Research shows that the average person spends about two hours a day on social media, but if you’re a social media fanatic, you probably spend a lot more time slogging through social media.
How about using all that devotion to scrolling to actually make money? Social media is a pretty lucrative business if you know how to use it properly and are willing to put in the effort.
According to the influencer app Takumi, you can make money on Instagram even with just 1,000 followers by posting twice a week.
So, if you want to make money on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, or any other channel, here’s what you should know
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How many followers do you need to be successful on social media?
Does having more followers mean you will earn more? The answer to this question is both yes and no.
Looking at the most successful influencers on Instagram and TikTok has led many people to believe that to make money on social media you need hundreds of thousands of followers. That is simply not true.
Brands are increasingly emphasizing quality over quantity, which means they’re more likely to pay for a smaller audience of engaged or niche followers. They no longer want only expensive celebrities to advertise their products, but are deliberately looking for normal people and “influencers”.
For example, if you can show that the vast majority of your followers are British university students between the ages of 18 and 24, you’ve made your point immediately, even if you don’t have an absolutely large audience. In other words, it’s not about how many Instagram followers you need to make money, it’s about who those followers are.
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How many followers do you need on Instagram to get paid?
Even so, you must have a sizable number of followers. No one is going to pay you to create reels on Instagram or TikTok that only your friends look at. But you only need to reach around 1,000 followers to make a small amount of money.
How Much Money Can You Make From Social Media?
When it comes to making money from Instagram, blogs, and social media, the sky is the limit.
For many people, this is literally their full-time job, giving them the freedom and independence to work for themselves and earn a good salary.
You may also have heard of the famous (or infamous, depending on what you’re reading…) YouTube and TikTok houses, where creators live together in a mansion and spend their days creating content that gets a lot of Earn money.
However, building a social media profile and audience at this level requires a high level of dedication and commitment, which you probably won’t have time for during your full-time studies.
But with brands typically paying between £40 and £2,000 per post on Instagram, depending on how many followers you have, there are still plenty of opportunities to make some money over the weekends.
If you can pull it off, Instagrammers with 75,000+ followers could take home over £100,000 a year! That’s a lot of money for something you already do all the time.
At the moment, Instagram and TikTok are all the rage and can bring in a lot of money, but trends are changing and may not be as lucrative by this time next year. It is important to stay up to date with all changes in the industry and to be able to react to every new platform that opens up.
We spoke to Charlie Watson, who started the running blog The Runner Beans while studying to be a dietitian at university. She is now fully qualified and has over 70,000 followers on Instagram!
Once you have a following, I think it’s pretty easy to monetize your channels because there are many brands that want to partner with bloggers/influencers.
However, she also spoke candidly on her blog about how making money this way isn’t always as glamorous as people think it will be.
I fight PR companies to get paid for my work. I then have to make an effort to get the money when I’ve done the job.
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How do you find your niche on social media?
There are literally thousands of people active on social media. So if you want to make it, you have to do something else.
That doesn’t mean you have to do something completely crazy, but it does mean that you have to find your special niche.
Think about what you are passionate about or what you know a lot about. You’ll need to spend a lot of time on the topic, so make sure it’s something you enjoy writing about.
Once you know the general area, try to narrow it down to a specific angle that hasn’t been worked on before.
For example, if you are interested in travel, you might focus on creating content geared toward budget travel, student travel, train travel, or eco-friendly travel. A general travel blog will get lost in the noise unless you have something that sets it apart.
If you like reading, you could also try making money with BookTok (the books-focused community on TikTok).
Another way is to make money with Studygrams: Instagram accounts full of pictures of your study notes!
Anyhow, when it comes to figuring out how to make money on Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat (or any other social network), a look at some of the thousands of genres and subgenres should get your creative juices going.
But don’t fall into the trap of becoming too niche. It needs to be a topic that will spark conversation and ideas for years to come, so it needs to be very deep.
Research the competitors to see what they are doing and where the gaps in the market are.
Check if there is also an opportunity for monetization: are people willing to spend money in this area? Are there products they can buy?
Building a solid follower base takes time and serious effort, but what better way to combine it with college than a traditional part-time job? Charlie says that sometimes it can be very complicated.
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How to get more followers on social media ?
OK, you might not need hundreds of thousands of followers to get started, but you need quite a lot if you’re going to make money from it.
There’s no quick and easy way to build a following on social media – it takes hard work and dedication. Charlie from The Runner Beans says it will take at least a year.
But if you’re looking to grow your social media audience, there are some tried-and-true tactics that can help speed up the process…
Top 10 ways to get more followers on Instagram :
- Post content regularly: Make sure you post content on Instagram on a daily basis. If you only post something sporadically, your followers will quickly lose interest.
- Link your Instagram account to Facebook and Twitter: There are some great apps like IFTTT that you can use to automatically link your social media accounts. So when you post a photo to Instagram, it’s automatically posted to Twitter and Facebook (like a real photo, not a link!). This saves you time and keeps your posts consistent across platforms.
- Organize sweepstakes to increase follower engagement: This can be difficult since you need a prize, but if you can get your hands on something with a small investment or by leveraging your contacts, they’re a great way to get new Instagram followers. Just ask people to like/like/share a post and watch your reach spread.
- Interaction with brands and influencers – Often the “social” part of social media is forgotten. Reach out to other people in your niche, like, comment, and share their posts and they will likely reciprocate. If you can build a strong enough relationship, you can organize collaborations, such as B. Guest blogs on their website, appearances on their TikToks, or even takeovers on social media.
- Use relevant hashtags to get new followers: They may seem a bit uninteresting now, but hashtags are a great way to connect with people who are interested in a similar niche. Research which hashtags are most popular and when, or even create your own and encourage your followers to use them when sharing specific posts.
- Add geotags to your posts – Especially on Instagram, people often search for their location and this creates another way for people to find your account.
- Use Instagram analytics to monitor activity – It’s important to pause every once in a while and take stock of what’s been working well (and what hasn’t) on your social media accounts. Sites like Fanpage Karma and Squarelovin (Instagram only) provide data on which of your posts were the most popular. You can use it to determine what content works best and when it is best published.
- Share videos and post stories on Instagram and Facebook: The thought of signing up might seem a little daunting, but people like to see the “people” behind the page and your followers will be more likely to engage with you if you’re direct with them can speak to them. You can upload a video to YouTube or post stories to Instagram and Facebook, which is a quick and effective way to do it.
- Paid Advertising – Although you can grow your audience organically, you can try paid advertising to give you a quick boost. Try paying for a Facebook post that performs particularly well, or search Google Adwords for smaller, niche terms.
- Quality, Personalized Content – Ultimately, followers will be drawn to your account when you offer them something they genuinely care about. Avoid doing too much publicity and tell a few good stories and they’ll definitely come back.
If you’re looking for inspiration, be sure to visit Save the Student on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to see how we’re making it!
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How to monetize your Instagram, Twitter and Facebook ?
There are three ways you can use your social media channels to make money: brand promotion, affiliate marketing, and creating online resources.
Brand Promotion and Marketing
One of the most common ways to make money from social media, especially on channels like Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and blogs, is by promoting brands or their products.
There are various websites and apps that you can use to easily do this, and here are two of the best:
- TRIBE Influencer – With this app, you choose from a series of briefs that describe exactly the type of input the brand is looking for. You create the post, set the price, and submit it for approval. The downside to this is that your posts can get disapproved, but at least you can get stuck no matter how many followers you have.
- Takumi – This app is specially designed to promote things on Instagram. All you need is a public profile, 50+ posts, and at least 1,000 followers to get started. They tag you with interests that match your feed (food, travel, etc.) and use this along with your age, gender, and location to connect you to relevant campaigns.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to brands yourself, especially small local businesses who may not use these services. For example, a local restaurant might be willing to offer you a free meal in exchange for a review, but you won’t know that unless you contact them.
Beware of over-the-top promotions, however, because your followers will turn away if they are bombarded with ads on a daily basis. Try to schedule social media posts to prevent this from happening.
Blogger Charlie also advises being careful when choosing what content to promote.
I would advise you to be selective about the brands you work with: they want to maintain their authenticity and reputation!
Use affiliate links
Affiliate marketing is a form of passive income that is similar to brand advertising, except that in order to earn a commission, you have to get your followers to click a link and make a purchase.
For example, if you promote a hotel, your followers need to click your link and make a reservation at the hotel in order for you to get a share of the profits.
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How Does Affiliate Marketing Work?
Use networks like Rakuten Advertising and Awin to find affiliate programs that are right for you. You have hundreds of thousands of products to choose from, but of course you need to find something relevant to your area of expertise.
Make sure to do your research ahead of time so you know exactly what you’re going to be promoting and you’re comfortable being associated with that brand.
And don’t forget to read the terms and conditions, because some brands have specific rules about how you can and can’t promote their products.
You can also try becoming an Amazon affiliate, which allows you to earn commissions through affiliate links to promote Amazon products.
There are over a million products to choose from, but commission rates vary widely between product categories.
For example, you get a 1% commission on video consoles and up to 12% on things like clothes, shoes, and jewelry.
Read more in our comprehensive guide to affiliate marketing.
Increase click-through rates on your posts
Once you have the links, all you have to do is get people to click on them and buy the products. The key is not to spam your followers with links, but to embed the links in quality content like reviews.
Remember, your followers will only trust you if you are balanced: only promote what you genuinely believe in and make sure you highlight the negatives as well.
You may also use affiliate links in ad banners, emails, or as part of content you produce. If you’re looking to make money from TikTok, Instagram, or Snapchat, your affiliate marketing options are a bit more limited, but you could try putting a link in your bio or, if available, as a link button in your story.
Remember that it’s all about trust and your followers will only buy your recommendations if you leave genuine reviews.
Non-Fiction Resources and Digital Products
Selling nonfiction online is great if you already have knowledge of a particular niche or subject area, but it doesn’t happen overnight.
You need to establish yourself as an authority on a topic by setting up a website or social media channel, and then you can start selling your eBook, email series, or audio/video course.
In this case, the quality of your followers is definitely more important than the quantity. You want people who will engage with you on the subject and invest enough in you to buy your products.
There are a variety of websites that support selling products online.
Services like Gumroad, Sellfy, and Udemy allow you to set up your own “shop” to sell products: they take care of the payment processing, the delivery of the products (if they’re digital), and the marketing, so you only have to worry have to concentrate on producing really high-quality products.
Keep in mind that such sites keep a portion of the profit you make on each sale, which can be as high as 10%.
It’s also a good idea to try and collect customers’ data, e.g. B. their email addresses when they buy from you. This means you can send them emails promoting future products and content. Just remember that people need to opt-in to receive marketing emails.
You can also try offering a free gift to attract new customers. Give them a free chapter of your ebook in exchange for their email address, and if they’re impressed, they’ll likely buy more products from you in the future.
These are just three of the top ways to make money from your social media and blogs, but be creative and think outside the box – there are many ways to do it.
