping tags can be a great way to increase your Instagram monetization since they allow followers to easily purchase products within the app they’re already using.

If you’re an online business that doesn’t have a separate online store, utilizing the Instagram shop features can be a way for you to sell your products without developing your own website.

Instagram Live Monetization Strategies

Many social media apps feature live broadcast features, and the Instagram app is no exception.

Instagram live videos allow you to interact directly with your followers and give you the chance to showcase products, answer questions, and even receive direct support from your fans through badges as part of your Instagram monetization strategy.

Engage Followers with Live Monetization Events

One of the ways many influencers make money on Instagram is through live broadcasts.

When you go live, you have the opportunity to enable badges, which are small monetary gifts your followers can send you during the broadcast.

Earn Instagram Badges

Badges will display the name of the person who gifted it at the top of the stream broadcast for viewers and broadcasters to see. These gift badges give some of your most loyal followers a chance to interact directly with you and support you.

Connect With Instagram Followers

In addition to badges, live broadcasts give you a chance to really connect with your followers. Reading and reacting to comments can encourage viewers to interact with the broadcast through liking or commenting.
This can deepen your connection with your followers, which can increase impressions and even sales.

Drive Sales with Product Demos and Q&A Sessions

Video posts on Instagram have a limited run time, making it harder for brands to go into detail about their products or services.

Instagram Live offers you the opportunity to take your time and showcase your products and their features. Not only that, but the live chat allows your viewers to ask questions and have them answered on the spot, which can convert viewers into users.

Offer Exclusive Content through Instagram Subscriptions

Brands often utilize paywalls as a way to generate income, and Instagram subscriptions are another way brands can do that.

You can make money on Instagram by developing exclusive content that can’t be accessed without paying a small monthly subscription fee. This can help fans directly support you and provide you with a passive source of income that can grow over time.

Provide Exclusive Benefits to Subscribers

Instagram subscriptions offer you the chance to make money from your Instagram content, even if you don’t have a massive follower count.

If you offer exclusive content and benefits to your subscribers, you can turn passive viewers into active supporters.

Implement Sponsored Instagram Stories and Sponsored Instagram Reels

As social media has become more entertaining, social media advertising has become more prolific–and effective. While many influencers use image posts to share their sponsored content, things like Instagram Stories and Reels can also be great monetization tools. Instagram Reels and Stories allow you to tap into popular trends and create sponsored content that people won’t ignore.

Collaborate with Brands for Sponsored IG Stories

If you have a carefully curated Instagram account, you might be hesitant to post sponsored content in the middle of your other posts.

The great thing about Stories is that they don’t exist as posts on your page and only last 24 hours. Making sponsored content for your Instagram Stories allows you to make sponsored posts that your audience can interact with, without ruining the look of your Instagram business account.

Monetize Instagram Reels with Sponsored Content

Since the rise of TikTok, there have been a few apps that have tried to replicate some of that success. One of the most popular of these is Instagram Reels. Sponsored Reels can show your video ads to thousands of people just scrolling through, increasing impressions and engagement. This is how you monetize Instagram Reels. Making a Reel can require more effort than a simple image post, but the results make the effort worth it.

Host Giveaways for Engagement and Revenue Increases

A great way to monetize your Instagram is to host social media contests, which can engage your followers and even generate quality content made by fans. Giveaways are one of the ways brands can increase engagement and boost revenue. When you host a giveaway, you ask people to complete a task in order to get a chance to win a free prize. This could be a gift card, free product, or anything you are willing to use to incentivize engagement.

Utilize Giveaways for Brand Exposure and Sales

By asking your Instagram followers to comment, like, and share, you can gain plenty of engagement and expand your reach outside of the base of loyal followers, all for the chance to win something for free.

You can even co-host giveaways with other brands or Instagram creators, allowing both of you to introduce yourselves to a new audience of potential fans and customers.

Analyze and Refine Instagram Monetization Strategies

When learning how to monetize Instagram, you may find that some of your initial strategies aren’t earning you the exposure and revenue that you want. That’s ok–you can always tweak and refine your marketing strategy to meet your goals and objectives. One of the best ways to review your current marketing strategy is by monitoring your social media traffic. Certain Instagram posts may be more attractive to your loyal followers than others, some Instagram posts may garner more clicks than others, and some posts may gain you more loyal followers than others. It’s essential to keep an eye on how your high-quality content is performing so you can gain a better understanding of what your audience wants and expects.

Track Performance Metrics with Kiopi's Analytics

Instagram analytics show you how often your Instagram reels, Instagram stories, Instagram ads, and even posts are being viewed, how frequently they’re being engaged with, and how many followers you’ve earned since posting it.

For example, if you’re an Instagram influencer making sponsored posts, Kiopi’s analytics tool can help you break down the engagement data collected from your posts and give you the information to refine your strategy.

Refine Approaches Based on Data Insights

Once you have the information gathered, you can use those insights to shape your future Instagram strategies. Let’s use the same example: if you’re going to make another sponsored post, and you know your audience engaged really well with your last sponsored post, maybe take some of the concepts or ideas from that post to shape your new one. This allows Instagram creators to make content that increases engagement, clicks, and purchases.

Ready to try KIOPI? Start your free trial today.