If you are an influencer or a content creator, Instagram is the best social media platform to highlight your talent and monetize your content. More than 1 billion people are using Instagram and it makes it really easy to connect with brands and target audiences. However, to earn money on Instagram, it is essential to become familiar with Instagram’s Partner monetization policies. In this article, we’ll break down monetization on Instagram to help you maximize your earnings. Let’s get started!
What Are Instagram’s Partner Monetization Policies
Instagram’s partner program enables content creators to earn money on the platform. It comes with a set of guidelines that ensure that content creators stick to ethical content creation and prevent violations of Instagram’s terms of service. If you’re looking to earn money on Instagram, then it is crucial for you to follow these guidelines to become eligible for monetization.
Violations of Partner Monetization Policies
Disregarding Instagram’s partner monetization policy can result in your account being banned or disabled. Instagram doesn’t mess around when it comes to selecting what kind of content is eligible for monetization. Any content that doesn’t meet the community guidelines or terms of service is deemed unsuitable for monetization on Instagram.
Here are a few examples of content that is not suitable for monetization on Instagram:
- Content that encourages hate speech, violence or discrimination.
- Content that flouts copyright laws.
- Content that encourages illegal activities.
- Content that showcases nudity, sexual activity or adult content.
Eligibility Criteria for Monetization on Instagram
In order to monetize your content on Instagram, you must fulfill the platform’s eligibility criteria which is as follows:
- You should have a creator account or a business account on Instagram.
- You should have a minimum of 10,000 followers.
- You should fulfill Instagram’s minimum age requirement.
- You should have a history of following Instagram’s community guidelines and terms of service.
Instagram Content Monetization Policies
Instagram has in place certain policies that all content creators must follow in order to monetize their content. These rules are:
- Advertiser and sponsor disclosure: Content creators are required to inform when they are publishing sponsored content or when they are endorsing a product or a service for promotion.
- Branded content: Content creators are required to mention the brand they are promoting in their content by using Instagram’s branded content tool.
- Prohibited content: Content creators should avoid publishing any material that goes against the terms of service or community guidelines of Instagram.
- Community monetization eligibility: Content creators must fulfill the eligibility criteria before receiving approval for content monetization.
- Rights and Ownership: Content creators must own the content they publish on Instagram and they must follow all copyright laws.
Unlocking Instagram's Revenue Potential: Inspiring Success Stories of Monetization
Let's take a look at some content creators who harnessed the power of Instagram's monetization features, turning their passion into profit.
- Lele Pons: a popular social media influencer, has effectively monetized her Instagram account by collaborating with various brands. With a large and engaged following, she seamlessly integrates sponsored content into her posts, allowing her to generate revenue through brand partnerships. By featuring sponsored products and sharing her authentic experiences, Pons has successfully turned her Instagram presence into a profitable venture while maintaining a genuine connection with her devoted audience.
- The Blonde Salad (@theblondesalad): The Blonde Salad, an influential fashion and lifestyle blog founded by Chiara Ferragni, has capitalized on Instagram's monetization features. Through the use of shoppable posts, where products featured in the content are directly linked for purchase, The Blonde Salad has transformed its Instagram account into a revenue-generating platform. By partnering with fashion brands and utilizing Instagram's shopping features, the blog earns from affiliate marketing and product sales.
- Unbox Therapy (@unboxtherapy): Unbox Therapy, a YouTube channel dedicated to reviewing and showcasing technology products, has effectively monetized its Instagram presence. By partnering with tech companies and featuring their products in sponsored posts, Unbox Therapy generates revenue through Instagram's advertising opportunities. The account's large following and reputation for honest and insightful reviews make it an attractive platform for brands to reach a tech-savvy audience.
- Song of Style (@songofstyle): Song of Style, a popular fashion and lifestyle blog owned by Aimee Song, has successfully monetized its Instagram account through brand collaborations and sponsored content. By partnering with fashion and beauty brands, Song of Style features their products in posts and stories, leveraging Instagram's reach and engagement to drive sales and earn income from the partnership.
How Much Can You Earn on Instagram?
Monetization on Instagram is primarily done through sponsored collaborations. There are no other reliable ways to monetize your content such as ad revenue on YouTube. Instagram does offer a Reel’s bonus program where you can get paid for getting consistent views on your videos. However, the earnings are unpredictable and not high enough to sustain your business.
In addition, there’s intense competition. Brands have an entire sea of creators to choose from, essentially making it hard for you to get noticed (unless you have a very big following). That’s why as a content creator, it is extremely important to diversify your income sources using monetization platforms.
Paysenger: A New Way to Monetize Internet Content
Paysenger is a social marketplace which makes it easy to monetize your content and turn it into a full-time business. The platform is in its early stages of growth so competition isn’t as severe as Instagram. It’s very easy for new creators to get more exposure and become trendsetters for future audiences. Most importantly, it offers a number of monetization tools for new creators including:
On-demand content
Brands and sponsors can easily send you a request to produce content. On Instagram, each interaction with a brand requires you to go back-and-forth many times before you can finally close the deal and get paid. On Paysenger, brands pay first and describe their request in detail. You get paid for every request you fulfill.
Paid communication
Creators usually get hundreds of direct messages on Instagram on a daily basis but reply to only a few. In addition, they have to skim through loads of spam to find actual business opportunities. On Paysenger, people can simply send a paid direct message to get your attention. Each time you reply, you get paid. This is especially relevant for fans, who can easily text you to ask for advice or to interact with you. Brands can easily use this feature to make sponsorship proposals or collaboration offers. It’s a great way to monetize your time online.
Tokenized economy
Every interaction and exchange on Paysenger has monetization potential. The platform uses a utility token known as EGO, which is exchanged between users on every interaction. Fans get paid for giving likes to you (boosting your visibility), you get paid for replying to fans, other creators get paid for doing shoutouts for you and so on. In addition, every piece of content is mintable into NFTs. Every post you create is a potential digital asset – it pays you royalties in crypto tokens in the long-run.
Try Paysenger for free on iOS, Android or Web.
Some Tips to Boost Earnings on Instagram
In order to enhance your profits on Instagram, you should consider creating content that is not only engaging but also resonates with your audience.
Here are a few tips to increase your revenue on Instagram.
- Create high-quality content: You should make content that is of top-notch quality and is immediately visually appealing in the first 3 seconds.
- Engage with your audience: Engage with your audience in comments and direct messages to build a relationship with them. On Paysenger, you can take paid messages instead.
- Use hashtags: Use the right hashtags to increase the chances of your content getting visible in the explore section.
- Collaborate with brands: Collaborate with other brands who are in the same niche as you. It’s usually hard to find those brands (and in most cases you have to wait for them to find you first). You can make the process go faster by going to Paysenger and searching potential collaboration opportunities using the search tool.
- Create a compelling portfolio: A profile with great visuals and engaging content that showcases your past work boosts your visibility. Profiles on which people spend a lot of time tend to get an algorithm boost.
Understanding Partner Monetization Policies on Other Platforms
Every social media platform has a different partner monetization policy. If you want to earn money through your content on various social media platforms, then it is recommended to be familiar with the partner monetization policies of those platforms.
Here are some famous social media platforms and a brief overview of their partner monetization policies.
- Paysenger: Paysenger has one of the easiest monetization eligibility requirements. Anyone can start making money by setting up an account and posting content. It also combines monetization tools from subscription platforms such as Patreon so you can raise funds from multiple revenue sources in one place.
- YouTube: YouTube has a strict monetization program in place for creators who fulfill its eligibility requirements. YouTube content creators can earn money on the platform primarily through ads and sponsorships.
- TikTok: TikTok content creators are paid through the TikTok Creator Fund. In addition to fulfilling the platform’s requirements, the Creator Fund is closed to members only and you can only join if you get invited by TikTok. All in all, the most reliable way of earning on TikTok is still through third-party collaborations and sponsors.
Conclusion
If you are looking to make Instagram your source of income for the long-run, then you might be doing more than just complying to its guidelines. Unlike YouTube, Instagram doesn’t have a solid ad revenue model and you’ll be relying mostly on your income through collaborations with others.
You can still, however, increase your exposure by sticking to the tips laid out in this article. Instagram’s algorithm generally rewards high quality content. If you want to turn your following on Instagram to a stable source of revenue then combine it with monetization platforms like Paysenger or Patreon.
Get past competition, succeed as a creator and get paid for your creativity on Paysenger. Monetize without meeting strict eligibility requirements and collaborate with other creators to boost your earnings on social media.