Instagram has become a prime source of income for many influencers. Many influencers like Mr. Beast, Dhar Mann, and Alexendra cooper are making millions of dollars by monetizing their Instagram account. If they can do so, can you?
In this blog post, we will see 10 proven ways to monetize your Instagram account even if you have low followers. This post is helpful for anyone who has 100 to 100K followers on Instagram. You can choose any of these methods to start your earning journey on Instagram.
10 Proven Ways to Earn Money on Instagram with Low Followers
- Affiliate Marketing
- Collaborations
- Online courses
- Live Streaming
- B2B Marketing
- Content Moderator
- Building a Product
- Becoming an Aggregator
- Start selling a service
- Backlink Earning
Affiliate Marketing
The most popular method for earning, even if you have few followers, is Affiliate Marketing. But the question can you get enough buyers to share the product with them? Probably yes.
Getting reach has nothing to do with followers. Even with a low follower count, your content will still be shown to the interested audience. Here are some quick tips that you can follow to boost the reach of your content.
- Experiment with lots of hashtags
- Tag related accounts, giving them a free shoutout
- Use a long description for your Instagram post
- Always include alt text to explain your video or photo.
- Tag location if you are targeting a certain location audience
- Add Instagram stories daily.
- Make a good mix of Reels, carousel, and static posts.
- Remix famous content from a large influencer.
There are a lot of websites that can help you find a business for which you can do affiliate marketing. Some of them are listed here
- Impact.com
- ShareASale
- CJ Affiliate
- Rakuten Advertising
- LTK LIKEtoKNOW.it
- ClickBank
- Digistore24
- MagicLinks
- Skimlinks
Collaborations
Instagram collaborations are another way to monetize your account without worrying about follower numbers. All you need to do is send requests to other creators within your niche, collaborate with them, and create some valuable content for your audience
This method increases your credibility among your audience and brings new followers to your account. Ultimately, you can use your audience to do affiliate marketing
If you want to know the steps to collaborate on Instagram, then read the help center tutorial here on how to create collaborative posts on Instagram
Online Courses
Since the emergence of artificial intelligence, many Instagrammers are promoting different types of online courses based on AI. You can also create an online course and promote it on Instagram.
If you have expertise in a certain field, you have the advantage of monetizing your Instagram account with even a low followers.
Start posting content that builds your authenticity among your followers. You can show your certifications, degree, or any big company you have worked with. Next, you should start a freemium course within your expertise.
Here are some ideas for Online courses you can start:
- Nail Designer
- Make-up Artist
- Electronics expert
- Lifestyle Coach
- DIY specialist
- Home Gardening
- Crochet Work
- Clay Designer
- Hairstylist
- DJ Lessons
- Dancing Classes
- Singing Classes
- Musical Instrument
Live Streaming
We all know about Instagram's live streaming feature. But did you know that live streaming is an excellent way to sell products on the spot? Some influencers do give away, share sales, and offer discounts on Instagram Live.
Instagram Live streams are not limited to your followers. So, you can expect new people to join your stream who are interested in your niche or product.
Here are some Live Stream ideas you can try
- Product demo or unboxing
- A free master class
- Special One Day Discount Sale
- Follower Giveaway
- Refer and Earn
- Pasabuy Shopping
- Shopping tour guide
- Tour planning with paid packages
- Cooking show with paid recipe book
- Job hunt Tips with paid HR Services.
These are some highly engaging ideas for your live stream that you can try to sell products online and monetize your Instagram, even with low followers.
B2B Marketing
The reason to take B2B marketing as a source of monetizing your Instagram account is that you can do it even with very less followers or even with your personal Instagram account.
If you don't know about B2B marketing, then let's understand it first.
Business-to-Business marketing is a process of connecting one business to another business for their needs. For example, a Car workshop might need a good Auto parts seller at an affordable price, or a Real estate agency needs good working agents.
With good communication skills, you can make a connection between the supplier and the consumer business and earn good commission doing so. This can be done with very few followers.
Content Moderator
This method of earning is not limited to Instagram, but it's quite popular these days among Instagram creators. They need someone to moderate their content, check for errors, any policy violations, and also actively engage with the audience on Instagram.
On average, content moderator charges around $39,600–$39,800 (~$19/hour) per year, but it totally depends on the company whose content you are moderating.
For this method to work, you need to have good knowledge of Instagram content policies and tools to help you in better moderation. If you have it all, then you can earn money without waiting for your followers to grow
Building Your Own Product
Internet has the power to make you a millionaire in 1 day. Hope you all heard about Lalabu Dolls' sales boom after this doll goes viral on social media.
Pop Mart reported CNY 6.3 billion (~US $870 million) in Labubu-related sales in the first half of 2024
If you have a unique product idea, that is sensational; it can be a good start to monetize your Instagram account with low followers. Create content around your product, ask other influencers to use that product for free, and make a video in exchange for them.
Build your community around a product to increase reach of your audience. Offer some initial discount for first-time buyers.
Become an Aggregator
An aggregator is a person or a company that gathers different service providers within a domain at one place for customers. This gives customers easy comparison to choose the best service provider for them. Also, it provides a platform for service providers to get more exposure
You can apply this Aggregator concept on your Instagram account, gathering different sellers in a specific niche and charging commission when they get a sale from you.
Selling a Service
Selling a service is another casual way to earn money on Instagram. If you have a service to offer customers online, you can use cold messaging on Instagram to attract some clients.
For this process, you don't need a large follower base, as you will be paid for providing services, not for creating content publicly.
Following is a list of some services that you can provide online on Instagram:
- Graphic Designing
- Social Media Marketing
- Video Editing
- Script Writing
- Copy writing
- Legal Advisor
- Strategist
- Financial Advisor
- Lifestyle Coach
- Yoga Trainer
- Dietician
- Health Advisor
These are some of the popular options, but not limited to what you can provide as a service. You can also consider other options that are in high demand. Even if you start with one client, you can start your earning journey with only a few followers.
Backlink Earning
Backlink earning is not very popular, but still, it's another proven way to monetize your Instagram Account. Backlink is nothing but a hyperlink to any external site or any other Instagram account. Many websites pay you for using the link shortened at their site.
Some popular link shorteners are listed here:
- Adf.ly
- ShrinkMe.io – shrinkme.io
- Exe.io – exe.io
- ShrinkEarn – shrinkearn.com
- Linkvertise – linkvertise.com
- CPMLink.net – cpmlink.net
- Ouo.io – ouo.io
Using these link shorteners to share links in your Instagram story and in your bio will give opportunity to earn money whenever someone clicks on the link. The good part, they don't need to buy any product; they just have to click, and you earn.
Wrap up
Through this blog, we saw 10 proven ways to earn money on Instagram even with low followers. These methods are already implemented by many famous Influencers, creators, businesses, and Individuals. If you are consistent, you don't have to wait for your follower base to grow for monetization.
For any questions or suggestions, feel free to comment.