How many Instagram followers do you need to make money?
There are many different factors that affect When you can start generating income from the platform, as well as how much you can generate.
We will cover them all in this post.
First, let’s talk about How Influencers generate income from Instagram.
How do influencers make money on Instagram?
Instagram doesn’t automatically pay you when you get likes on your posts and views on your videos. What do Do influencers make money on the platform?
We have a whole post on this topic if you want to take a deeper look at it. We’ll give you the short version for now.
HypeAuditor surveyed 1,865 Instagram influencers with between 1,000 and more than 1 million followers.
This is what they found when they asked respondents about their main sources of income:
- 40% generate revenue from brand promotions, such as sponsored posts.
- 22% use Instagram to acquire more customers.
- 15% of influencers generate income through affiliate marketing.
- 5% sell courses through Instagram.
- 4% of influencers use third-party subscription services like Patreon and OnlyFans.
- 6% use other sources, such as offering rebranding services, accepting donations, selling products, and more.
This means that if you don’t have an off-Instagram business or products to open an Instagram Shop for, your best bets are to look into sponsorship opportunities and affiliate programs to join.
This means content that features products from sponsors or brands you are affiliated with.
Since Instagram only allows you to place a link in your Instagram bio and doesn’t allow links in posts, many influencers use link-in-bio tools to list all their affiliate links and other important content on one page.
They will then say «link in bio» in the Instagram captions and videos.
Shorby is a fantastic dedicated bio link tool.
You can also use a social media management tool like Pallyy to schedule Instagram content ahead of time and manage comments. It comes with its own bio link tool.
Other ways that influencers make money on Instagram include earning Instagram badges while broadcasting Instagram Lives, joining the Instagram Reels bonus program, and buying Instagram memberships.
When you join the Instagram Badges program, Instagram users can show their support when you’re live by purchasing badges in increments of $0.99, $1.99, and $4.99.
These users will have hearts or «badges» next to their username when they comment on Lives, indicating their support.
Instagram is also experimenting with Reels payments.
Reels are Instagram’s answer to TikTok, and the bonus program for them is invite-only while Instagram tests it.
instagram status participants can win bonus Reels based on the performance of individual scrolls, the number of scrolls the participant produces, or by completing requests such as holiday-themed scrolls.
If you’re eligible, you’ll find an invite on your Instagram Business account dashboard.
instagram subscriptions are Instagram’s answer to third-party subscription services like Patreon and OnlyFans.
The program allows you to create content exclusively for followers (subscribers) who pay you monthly subscription fees.
You can create unique Instagram Stories, Posts, Reels, Lives, Badges, and Group Chats.
At this time, the program is only available to select influencers in the United States.
How much money can you earn on Instagram?
The HypeAuditor survey found that influencers earn an average of $2,970 per month.
Influencers with between 1,000 and 10,000 followers earn an average of $1,420 a month, while those with more than a million followers earn $15,356 a month.
The survey found that the most profitable categories are Pets, Business and Marketing, Fitness and Sports, Family, Beauty and Fashion, in that order.
Since most influencers make the majority of their income from sponsored posts, let’s take a moment to review the data from Instagram’s Sponsored Posts survey before continuing.
HypeAuditor found that the majority of influencers (68%) work with one to three brands simultaneously.
They also found that most influencers earn at least up to $100 per sponsored post. Some earn over $2,000 per post.
We’ll break these numbers down in the next section.
How many followers do you need to earn money on Instagram?
This is a difficult question to answer, mainly because there is no written rule that says «your Instagram account must have X followers to make money on Instagram».
Some programs have rules, like the Instagram Badges program, that require influencers to have more than 10,000 followers.
When it comes to sponsored posts, affiliate links, and product sales, the amount of money you make is related to your niche, the number of engagements you can generate, as well as your ability to negotiate with potential sponsors.
Still, let’s take a look at some data that proves how much money you can make based on the number of followers.
We will start with a smaller influencer. Business Insider published an article on YouTube and Instagram influencer Kayla Compton in March 2021.
Kayla had 3,400 YouTube subscribers and 1,900 Instagram followers at press time, but she was already making money through YouTube ads, affiliate links, and most impressively, a sponsorship in which she became an ambassador. Pura Vida Bracelets brand.
The article states that she generated $15,000 in sales for the company despite having fewer followers, and her business came in with a 10% commission rate.
Your secret? An eight-page media kit outlining your content, experience, and demographics.
Here’s what’s on each page of that media kit:
- Page 1: Title Page – Features a regular image of Kayla, her brand, which is just her full name and relevant titles (she works as a full-time social media manager outside of her own businesses). She uses Content Creator, Social Media Manager, Small Business Owner, and Podcaster.
- Page 2: Brief Summary – Two short paragraphs explaining her experience on social media, the type of content she creates, and her mission as a content creator. This page also has your primary email address.
- Page 3: Social Media Platforms – A list of platforms you are active on. Each platform lists the username/username, the number of subscribers/followers they have, and a screenshot of their profile.
- Page 4-5: Profile Perspectives – The next two pages show traffic and demographic information for each platform. For Instagram, it lists the number of followers, engagement rate, profile views per month, and a breakdown of the data. demographic.
- Page 6: Sponsorships – A page dedicated to sponsorship offers you have had in the past.
- Page 7: Other projects – This page lists other projects she is involved in, including her Etsy shop, her website, and her podcast.
- Page 8: Presentation – A simple submission page with the text «Let’s work together!» It also shows your email address and Instagram handle again.
Kayla’s media kit says her engagement rate at the time was 5.6%, which is pretty good when you consider that the average engagement rate for influencer marketing is only 1.9%. .
This stat is likely to be a major factor in your ability to land endorsement deals with a smaller following.
Also, because they represent your largest demographic, they can increase your chances of landing endorsement deals by only targeting brands whose customer base matches those demographics.
Earning potential based on number of Instagram followers
A separate HypeAuditor study showed that engagement rates are better among nanoinfluencers.
Instagram accounts with 1,000-5,000 followers have an average engagement rate of 5.6%. Accounts with more than 1 million followers have an average engagement rate of 1.97%.
The other HypeAuditor survey revealed how much influencers earn per sponsored post based on the number of followers.
71% of influencers with 1,000-10,000 followers earn just $100 per sponsored post.
Some make more than that, but the numbers don’t really start to add up until you hit the 1 million follower mark, where most influencers make more than $1,000 per post.
That leaves us with the same question we started with: How many Instagram followers do you need to make money?
frequent questions
How can I receive payments through Instagram?
instagram Do it They have programs where you pay influencers directly, like bonuses for Reels.
However, most influencers get paid through sponsored posts and commissions generated through affiliate links.
When this happens, the brands you promote pay you directly for mentioning them and featuring their products in your content.
Payments are usually through PayPal or direct payments to your bank account.
Few influencers are paid directly by Instagram.
Do you get paid for 1000 followers on Instagram?
Instagram accounts with 1,000 followers earn an average of $1,420 per month and up to $100 per sponsored post.
However, Instagram doesn’t pay influencers directly, so you can start earning money every time you land your first endorsement deal or sign up for an affiliate program, even if you don’t have 1,000 followers yet.
Does Instagram pay for likes?
Limited programs for Instagram creators do not include payments for likes.
However, higher participation rates can open the doors to bigger and better sponsorship deals.
the final verdict
Let’s recap everything we covered in this post.
We know:
- Most Instagram influencers generate income through sponsored posts and affiliate links.
- Nano-influencers with high engagement rates can land successful endorsement deals.
- The amount you can earn per sponsored post is based on the number of followers you have.
So, to definitively answer our original question, we would have to say that you can beginning Make money on Instagram when you have around 1,000 followers, but don’t expect it to replace your day job until you have over 50,000.
The real answer is that whether or not you can make money on Instagram depends on your niche, engagement rates, and how well you can sell to brands.
If you are struggling to make money on Instagram, here is a small list of things you can work on:
- Get more followers.
- Improve participation rates.
- Understand who your audience is.
- Create a media kit like Kayla did.