Quick Guide to Making Money On Instagram

Quick Guide to Making Money on Instagram
From your favorite coffee shop to the biggest big box stores in the world, brands are using Instagram to make money.
 
Top brands around the world such as Nike, Adidas, and GoPro have been using Instagram to inspire purchases for years.
 
These brands are using the platform to build strong communities and keep audiences engaged.
 
With 50% of all people on Instagram following brands, it's almost essential to include Instagram in your digital marketing strategy.
 
Each brand has a different strategy and not all companies will see the value in Instagram. In particular, the fashion and style-related industries are seeing huge success on Instagram. A study done by Dana Rebecca Designs found that 72% of people bought an item after seeing it on Instagram.
 
If you are already on Instagram but aren't seeing any growth in your page, our quick guide to making money on Instagram will help you out. These four tips are just the foundation of any successful Instagram profile.

Step 1: Optimize Your Profile

The first step to making money on Instagram is to optimize your profile.
 
Having a properly optimized profile will make your page easier to find for users.
 
  • Have a high-quality profile picture
The first step may sound obvious but we have seen profiles that don't have a profile picture that represents their brand. We recommend either making your profile picture your logo or an instantly recognizable picture of yourself.
 
  • Include keywords in your description
Instagram's search feature is based on keywords just like Facebook. These keywords will make your brand easy to find for a user. We also recommend using emojis, line breaks, and adding your hashtags and other profile links if you have them.
 
  • Use links in your bio
Adding links into your bio is a great call to action tool. This is essential to any brand on Instagram and particularly those who have less than 10,000 followers. Once you have over 10,000 followers, your brand can share links to each story you share on Instagram.
Instagram Profile Optimized
ASOS' Instagram Profile completely optimized.

Step 2: Post Consistency

The reason Instagram works so well for brands is it is the most visual social media platform. Brands that are able to have quality content and mention products are going to be the most successful profiles. But they work hard to get their Instagram to make money. 
The key is being consistent. Being consistent, on Instagram, means curating a theme in your posts and posting them at the right times of the day.
 
Having a profile have a look and feel to it is hard to curate. Each post you make is part of a larger picture. Being inconsistent with your posts can be off-putting to your audience. Sharing a funny meme one day about work and then the next day trying to promote your new product is not recommended. We aren't saying don't share memes, just make sure they are relevant to your brand.
 
Being consistent on Instagram also means having a posting schedule. If you want to grow and make money on Instagram, you have to be very proactive. This doesn't mean commenting and liking every post you see, it also means posting at the peak times for your audience. According to a study by Tailwind, posting 7+ times a week is highly beneficial to brands on Instagram. If you are getting more engagement on Instagram, this will lead to your audience making a sale.
Tailwind found posting 7+ times a week is highly beneficial to Instagram pages.
 
One of the best brands on Instagram is GoPro. GoPro posts at least once every day. Their content is relevant to their audience and is also a subtle sales pitch. If you go through their profile, you will be able to see the consistency they have. Not one post is out of line from the overall brand image.
Making Money On Instagram: Posting Consistently
GoPro posts regularly and consistently on their profile.

Step 3: Make Your Profile Shoppable

Instagram is one of the first social media platforms that can also act as an e-commerce store.
 
In early 2018, Instagram added the option to tag products in your post, similar the way you tag your friends. The products will link to your website directly from an Instagram post.
Instagram Shopping Example
 
This is one of the easiest ways to make money by using Instagram. But, Instagram Shopping is only available to certain markets and businesses.
Once you have your shopping feature set up, you can link to your products in regular posts, and stories.
It really is the perfect way to sell your products through social media.

Step 4: Create a Hashtag Strategy

Using hashtags to find your audience is highly beneficial to any business on Instagram. You can find your audience posting about your niche and join in on the conversation.
 
Having a hashtag strategy specific to your brand, can help you reach both new and old audiences. It is a way to reach out to those who are most likely to be interested in your product.
 
If you don't know where to start, there are tons of tools out there, including Hashtagify, which can help you find the most relevant hashtags to your audience.
Instagram allows users to post up to 30 hashtags per post but we do not recommend using that many. It looks too spammy in our opinion, We recommend sticking to around 9-10 hashtags per post.
Make sure to create a hashtag specific to your brand if you have not done that already.
Making Money on Instagram: REI
REI using their branded hashtag #OptOutside

Conclusion

These are just a few of the absolute basics to making money on Instagram.
 
There are other ways to go about making your Instagram profitable. From advertising, using influencers and using user-generated posts, there are countless other ways to go about making money on your Instagram feed.
 
No matter which route you take to get sales through your profile, there are going to be twists and turns. Go ahead and experiment, see what works and what isn't worth the money.
 
Most importantly, see what other brands are doing. The world of social media is always in constant motion.

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