Buffer - 8 ways to make money on Instagram

Hey folks👋  

I might delete my Instagram account and start again. 

Saying that feels a little mad — I have a decent following on there (for a *nano-influencer*) but my niche has evolved a whole bunch since I first started creating on the platform. 

5K-ish folks followed me for fitness content, and they’re now getting marketing and remote work advice they didn’t ask for. They don’t care, and I don’t blame them!

Still, I have a sneaky suspicion their lack of engagement is harming my reach. Would it be better to build my personal brand from the ground up?

That said, it all feels quite drastic, and I’m rather attached to @itsmekirsti. 🥹 If anyone has any opinions or experience in this arena, I’d love to hear them! (You can reply to this mail or find me via my Start Page.) 

While I mull that over…

💌 In today’s email:

• 🤳🏾How to make money on Instagram — the only guide you’ll ever need (and the reason I’m considering starting again)
• 📱Mitra shares a goofy, high-impact Instagram Reel idea
• 📣 The latest social news, features, and bonus reads
• And as always, all the latest and greatest content from the Buffer blog.

Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you next Friday!

Warmly, 

Kirsti & the Buffer team

P.S. #Bufferchat is on Threads! Join us every last Thursday of the month at 12pm PT/ 3pm ET/ 7pm UTC. Give us a follow and hit the bell to get notified 🔔

🖊️ Deep dive: How to Make Money on Instagram in 2024

Making money on Instagram is no longer exclusively the domain of mega-influencers. There are plenty of ways to monetize on the social media platform, no matter how big your following is. 

Here’s a high-level look at all of them:

1. Partner with brands on sponsored content
Sponsored content, also known as influencer marketing, is a cornerstone of Instagram monetization. Influencers and creators benefit financially from working with brands, and brands gain access to highly engaged followers.

2. Livestream and earn Badges from fans
With Instagram Live Badges, creators now have the opportunity to monetize their live content and earn direct support from their most dedicated fans. Fans can purchase badges in increments of $0.99, $1.99, or $4.99 to show their support for their favorite creators.

3. Offer paid subscriptions
There are several ways to provide exclusive content to your most dedicated fans, including Instagram's native subscription program and tools like Patreon or Substack.

4. Sell your own products and services
This approach allows you to create an additional revenue stream while providing value to your engaged audience—think services like consulting or products like merchandise. You can sell these directly on Instagram with Instagram Shop.

5. Take up affiliate marketing
Create a passive income stream by promoting products or services from other brands as an affiliate. You can earn a commission for each sale or lead generated through your unique affiliate link or promo code.

6. Sell digital products
Digital products are intangible assets that can be downloaded or accessed online, eliminating the need for physical inventory, shipping, or fulfillment. By creating and selling digital products, you can showcase your knowledge, skills, and creativity while generating passive income.

7. Develop and teach a course
As an Instagram creator, you have likely developed a wealth of knowledge and skills within your niche. Sharing this expertise through an online course is an excellent way to monetize your Instagram presence while providing tremendous value to your audience. 

8. Join Instagram’s Creator Marketplace
Instagram's Creator Marketplace (available in select regions) is a powerful tool that connects creators with brands. The marketplace streamlines the process of finding and working with brands, making it easier for creators to monetize their content and grow their audience.

🪴 Four creators skyrocketing growing for fun with Buffer

We pride ourselves on being an excellent tool for entrepreneurs and business owners to grow on social media — and our users were more than happy to back us up.

• Michael Piperno: “What used to take me hours now takes me minutes. Easily 2 hours saved per week.”
• Nathalie Tran: “My engagement has increased around 999% on Pinterest!”
• Jennifer’s Fading Memories podcast: “I’ve made over $8,000 in podcast sponsorship since using Buffer.”
• Adriana on LinkedIn: “Buffer has been the player in my following growth on my personal LinkedIn and Twitter accounts, over 5,300 followers. I cannot imagine life without Buffer.”

Want to skyrocket your growth? Click the link below to get started with Buffer today!

👇🏽 The latest from the blog

• 8 of the Best AI Productivity Tools to Help You Optimize How You Work: As a self-proclaimed tools nerd, I’ve tested out many of the ever-growing list of AI productivity tools on the market. These are the ones I keep coming back to.

   

• Ads on X (Formerly Twitter) Are an Untapped Opportunity. Here’s How to Make the Most of Them: Learn why this expert marketer thinks X is one of the best advertising platforms right now, and see how to get the most bang for your buck.

   

• Nonprofits: Steal These Marketing Practices from Tech Startups: If you’re a nonprofit leader who wants to become more efficient, grow your audience, and deepen trust in your organization long term, you should steal a few marketing strategies from startups.

• 20 Ways to Get Followers on Pinterest in 2024: Getting more followers on Pinterest translates to a generous outbound spike in website traffic and a direct positive impact on your business. Here’s how to do it.

✨ Community Spotlight: @aftereliza

What made you decide to create a platform to share your love of books? ”During Covid, I needed a creative outlet and a new space to publish book reviews, so I revamped my study blog into a book account. Since then, my account has grown tenfold, and I’ve gained a whole community of friends from all over the world who share my love of books, Formula 1, and Taylor Swift!

What tools do you use to create your work? “I mostly use my iPhone camera, Canva, or Procreate. If I’m working on videos, I use CapCut. I edit my photos on Adobe Lightroom, to ensure the same look and feel across the board. I draft, plan, and schedule my posts using Notion and Buffer. Buffer also serves as my main platform for tracking analytics and managing engagement.”

What are your favorite Buffer features? ”I absolutely love using the analytics feature and creating my own reports. It really helps me focus on what I’m doing well and see any areas for improvement. My new favorite is the Board view in the Create section, where I centralize all my ideas and upcoming content. I love using it as a bit of a media gallery, so I know which images I’ve already used, can prepare materials for upcoming campaigns, plan out my calendar, and keep regular evergreen content ideas on hold.”

What's your number 1 piece of advice for creators just starting out? "My tip is to be genuine! I think the idea a lot of people have is that you need to have a certain ‘look’ or ‘vibe’ in order to be a book influencer and that your shelves have to look a certain way or that you need to have certain accessories. That’s not at all true! Fellow readers love the authenticity, and who cares if your shelves are messy if you’re sharing how much you loved a recent release!”

Every so often, we spotlight a member of the Buffer community doing cool things on social media — join here to learn more.

📱Social tip of the week from Mitra, Buffer’s Social Media Manager 

An accidentally amazing tap-to-pay reel

This is a silly trend to showcase your amazing products! You’ll need a few people to help you out with this one, but it’s easy to put together.

Start with a clip of someone tripping and falling straight into a tap-to-pay device, followed by them walking off (a little confused, but rather pleased) with their new purchase. Check out this fun example from @caliwholesaleflowers

🔉 Get the audio

🤳 What's happening in social?

LinkedIn has made it easier to contribute to collaborative articles (and earn your Top Voice badge); Meta is testing a new program that sees some Threads creators getting paid for their posts; Facebook just got a new TikTok-like video update; Messenger users can now create shared albums, share HD photos, and send larger files.

Thanks for reading! 💟

What would you like to see more (or less) of in the newsletter? Give us all your feedback in this form or let us know on all our social channels @buffer!

Unsubscribe | Update my mail settings 

Sent by the team at Buffer
2443 Fillmore St #380-7163 San Francisco, CA 94115 USA