The Instagram platform is used for many different things, from a personal level to a full-blown storefront, it serves many different kinds of people for a wide variety of reasons. Did you know you can sell and make money on Instagram? If you have Instagram for personal reasons rather than business, you probably don’t utilize these features, but if you’re an entrepreneur of some sort or looking to dive into the Instagram world of money-making, this topic is right up your alley! If your goal is to make money on Instagram but not pursue the Influencer route, let’s chat about 3 ways to make money on Instagram without being an influencer.
Coaching
Are you an asipring health coach, mindset coach, or business developement coach? These are just a few of popular coaching niches out there, but there are many more! Instagram is a great platform to get your first coaching clients or grow your coaching business and make money.
A successful Instagram coaching business needs a few things to grow: A compelling/actionary Bio, content that’s worth watching and engaging with, and followers who turn into paying customers-which is the key to making money on Instagram.
Making sales on Instagram is like making sales on any other social media platform. If you’re just starting out, the first thing you want to do is to drive any current followers or friends from other platforms over to your Instagram account, where they can learn more about your coaching services and eventually sign up via the link in your bio or through DMs.
You’ll want to really focus on developing a content strategy to utilize Posts and Stories to share your coaching offers. Hone in on the relationships you’ve built with your followers so you can target those leads and make the sale!
Getting your first few coaching clients will be a learning curve and it might take some time… But in the end, you’ll have a money-making business straight through your Instagram account!
Selling E-products/courses
There are a couple different ways you can sell e-products on Instagram, and you don’t have to be tech-savvy or even a business owner to do so!
The first way I have seen people make money from selling on Instagram is in their posts or stories. It can be as simple as posting a photo of old clothing you want to get rid of, captioning it with the price, and “DM me to claim”. Have the first person who comments “claim” be the winner. You can DM the person a link to your Venmo and BAM! – You just made a sale!
Another way you can sell e-products Instagram is by offering courses or digital resources. Assuming you have built your Instagram following around a specific niche, and have a good balance of content topics being shared often, then you will have to decide on a specific timeframe to offer your course to be for sale. Share promotional posts, driving your followers to click the link in your bio to buy.
Instagram has a great platform for buying ads to promote yourself and your products. You can use it to guarantee that your target audience sees you and what you have to offer. It has a great platform for buying ads to promote yourself and your products. You can use it to guarantee that your target audience sees you and what you have to offer.
The Instagram ad platform can be used to: Drive people to your online course, grow your brand’s awareness by driving people to your site, and grow your following, so you can do organic promotions down the road.
Another way to sell on Instagram is through the “Shop” feature. Your shop is a place to sell and share your brand story, where people can browse products and explore collections. Collections let you customize your shop by curating products into themes, like new arrivals, gifts, seasonal trends and more.
You can choose to onboard onto Instagram Shopping by setting up your shop in Commerce Manager or a supported platform. Or, you can get started directly within the Instagram app. You’ll want to then fill out your shop details in Commerce Manager. First, choose how you want your customers to complete their purchase by selecting a checkout method. Next, choose your sales channels by selecting whether to have your shop on Instagram, Facebook, or both. Add products to your shop by connecting your existing product catalog or by creating a new one. Finally, review your shop, then submit it to Instagram for review!
Watch a video on how to use shops to start driving sales!
Affiliate marketing
First of all, you might be wondering what exactly is affiliate marketing and how can it help you make money on Instagram without being an influencer? Affiliate marketing is an advertising model in which a company compensates third-party publishers to generate traffic or leads to the company’s products and services. The third-party publishers are affiliates, and the commission fee incentivizes them to find ways to promote the company.
So how do you set up an affiliate marketing program on Instagram?
- Step #1: Pick an Affiliate Network – and pick ones that are offered through a current product, program, or resource you already use. If you already love it it will be easy to talk and share about.
- Step #2: Set Your Commission Rates. These rates are sometimes standard for each specific network, but always ask if there is room for negotiation or promotion.
- Step #3: Create a Compelling Affiliate Program. Get create and decide how you will promote and advertize. This is the fun part becasue you get to let your creator juices flow (as long as you are abiding by the rules set by the network you’re representing).
- Step #4: Analyze and Adjust. Run the promo for a while and analyze the effectiveness of your content, your audience’s desire for the service of network you’re representing, and time of day/month/year your following wants to hear about it.
Running an affiliate program and partnering with influencers could help you reach a huge and highly profitable audience so you can fast-track your growth and success.
I love how an entrepreneur can show all aspects of their business on this one platform. Instagram is an incredibly engaging platform — and great for business owners to make money on. If you don’t desire to be an influencer, but you want to make money from the comfort of your home using Instagram, I hope these 3 methods were insightful.
Have you started using Instagram to make money in some way? How’s it going? Tell me in the coments!
Love,
Monica