A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: How to Make Money on Instagram
Jess Walter is a freelance writer and mother. She loves the freedom that comes with freelance life and the additional time it means she gets to spend with her family and pets! Keep reading for insight from Jess on how to make money on Instagram: Ding, ding, ding! Your social media alerts keep you awake at night and distract you from your everyday life. If you’re like most of the general population, you probably brush up on your social media at the beginning of the day, or at the end of each night. You might do a run-through of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram to make sure you haven’t missed out on any social media news. The truth is: We can’t detach ourselves from our social media.
Because of this addiction, social media is a huge target for marketing and advertisement campaigns. Social media is sometimes the first or last thing a person sees each day. Then, the content becomes encoded in the person’s mind and persuades them to buy your product. With such a huge following, brands and companies are now paying reputable fashion bloggers to do this advertising for them. This is called influencer marketing. Instagram is the biggest medium for this emerging marketing tactic, and it has generated the most revenue for fashion bloggers.
Why Instagram?
Marketers are targeting Instagram because it has a huge user base and is steadily growing. There are over 500 million Instagram users and 300 million of these users visit the platform every single day. Not only does this platform have a huge audience, but Instagrammers are highly susceptible to marketing and branding.
Research has shown that regular Instagram users like to connect with brands. 68% of users follow a brand on Instagram compared to 32% on Facebook, and 70% of users say they use it to look up brands. With only 36% of marketers using Instagram compared to 93% on Facebook, Instagram is also less cluttered with advertising, making it easier for messages to get across.
How Can Fashion Bloggers Get Involved?
Fashion bloggers generate revenue from sponsored posts. This means bloggers enter a contract with a fashion brand and agree to feature the brand in a certain number of social media posts. In addition, they also vow to not feature any competitors in the pictures. Sponsors on average invest over $1 billion on sponsored Instagram posts. Some influencers make between $500 - $5,000 per post, and others bring in between $2,000 - $100,000 a post.
Therefore, the important aspect to consider is your readership. Brands want to collaborate with a strong, reputable blog, so it is important to remember that. If you want to make money blogging, you will need to build your audience by increasing your visitor numbers and social followers.
TIPS:
- To increase your Instagram following, hashtags are key. Instagram experts suggest using alternatives to common hashtags like #dog or #love because they get lost in the millions of photos with that tag. Instead, pick a relevant yet unique hashtag that will draw users that may not know about your blog. Always remember: New followers only matter if your content continues to interest them!
- Interaction with the audience is also beneficial! Acknowledge your audience in your posts and be sure to respond to comments. Follow accounts that follow you, and don't forget to like and comment on other users’ pictures. You can even upload posts such as “Which outfit do you prefer?” to engage followers for a response.
- Participate in the fashion community and follow Instagram accounts that are similar to yours. This will increase awareness of your account, and the account's followers will be more inclined to follow you.
Once you begin to develop a following, sponsorships will come easy. If you’re reputable enough, they will seek you out. If not, feel free to reach out to small brands and simply get your foot in the door.