How to set up Instagram Subscriptions: A Step-by-Step Guide to Monetizing Your Content

Instagram subscriptions, first introduced in 2022, offer creators an additional option of generating income by sharing exclusive content with their most engaged followers under a priced monthly subscription. As of April 2024, Instagram was facilitating over 2 million creator subscriptions in the app, providing more opportunities for sustaining a growing creator economy.

When personal connections get distant and impersonal, social media platforms often step in with innovating new features to foster a sense of community between creators and their audiences. By bridging this gap, platforms like Instagram recognize the importance of exclusive content to make users feel valued and connected to their favorite creators while benefiting a creator economy and leveraging the in-app purchase process.

By being able to decide their monthly subscription price, Instagram allows creators like you to have greater control over their income offering exclusive content highlighted with Instagram’s unique purple badge.

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How To Set Up Instagram Subscriptions

Instagram Subscriptions Eligibility Requirements

Before you can start using Instagram subscriptions you must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Be at least 18 years old.
• Have a professional account with at least 10,000 followers.
• Be based in a region where Instagram Subscriptions are available (see below).
• Accept the Instagram subscriptions terms of use.
• Comply with Instagram’s Partner Monetization Policies, Community Guidelines, and Content Monetization Policies.

Instagram Subscription Available Countries

• America: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, USA
• Europe: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom‍
• Asia-Pacific: Australia, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Türkiye
• Africa: Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda

How To Set Up Instagram Subscriptions: A Step-by-Step Guide

To set up Instagram subscriptions in the professional panel:

1. Enter your profile and tap Pro Dashboard.
2. Tap Set Up Subscriptions, then Next.
3. Accept the Instagram Subscriptions Terms of Use, then tap Next.
4. Set up your monthly price and payout account to tell Instagram where to send your subscriptions money, then tap Next.
5. Tap Publish, then tap Next.
6. Once the confirmation appears on your screen, tap Done.
7. View and/or remove active subscribers by accessing Subscriptions on the Professional Dashboard.

After 3 days, your followers will receive a notification in their activity feed. This can come across as a creative opportunity, as Instagram is providing you 3 days to make sure your audience is notified and ready to subscribe:

• Leverage the subscription sticker available on stories and promote what’s to come.
• Pin an interactive carousel or static image to your professional feed so everyone can get a sneak peak anytime.
• Create a reel and interact in the comments to receive feedback about what your audience may want to see once they subscribe.

Additionally, you'll have the option to tap on Notify Now for those who may have missed it and your profile will also display a "Subscribe" button, allowing followers to start subscribing.

Exclusive content will show up in your subscribers’ feeds with a purple badge (or stories ring) to set it apart from regular content.

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How To Price Instagram Subscriptions

Instagram Subscription 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.

When setting your subscription price, you might want to consider the following factors:

• Size of your audience
• Type of content you'll create
• Amount of exclusive content you'll offer to keep your audience engaged

Pro Tip: If you're planning to put in significant extra effort for your subscribers, it would be reasonable to set a higher price point, however, you may want to start with a lower price point and gradually increase as you build a strong, loyal subscriber base.

Additionally, to update your payout information and / or get an overview of monthly earnings and subscribers (including monthly active, expired and net new), you can: 

• Go to your Profile
• Enter the Professional Dashboard
• Tap on Subscriptions

Once you reach the $25 threshold, payouts are released at the end of every month for earnings made the previous month. For example: an end of February payout for January earnings. 

Key Benefit: Companies like Google or Apple deduct 30% of all in-app purchases, whereas Instagram pays its creators 100% of the revenue collected from their subscriptions during Instagram lives minus any taxes or fees.

Learn more about how you can monetize your Instagram journey further through brand deals and transform your passion into profit.

How to Receive Payouts?

As an creator, with an Instagram business or creator account, you can receive payments from these monetization tools:

• Insignia
• Bonuses
• Gifts
• Subscriptions

Here are 3 simple steps to start receiving payouts from your Instagram subscriptions:

1. Set up your payment account

• Accept the monetization tool terms and select Get Started.
• Enter your legal name, date of birth, and country. Then, add your business or individual details like address, phone number, email, and select Next.

2. Choose how you want to receive payments

• Bank Account: Log in securely or manually enter your account info.
• PayPal: Link your PayPal account.
• Once you have chosen your payment method, select Link payment method. 

3. Select Add tax information

• Enter your tax details (name, business name, ID type, tax number, and address).
• Review your tax form. Make changes or, when you are ready, select Submit Form.
• A confirmation will appear when your information has been submitted and verified. Click on Done.

Once all steps are complete, you’ll be ready to receive payouts. 

Note: If you don't finish setting up your paid account, you'll receive notifications on Instagram in your Pro Dashboard and Monetization Inbox, as well as email reminders.

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What Type of Content Can You Create With Instagram Subscriptions

‍Subscriber Lives, Stories, and Chats

For your most engaged fans, who show up with a purple ring around them, you can create and manage subscriber lives, stories, and chats. By leveraging exclusive chats, you can connect with up to 30 subscribers in real time and chat about your interests while creating quality content worth paying for.

Tip: Use the Subscriber Sticker in your stories to promote subscriptions, and start exclusive DM group chats to strengthen your community.

For creators looking to elevate their content, learn how to make a collage in Instagram Stories and explore creative ways to enhance your engaging storytelling. This can help set your content apart while strengthening the connection with your subscribers.

Content Idea: Coaching Session / Q&A

Leverage these short lived content formats by offering coaching sessions / Q&As where you can interact with your audience on an even personal level. Offer expert or personal advice on trending topics like relationships or personal development. This could be a weekly or monthly upload, providing exclusive value and helping build deeper relationships with your subscribers.

Subscriber Highlights

Your newest exclusive stories will be saved into a highlight that is only available for subscribers, making sure your loyal audience never misses a story.

Content Idea: Behind-the-Scenes

Share behind-the-scenes content your subscribers can access every time they enter your profile, such as your creative process, the making of products, or preparation for upcoming events. Make your audience feel prioritized by sharing a deeper dive into your journey.

Permanent Subscription Posts and Reels

Provide long lasting value to your loyal followers by showcasing posts and reels to engage with your fans and receive instant feedback. Make sure to interact with your subscribers through messages and comments and use subscriber badges to identify and prioritize responding to your top supporters. 

The crown tab on your profile helps showcase your posts and reels in a more organized way the minute your subscription process is all set. Similar to your feed, it showcases a 3 column catalog where your followers will be able to find every piece of content you decide to share.

Tip: To maximize reach and engagement of your subscription posts and reels, learn how to find trending hashtags on Instagram to attract more followers and keep your loyal subscribers engaged.

Content Idea: Tutorials

Whether it’s related to lifestyle, fashion, beauty, tech, education, or another niche, you can create detailed tutorials on your area of expertise to provide value by breaking down concepts and demonstrating step-by-step processes on how your audience can achieve your same results.

Pro Tip: Subscriber Promotions

To further grow and help keep subscribers, you can turn on subscriber promotions. The lifetime promo provides a 50% discount for your next five subscribers, while the cancellation promo offers a free month when subscribers attempt to cancel. 

You can find these promotions in your Professional Dashboard under: Subscriptions, Confirm Active Offers, Offers.

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Benefits of Instagram Subscriptions for Content Creators

Additional Revenue For Creators

As you increase your total number of subscribers, Instagram subscriptions not only can be a new, growing source of income, but become a recurring one where the price of monetizing your efforts is under your control.

Community and Passion

In addition to generating revenue, this is a unique opportunity to commit to what you love. An Instagram subscriptions profile signifies a commitment to deliver valuable content for those interested. Make sure you set your time and efforts to provide value for your most dedicated fans. After all, they are the ones who notice and love when you create from what you enjoy and are passionate about.

Grow Your Business

As subscriptions keep on growing, so do the ideas they are targeted towards. A new exclusive communication channel may provide just the right opportunity for you to expand your personal brand. Essentially, ensure your audience chooses to stay subscribed by leveraging a meaningful connection. 

For creators seeking to diversify their revenue streams, it’s worth exploring how Instagram subscriptions compare to other platforms. You can compare Instagram vs TikTok for brand deals and discover two great alternatives to elevate your social media game.

Monetizing Your Social Media Presence

Instagram subscriptions provide a steady and predictable income stream by allowing your followers to pay for exclusive multi-format content. Unlike ad revenue or brand deals, subscriptions give you more control over your earnings. This opportunity enables you to plan and grow your content strategy confidently.

Staying Updated

As a content creator, staying updated with the latest trends, engagement tactics, and posting frequency is key to staying relevant in today’s digital landscape. By leveraging emerging features, you can become an early adopter of big social media opportunities like Instagram subscriptions.

Training Your Creativity

Offering subscriber-only content not only pushes you to think outside the box and explore new creative outlets, but enables you to push your creative freedom and experiment with different content styles and formats your audience may resonate with.

Deeper Engagement With Your Audience

Subscriptions foster a sense of community and exclusivity. Once you share special perks and behind-the-scenes content, your subscribers feel valued and prioritized as a part of your personal journey and digital community. Two big examples of successful attempts to deepen audience engagement are NYT best sellers Tinx and Gabby Bernstein.

Tinx thrives on building a stronger connection with her subscribers through exclusive story templates and personalized advice, while Gabby uses live workshops and meditations to foster a spiritually engaged community.

By leveraging different approaches with Instagram subscriptions, creators like you can not only generate income but also target direct audience needs while boosting engagement rates.

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What Happens If You Are eligible But Still Can’t Access Instagram Subscriptions

While you may meet all of Instagram’s eligibility criteria, access to this feature isn’t guaranteed as per few Reddit discussions also. 

Instagram is gradually enabling subscriptions to suitable users, but may not have granted access to everyone yet. If the “Set Up Subscriptions” option isn’t showing up on your professional dashboard, it is likely Instagram hasn’t enabled the feature for your account yet, says the platform’s help center.

In summary, meeting the eligibility criteria is necessary, but not sufficient to become a subscriptions creator. Availability depends on Instagram’s gradual profile selection.

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Examples Of Creators Successfully Using Instagram Subscriptions

Kimberley Haberley’s Educational Approach

Kimberley, an Australian-based hair salon owner and content creator, began her Instagram journey with the goal of promoting her business, Boho Blonde. However, as she engaged more with the platform, her focus shifted toward creating educational content for fellow hairdressers and interested followers she now calls: “subscription babies”.

• Building a Niche Community: By sharing thorough tutorials and insightful tips for fellow colleagues, Kimberley manages to expand a dedicated following every month.
• Monetizing Subscriptions: One of the best ways Kimberley leveraged subscriptions is by nailing her interests with the perfect content format such as 3 reel tutorials weekly and an exclusive community chat.‍
• Results: With 3.1K subscribers, creators.instagram.com states Kimberley now generates around 31K AUD per month from her $39.00 subscription business.

Azizah’s Personal and Consistent Content

Azizah, a lifestyle creator, takes a more personal and casual approach with her content. As she shares exclusive stories about her daily life, interactions with friends, and moments with her husband, she makes her loyal subscription following a part of her everyday life.

• Personal Connection: Azizah's subscribers enjoy a glimpse into her personal life almost every day with her 1.7K subscribers, helping build a stronger bond with her audience.
• Consistency is Key: She posts 5-7 stories daily and goes live to keep interactions going, posting static content whenever she has some free time.‍
• Results: After six months, Azizah's subscription business earns approximately IDR 180M (USD 11K) per month, says creators.instagram.com.

Fuji’s Accessible and Engaging Strategy

Fuji, one of Indonesia's top creators, shares daily lifestyle and behind-the-scenes content with her 56,5K subscribers for an accessible $0.49 monthly subscription.

• Affordable Pricing Strategy: With over 19 million followers, Fuji sets a low subscription price making her content more accessible to a larger audience. So even a small percentage of her followers subscribing can generate significant income.
• Exclusive Content Through Stories: Fuji uses Instagram Stories to share her daily activities and personal opinions, encouraging discourse in an exclusive format.‍
• Results: According to creators.instagram.com Fuji now earns IDR 156M (USD 10K) per month from her 56,5K subscribers.

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Final Thoughts on How to Set Up Instagram Subscriptions

Instagram subscriptions offer a dynamic way to monetize your content while building deeper connections with your audience. By providing exclusive, engaging content, you can create a steady income stream and foster a loyal community. Whether through subscriber-only stories, live sessions, or creative posts, this feature empowers creators to take control of their earnings and connect meaningfully with their followers. Use the steps and strategies in this guide to unlock the full potential of Instagram subscriptions today.