How many Instagram followers do you REALLY need to start making money in 2024?
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It is frustrating to see influencers making thousands of dollars per post on Instagram while we struggle just to see our follower count rise daily. We all want to be the next influencer to land big sponsored deals that pay for us to travel the world and eat the best-looking food, but it’s hard to know exactly when your account is ready to start making money.
One of the first metrics that users and brands look at to determine account influence is your follower count, mostly because it is front and center for everyone to see. Even so, there is no set Instagram follower number to make money in 2024 that works for every influencer in every niche. In today’s post, I am going to go over how to approach your follower count and when should you monetize them.
How much money can you make on Instagram?
This is the first question anyone who is trying to monetize their Instagram has, but there is no hard and fast answer. There are a lot of variables that factor into the amount of money a user can make by posting on Instagram such as account niche, the way of monetization, quality of posts, follower count, and engagement rates, just to name a few.
One of the most popular ways (if not THE most popular way) that influencers make money on Instagram is through sponsored posts. Influencers are responsible for setting their own rate for working with brands, so the income potential varies even more here.
For instance, an account just branching out into influencer marketing and sponsored posts may start by charging $25-$50 a post, and accounts that are already established as influencers with 30-80k followers can charge hundreds of dollars per post. Once influencers reach over 100k followers, they tend to start charging at least $1,000 for just one post such as Sam Ushiro who has 283k followers and charges $1,500 a post. Not to mention, celebrities like Kim Kardashian West with 107 million followers can rake in over $500,000 for a sponsored Instagram post.
Couple influencers’ wide variety of rates with the varying amount of brands they work with and the number of sponsored posts received, and it becomes completely possible to make a full-time living just by posting on Instagram!
How many followers do you need to make money on Instagram?
The answer is… it depends! If you feel like this answer is a letdown, hear me out.
When brands are looking to work with influencers, they want to know that their marketing budget is well-used. What brands really look at is how well your audience is engaged, no matter the follower count because that means more product awareness, and potential sales, for them. Brands also look at how your follower count and engagement rate fit in with your niche and the quality of your posts.
Engagement rate is gold
While the number of followers you have can be anywhere from 1,000 to 1 million to make money from Instagram, one constant thing is high engagement rates. There’s no point in posting content on Instagram if your followers aren’t seeing or interacting with it.
For instance, imagine you had $100 and wanted to make more money with it. You could invest it with a person who had hundreds of thousands of potential buyers at their fingertips, but you noticed that only a hundred or so were actually paying attention to what they said. Your best bet would be investing that $100 with someone who only had a couple thousand potential buyers, but they are all constantly paying attention to what they say.
The key to making money on Instagram is not a follower count. It is having good a engagement rate. Your engagement rate is the total number of likes and comments on a certain number of posts, divided by the number of posts, divided by followers, multiplied by 100. (There are plenty of online tools available if you don’t feel like doing the math yourself!)
Later, an Instagram marketing and scheduling platform, states that engagement rates between 2-3% are average and rates between 4-6% are considered high. An engagement rate that breaches double digits is considered to be “viral.”
When your engagement rate is high, that tells brands that your followers are hearing what you are saying and, better yet, listening! They will invest their money with you because it will, in turn, result in your followers buying their products.
Your niche matters a lot
Did you know that 7 out of 10 people rely on social media to make purchase decisions AND almost half of them rely on the opinion of influencers? Whether you know it or not, people out there are looking for recommendations to follow and yours is one of them! If you are passionate and knowledgeable in a particular niche, you could be earning money just by promoting brands and products you already love!
Some of the most profitable niches on Instagram are Health/Wellness/Fitness, Travel, Fashion, Beauty, Business, Wealth/Finance, Luxury, and Lifestyle. Users in these niches work with a variety of brands, create a wide range of content, and have great success in monetizing their Instagram accounts.
Take Zara, for instance. A woman of many talents, Zara is a professional violinist and composer based in Nigeria. Now, with the help of Sellfy, she sells natural hair care resources and digital information products to 105K+ followers on Instagram and 171K+ subscribers on YouTube.
Some niches are so specific, that you don’t have to have a lot of followers to start landing sponsored posts, such as “hamburgers” instead of “food” or “acne skin care” instead of “beauty.”
More and more brands are working with micro-influencers in these specific niches to promote their products because they have a more engaged, targeted following.
While the definition of a micro-influencer varies from professional to professional, they are generally defined as a user who has more than 1,000 and less than 100,000 highly engaged followers. That’s great news for accounts that are still growing but are ready to start landing sponsored posts!
Don’t limit yourself to sponsored posts
Earn extra as an affiliate
Partnering with brands isn’t the only way to monetize your Instagram account. On top of working directly with brands in sponsored posts, you could also use affiliate marketing to make an income on Instagram. Affiliate marketing is when a brand pays you a commission after someone buys a product that you recommend. Usually, with a promo code or affiliate link, the affiliate marketing networks you are a part of will track the number of sales your recommendation garnishes and will pay you a percentage of the profit when it’s all said and done.
Selling affiliate products is as simple as recommending a product as long as you always remember to include your tracking link or code. The best place to start is with products you already use and recommend and research if those brands are already a part of affiliate marketing networks.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of affiliate programs available for you to join and in every niche imaginable. Some of the top affiliate marketing networks to join when just getting started include Amazon Associates, Linkshare, Shareasale, and Commission Junction.
Earn even more with your own products
By far the best way of monetizing your Instagram account is by selling your own digital products. That’s exactly what Ron Jones does. He’s a personal trainer and a Sellfy creator that’s managed to combine personal fitness training with mental health techniques to offer a truly unique experience to his customers. This way he has successfully brought his personal training online by selling a 5-week program in his Sellfy store.
Selling on Instagram isn’t as difficult as it may sound. It can be as simple as writing an ebook in your niche and marketing it to your followers!
Even though there is no numerical threshold you have to cross to consider yourself an influencer and start making money on Instagram, that doesn’t mean you should give up on growing your audience. Growth is always a good indicator of a successful, thriving account and once you have 1,000 followers, a lot of monetization opens up for you.
All in all, as long as you are seeing great engagement and creating quality content, you are on the right track to making money on Instagram.
FAQ: making money on Instagram
How many followers do you need on Instagram to get paid?
The number of followers needed to make money on Instagram varies as there are several factors to consider. Brands and companies tend to look for influencers with a large following, typically over 10,000.
However, engagement rate and overall content quality are also important factors. Micro-influencers with a smaller following but high engagement can still earn money through sponsored posts, affiliate marketing, and collaborations.
How to get 100K followers on Instagram?
Becoming an Instagram influencer with 100k followers requires a solid strategy. Start by identifying your niche and target audience. Create high-quality content that resonates with your followers, engage with your audience, and use relevant hashtags to increase your reach.
Collaborate with other influencers, run contests, and use Instagram’s features to your advantage. Consistency, authenticity, and patience are key to achieving your goal.
How to sell products on Instagram?
Sellfy is a great platform to sell your products on Instagram. You can sell digital products, subscriptions, and print-on-demand merch. Sellfy also offers features such as discount codes and customizable checkout pages to enhance your selling experience on Instagram.
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