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Instagram is the most popular and aesthetic social media platform gathering over a billion active daily users around the world.
With time, Instagram creators emerged and today there are plenty of creators making a living out of their work on the platform.
Even though influencers seek followers, Instagram does not pay you for the size of your audience. But with strong engagement, sponsored content, affiliate marketing, and your selling your own products you can still earn big numbers.
With 1M Instagram followers, creators typically earn $10K up to $25K a month by combining income streams like affiliate marketing, subscriptions, and product sales.
With a 1 million follower audience, that’s equivalent to 8 Coachella Weekends combined, you’re sitting on a powerful revenue engine. You just need to know how to activate it.
Let’s dive into detail in this article and find the best way to make the most money out of your Instagram followers!
Influencers have figured out ways to make a living out of the content they create and share on Instagram. How? By leveraging their online presence and turning into profit. There are two actors that allow creators to make money out of their social media:
Brands notice the influencers reach and seek partnerships with them for authentic storytelling and product promotion in exchange of money. Followers more than often consume the daily lives of their favorite influencers and are more willing to support their online work by buying their products, subscribing to their content and much more.
Instagram does not pay creators. But this does not mean you can’t make a living as an Instagrammer.
To make the most money out of your content, the best thing to do is to explore and diversify your revenue streams and make them work together as a global revenue strategy.
The main revenue streams for Instagram influencers are:
Instagram Subscriptions are provided by content creators to their followers as a way to open up new deeper audience interactions while creating a sustainable extra income.
Creators offer exclusive content to followers who pay a monthly fee. Prices are preset, but you can choose from a wide range of pricing options based on your preference. The options are $0.99, $1.99, $2.99, $4.99, $9.99, $19.99, $49.99, and $99.99.
Creators need to set up their subscription options through their Instagram settings and choose the monthly price. Followers can subscribe using the “Subscribe” button on the creator’s profile in order to get access to exclusive content.
The revenue for the Instagrammer is going to be determined by the price fixed and the amount of subs, minus platform fees.
If this sounds interesting, check out our article on How To Set Up Instagram Subscriptions and amplify your Instagram revenue journey!
The amount of money creators with 1M followers can make out of their subscriptions fees depends on the amount of options they offer to their followers and the amount of people actually subscribing.
For instance, offering a $4.99 monthly subscription to just 2% of a 1 million follower base could yield nearly $100,000 per month before platform fees. If the same 2% subscribes to an expensive $9.99 option, creators can make approximately $200,000 a month.
Addison Rae, the TikTok star, holds over 40M followers on Instagram. She recently launched a Subscription plan offering behind-the-scenes access and exclusive beauty tutorials.
Given her large following and high engagement, she could generate a significant income, even if a small percentage of her followers subscribe to her content.
For instance, if only 1% of her followers subscribe, that’s 400,000 subscribers, which means $4 million monthly. However, Meta currently takes 30% of the subscription fee, depending on country and platform.
Quick note: This 30% cut applies mainly to in-App subscription payments, in other words, for any subscriptions made through iOS or Android. It doesn't necessarily apply to all monetization types: brand deals, affiliate links, and merch sales remain 100% creator-owned.
Badges are a way for followers to show support to their favorite Instagram creators during live sessions. The prices go from $0.99 up to $4.99. Depending on the price, the type of badge displayed alongside the user who purchased it.
Creators enable badges in their settings, and viewers buy them during live streams.
The amount of money creators with 1M followers can make on live badges and fan support is going to be determined by the amount of times they go live on Instagram and how much they incentivize the followers to support them.
Let’s say that on average people spend $3 every time they purchase a badge and that 5% of your followers are willing to do it. With 100,000 people donating $3, you can make an extra $150,000.
Charlie has a community of over 150M followers on Instagram. She often goes live and streams for her followers and has really good interactions.
For instance, if Charli's live stream gets 100,000 viewers, and 5% of those viewers buy badges at $1 each, she could earn $5,000 per live stream.
Influencers can offer their account reach and exposure to brands or companies to showcase their product or services. In other words, brands pay Instagram creators for producing and posting specific content to advertise their product, service, or campaign.
Brands and influencers get in touch in order to promote specific products. Influencers then get paid and the payment can vary between a flat fee, free products, or performance-based pay.
Influencers with 1 million followers can command substantial fees in exchange for sponsored content. With 1 M followers you can charge on average $10,000 up to $25,000 per post, with potential for higher fees depending on brand recognition, the effort involved and audience interaction.
Selena Gomez frequently partners with brands for sponsored content. She once collaborated with swimwear brand La'Mariette to promote a collection celebrating body positivity.
Creators can promote a product with a unique link or discount code that lets them earn a commission on each sale, with rates varying by product category and retailer policies.
Popular platforms for affiliate marketing include ShareASale, Creator Hero, Amazon Associates, ShopYourLikes star among the Top 10 Highest Paying Affiliate Programs For Influencers.
Instagram influencers can join different affiliate programs and then promote the products with a trackable link. When a consumer purchases a product through a unique link, the influencer earns a commission on that sale.
Influencers can also develop their own storefront to showcase products with their own link. Storefronts are online platforms or designated sections of e-commerce websites where influencers can showcase and recommend products to their followers.
You can start sharing your favourite products with your followers by creating your own storefront in minutes with Creator Hero!
Earnings from affiliate marketing vary based on the products promoted and the creator's audience engagement. Influencers with 1 million followers can make from $500 up to $10,000 a month, defending on their niche and audience purchasing behavior.
You can either focus on brands with expensive products, aiming to get less purchases but higher commissions or promote more accessible products aiming for cheaper commissions but more quantity. For instance, it's not going to be the same 10% commission on a $100 new Samba Adidas than the same commission on a $20 lip gloss at Sephora.
Alixe, beauty and lifestyle influencer, creates branded collections based on her own unique style and personality. The “Hot Mess” collection is promoted primarily through her TikTok and Instagram accounts, where she builds hype with sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and countdowns to launch.
Many creators create and sell their own digital products, such as e-books, courses, templates, and printables. These products require upfront work but offer passive income opportunities over time.
Influencers create the product, upload it to an e-commerce platform, and share the link with their followers to drive sales.
Similar to affiliate marketing, the amount of money you can make by selling digital products to a million followers community is going to be determined by the type of and value of the products you are offering. Typically, creators with a million followers make from $1,000 to $100,000 a month. Exact earnings depend on product pricing and sales volume, creators often use platforms like Shopify to facilitate sales.
Kylie is one of the most popular influencers. She launched her own beauty brand and she uses Instagram to promote her products through posts, stories, and collaborations with celebrities, like her sisters, and other influencers.
A brand deal or Ambassador between a brand and an Instagrammer is a marketing strategy where a company partners with a social media creator to promote its products or services.
Unlike one-off collaborations, brand ambassadorships are long-term partnerships where influencers become "faces" of a brand. Ambassadors are often expected to create ongoing content featuring the brand’s products and maintain a brand-exclusive agreement.
A contract is made between the brand and the Instagrammer. The agreement consists of promoting products consistently over time, in exchange for a higher pay rate or special perks.
Ambassador deals usually pay $1,000 to $10,000 per month. Prices can go even higher if we are discussing exclusivity partnerships, as creators can set their prices up for not working with other brands during a specific period of time.
A perfect example of this would be Pandora, the jewelry brand, with its “Pandora Squad”, that every year keeps getting bigger. One of the latest incorporations would be the Bailey sisters, Halle and Chloe, leading the campaign “BE LOVE”.
For more ways to make money out of your content, check out our article on How Do Influencers Make Money to get inspired!
Instagram uses different types of metrics to track creators' performance over time. Some of these metrics can also be used to establish prices or fees when negotiating different types of arrangements on the platform.
CPM stands for Cost Per Mille which is a metric that shows the amount of money brands are willing to pay for 1,000 impressions of a piece of content. It’s a key metric in online advertising used to estimate the value of visibility.
CPM does not play a role in this revenue stream as is mainly determined by the amount followers are willing to pay their favorite creators to get access to exclusive perks.
The prices are already set and metrics like impressions or views are irrelevant in this context.
Similar to Subscriptions, this model depends on fan contributions, not reach. CPM does not factor into how much money you make through badges or live support.
In this scenario CPM is very relevant as brands usually calculate how much to pay based on reach and engagement.
Using CPM you can fix the terms and conditions of how you are going to be paid based on the performance of your post. Let’s say you agreed on a $20 CPM. CPM-based pricing allows both brands and creators to base payments on real-time content performance.
Let’s say you agreed on posting a Reel.
With Affiliate Marketing CPM is not going to have an impact on your revenue but it can be used as a metric to track performance.
Impressions don’t get you money with affiliate links but you can track how effective your content is. By tracking your CPM you can measure content performance and optimize ROI.
CPM is not involved in the sales you generate but you can use it to track your posts efficiency.
Even though you do not get paid for 1,000 views here, the more people you aim for, the more chances to sell. Use CPM as a benchmark to evaluate content performance and calculate cost-per-sale (CPS) when running ads or boosting posts.
Similar to sponsored content, CPM is often part of how brands calculate deal value. They’ll consider your average reach, engagement, and niche to estimate what they should pay.
Not every Instagrammer with 1 million followers makes the same amount of money every day, month or year.
This happens for two main reasons:
Engagement is the metric that shows how involved your followers are with the content you create.
Every like, comment and share shows how often your followers engage with your content. Then all the interactions are compared to your total amount of followers to get your Engagement Rate.
Let's say you have an average 30K impressions (likes + comments + shares) per post and 1M followers. Your engagement rate would be: ER= 30,000 / 1,000,000 = 0,03 = 3%.
Mature businesses don't look into the number of followers but more on how many actual people engage with your content. To calculate your Engagement Rate you can also use our free engagement rate calculator!
The content of your posts will in a way affect your earnings. Different types of content attract different kinds of brands. Depending on the category or niche you are working in, the brands that are going to approach you for partnerships.
The more profitable the niche is, the more expensive deals you can get. But don’t forget to pick some niche you personally care about and come up with a great storytelling to help you become the best in your niche.
Where your audience is based is going to have an impact on your potential earnings. There are high-spending regions like North America and Europe where people get to spend more on things they like because they have stronger economies. Also, they are more likely to purchase expensive products than followers from less richer countries.
Instagram influencer earnings can vary significantly depending on the country where your audience is based. For instance, influencers with 1M followers in the United States, Canada, or the UK tend to earn $10,000–$25,000 per post due to higher CPMs and brand budgets. Meanwhile, creators with a similar following in India, Brazil, or Southeast Asia might earn $2,000–$8,000 per post, as CPMs and brand spending are generally lower.
This difference is largely driven by each market’s advertising rates, purchasing power, and local demand for influencer marketing.
The true game-changer lies in your content. At the end of the day, your revenue is impacted by your value. What are you offering your viewers? Think of your followers, engage with them and find out their interests and the best way to fit them into your posting schedule.
Micro and nano influencers may have smaller audiences, but their higher engagement rates often drive more targeted conversions. Check out our article on Micro vs Macro Influencer to learn how much they can earn!
This article suggests a tricky question. Instagram does not pay creators based on the amount of followers. But don’t despair, you can find ways to turn those loyal followers into earnings.
Explore affiliate marketing, sell different products and partner up with major brands to have various income opportunities. However, be careful and choose those that align best with your content strategy.
Because after all, your content is your most valuable thing there is!
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