Social media today, plays an important role in developing and promoting businesses. They are also a source of free traffic which can be used by people that either don't have the means or don't want to utilize free traffic in the start of their business.
Instagram like any other social media platform can be used to share photos and videos with family and friends. However if one wants to be productive while using Instagram, it can be a great platform for affiliate marketing.
Majority of us spend several hours of our day browsing through Instagram. But what if I told you that we could make that browsing productive. That we could make money simultaneously while surfing through Instagram. Today I will tell you how to earn money through Instagram Affiliate Marketing.
Instagram Affiliate Marketing:
Instagram has over one billion monthly users and approximately 500 million users check the app daily. It also receives huge amount of engagement. This huge amount of traffic and engagement makes Instagram one of the popular social media platforms.
With a platform like Instagram people interact directly and consistently. They like, comment, share, watch product videos and DM.
If you follow celebrities you will notice that many of their posts on instagram are sponsored posts. This is because they have a massive following on Instagram, due to which brands approach them to promote their products and they receive impressive remuneration to promote their products.
But the good part about Instagram Affiliate Marketing is that one doesn't need to be a celebrity to promote brands but one does requires a decent following. Through Instagram posts brands also receive an immense amount of exposure across the public.
What’s In It For You? :
Micro influencer is a term used for people that are not celebrities but have a decent following, they are focused in a particular niche and have highly engaged followers that interact with their posts.
Becoming a micro influencer is not difficult at all, however it does require a lot of patience, consistency, time and good content that people interact with.
Initially one should focus on generating high quality content that grabs users attention. This will result in getting a decent amount of following. After achieving a loyal following one can look for affiliate products to promote.
If any of your followers buys the product you are promoting using your promo code or your personal link, you will earn a commission. That's pretty much it for Instagram Affiliate Marketing.
How To Develop An Instagram Following? :
1. Pick a niche:
You
must pick a niche before starting to promote products. Choose a niche in which
you are knowledgeable or have a keen interest in. There are many niches out
there such as fashion, beauty, lifestyle, food, parenting etc.
2. Start generating high-quality content:
This step eats majority of your time. Of course, people won’t start trusting you overnight unless you become viral. You need to use all of Instagram’s features such as reels, IGTV, videos, stories etc. You must appear as relevant and credible to people and try to post aesthetically pleasing images.
3. Actively engage in your niche:
After
selecting your niche and creating quality content what you need to do is engage
with other influencers within your niche. Comment on their videos, IGTVS and
stories. Also interact with your followers by dming them and responding to
their comments.
4. Make good use of hashtags:
Hashtags are very important for Instagram because they help users find your content. Instagram and other social media networks also work like a search engine and hashtags work just like keywords. Make sure to use high quality hashtags that are relevant to your niche/post.
5. Don't pay for followers:
Buying
followers may seem very attractive because it allows you to gain many followers
in a short period of time. But you must avoid it because they aren’t real
people, they are bots and they won’t interact with your posts the way people
do. And at the end of the day you need real people to buy products. Also
brand/companies monitor your engagement with followers to decide whether they
want their products to be promoted by you.
6. A decent reputation:
We
all know that being controversial helps gain public recognition. But you need
to keep in mind that you will be representing the brand that you work with. So
they should be able to trust you with their products.
7. Post on a regular basis:
Finally, you need to be consistent while posting on Instagram. Of course I am not asking you to bombard people’s timelines by posting everything at once. But if you post irregularly your followers may forget about you. You must also be consistent with the timing of your post as it also affects the views and engagement you will receive.
Connecting With An Affiliate Network:
Brands are interested in your platform now that you
have a decent following in a specific niche; the next step is to find an offer
to promote.
This part is relatively simple – much simpler and
faster than Part 1. Sign up for an affiliate network. Simply go to a site like
ShareASale, Rakuten, or AWIN, fill out the information, and then choose an
offer from the thousands available.
Important things to consider:
1. Look
within your niche:
Promote affiliate products that are related to your
specific niche. If you have maintained an Instagram related to health and
fitness than promote products related to the same niche. This will make you credible
and authentic in the eyes of users.
2. Long term commitment with a brand:
Look for a brand
whose product you trust and have full confidence that you are recommending a
good product to your followers. Pick a brand that suits the image of you and
your account. So that you can stick with them in the long run.
3. Pick
high ticket items:
Let’s be honest! No matter how loyal or dedicated your following is, not everyone is going to make the purchase. Therefore, you have to make sure that the products you promote earn you a decent commission
Now that you have selected the product/offer you want to promote, its time to put it on Instagram so that you can earn some money.
Placing Your Link On Instagram:
There are various ways to place your affiliate link on Instagram especially when it’s become so ecommerce friendly.
Here are some possible solutions:
1. Link
in bio:
You may have noticed many users have a link posted in
their bio. Majority of these links are affiliate links. This is a very common
technique however it will become difficult if you are promoting more than one
product
2. Link
in bio + carousel:
This is the solution of the problem that arises when
you want to promote multiple products but can only post a single link. If you
follow this method you only have to post a one link in your bio and once the
user clicks on it, they will be directed to a list of affiliate offers and can
select the one they are interested in.
3. Shortened
link in your post:
Although both the methods stated above are easy and effective but sometimes users don’t want to click on the bio link. What you can do is use a link shortener like bitly.com and post the affiliate link in your caption.
4. Promo
code:
Another way of posting your affiliate link on
Instagram is by mentioning a promo code. The user can then use your promo code
to avail a discount and you earn a commission.
5. Swipe
up feature:
In this method you include your affiliate link in your
Instagram stories and whoever is interested can swipe up to view the link.
6. Link
in IGTV:
An IGTV is a video clip without any time constraints.
You can post a video without worrying about its duration. You can post an
affiliate link in your IGTVS.
7. Sponsored
posts:
Sponsored posts are ads that you post on social media. The benefit of these is that viewers can see your link on their homepages with a clear call to action button that will direct them to your link.
I have mentioned all the information you need to start
Instagram affiliate marketing. So what are you waiting for? It’s time to take
action and start earning as an influencer!
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