How Much Money Do Instagram Influencers Make | by Shelbie Woods | May, 2023

In the early days of the internet, nobody thought that we’d be making decisions on what we see on our mobile screens — At least an average person didn’t have enough know-how of these great inventions.

But here we are today, using social media apps daily to connect, communicate, make buying decisions, and run businesses. That’s where Instagram influencers come into play. Meta-owned platform has almost 2 billion active users and this number is just growing.

Earning money on Instagram is not a brainer anymore. Influencers are already making tens and thousands of dollars every month and some even exceed six figures to millions each year. Today, we are going to tell you more about how much Instagram influencers earn and whether should you consider it as a side hustle.

Influencers have different ways to generate a decent amount of money through Instagram. As we mentioned before reaching millions is possible too — it’s not just a side hustle for many in fact, content creators are turning it into a full-time job to grow their income.

IG live, sponsored posts to swipe up links in stories, these influencers can almost earn anywhere on Instagram as long as they have a great reputation on the platform.

Business Insider has some great insights about this; they interviewed many creators to know the exact amount they are landing each month as an Instagram influencer.

One thing you need to know is that Instagram is one of those platforms where brands continuously search for influencers to promote their products or services. This is why it has now become a career for creative people provided they have the ability to put out great content.

And once your profile starts sharing unique and awesome content; your following grows and more sponsorships come to you within a short span of time.

An influencer named Achieng Agutu with a following of about 500,000 earned over $ 1 million in a single year. And that was her first year as a full-time content producer on Instagram.

You might think it is necessary to have a huge following in order to earn money on Instagram but that’s not the case.

There is a term called micro-influencers — creators having less than 100K followers are considered micro or nano-influencers. And brands are always on the hunt for them depending on their niche.

You may get approached by a crypto company if you share content related to money-making tips, or a herbal shampoo brand if your content is mostly around beauty — however, some sponsorships may come unexpected as they aren’t related to your niche. But who doesn’t like getting paid for just putting a word out?

In general, niche-relevant brands offer influencers money in exchange for a shout-out.

Sponsored content is the main source of income for Instagram influencers, whether it’s a feed post or stories with swipe-up links; sponsored content can be seen on different features of Instagram that creators utilize depending on what’s best suited for their audiences.

You have already seen many creators do this but might not know about how they charge or what are the common pricing methods — let’s talk about this.

Rates aren’t the same for all — of course, popular celebrities charge way more than what an average influencer would ask for — so it all comes down to the brand and its standards.

With so much going on the internet, there’s a vast range of categories, from fashion, tech, advertising, and a lot more. Nate White, a fashion designer entertaining 380K followers has a base rate of $3000. His videos are hilarious. You might throw a coffee out of your mouth, so be aware and not watch his reels while you are having a cup of coffee in the morning.

Remember, we told you about nano influencers? Jour’dan Haynes falls into this category, a single post she shares on her profile can make up to $600.

In addition, deciding how much a brand is going to pay for its promotion is sometimes determined with the help of formulas. For e.g, if a profile has 30,000 followers they will charge $300 meaning $100 per 10,000 followers. However, there are a few other crucial factors that brands consider — engagement, niche, and number of followers.

When a business approaches influencers it has goals to achieve, meeting those goals is their priority; after all, they are paying. Before a deal gets locked, both parties have to agree on the terms such as the timing of the content, usage rights, and whether the offer is exclusive or not.

As an influencer, negotiation is your best bet. It’s the only thing that’s going to make you tons of money if you know how to do it the right way.

While researching for this blog post I read about an influencer with 275,000 followers who locked deals worth $700K in 180 days. You see brands can pay you much more than you know but only when you are well-aware of the market and offer great value to them.

On average Instagram influencers make nearly $3000 each month. From what I have seen in HypeAudtior’s report is that 48.5 percent of influencers are able to make money through creating content on Instagram.

And the average amount per month influencers bag is $2,970, almost $3000. But make no mistake, it is definitely possible to earn more than that.

Instagram celebrities having a million followers make up to $15,356 every month, however, micro-creators earn up to $1500 per month on average. Mega-influencers are super stacked with sponsorships, brand endorsements, and a lot more on their profiles — they are a great motivation for influencers who have just begun their journeys.

Not all micro-influencers are making money, in fact, profiles between 1K to 10K followers have reported not making money, only 22.99 percent of those have been able to land some deals, while others haven’t been able to make it work.

This whole influencer thing varies on the basis of expertise and niche. If we talk about in hours, typically, an influencer can make $31 per hour, but let’s say that you are a beauty master, you can earn double the amount of what an average creator makes, yes! $60 per hour. Some categories have great potential when it comes to money such as business, marketing, fitness, sports, and animals.

You heard it right ”animals”, you might get scared from holding a cat but there are people in this niche working as full-time creators.

As an influencer you have a whole lot of opportunities to make money through your account, there are many ways through which creators can see their bank balance skyrocket. And I am sharing this with you here:

It is one of the most common, lucrative ways to land yet difficult. Advertisers have criteria where accounts simply don’t fit in. So it’s not kind of an easy thing to knock out. Or you will see brands pinging you on a daily basis but what they offer you won’t be that huge.

However, once you are among the luckiest online creators then it’s time that you will see your DMs and emails flooded with messages for promoting their products and services without lowballing.

Affiliate marketing is still popular in the online marketing industry. Amazon, JVzoo, ShareAsale etc..

These platforms have affiliate programs influencers join them as an affiliate, search for products related to their niche then share content around those topics and encourage their followers to visit a link, from where they can buy.

Links are normally visible in a profile bio, however, the swipe up option in stories is also a great way to get as many visits.

Without a doubt, launching your own product and sales coming through is a great feeling. Instagram influencers do this too.

You have an account, an active following that is interacting with your content. Why not turn them into paying customers?

This approach is very profitable and could potentially make an influencer turn into a massive brand. Instead of waiting for brands to offer you money in exchange for promoting their stuff, you sell your own merchandise.

Reselling is a feather in a cap for Instagram content creators — from Poshmark, Depop, to Etsy; it’s now common on Instagram for influencers to resell products easily and make a fortune. Creators are driving huge sales through this method as well as landing brand deals.

Back in the 2000s we only knew about marketing but now it has changed a lot, although the basics are the same, there are separate strategies to reach your audience and grow your business.

Influencer marketing is one of those crispy things in digital marketing that is yielding great results for brands and influencers too. As long as social media apps are there — your career is safe as an influencer.

However, all the good things take time, don’t expect to make a quick buck out of it because it doesn’t work that way. You have to invest time in research, creating content continuously, and keep yourself up to date with what brands need.