Affiliate marketing on Instagram might be a terrific way to earn money online with no start-up costs, given the platform’s phenomenal development in recent years. With well over a billion active users per month (as opposed to Facebook’s 2.93 billion), the platform has surpassed Facebook to become the most widely used social media network in 2022.
It’s also overtaking other internet revenue streams as the preferred method for marketing content. Then how to do affiliate marketing on Instagram? This article will be the ultimate guide on how to start affiliate marketing on Instagram for beginners, so keep reading.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a sales strategy where a business pays a commission to a person or business to advertise its goods.
Simply put, you take on the role of a company representative. The business pays you for helping in a sale that it makes.
Revenue sharing is the foundation of the entire idea.
A business that sells a product provides incentives to brand ambassadors so they may spread the word about the product and recommend it to others. The business rewards the affiliates with a portion of the revenues if their marketing initiatives are successful.
Everyone benefits!
Affiliate marketing Instagram is a successful source of income for a reason, though! Learning how to affiliate market on Instagram will open doors for many opportunities.
This is so that affiliates can join different affiliate marketing programs and receive commissions from each. In contrast to a conventional salesperson, they are essentially free to advertise goods from numerous companies.
So your earning potential is virtually limitless! The more you sell, the more money you will make.
Wanna learn why social media is important to business? Read this – 10 Reasons Why Your Business Should Use Social Media in 2022
Why You Should Choose Instagram For Affiliate Marketing
Some people will even ask can I do affiliate marketing on Instagram? You absolutely can. Before learning how to become an affiliate marketer on Instagram, you should understand why choose Instagram for affiliate marketing.
The fourth-largest social media site in the world, Instagram is part of the Meta family, along with Facebook and WhatsApp. The three-pronged social media ecosystem of Meta is growing despite legal disputes and the occasional downtime.
Why? User-generated material is now a go-to resource for buyers since it offers instant social proof. With multiple projects aimed at transitioning from a photo-sharing app to a successful marketplace, Instagram alone generates a quarter of all profits for the parent business.
Most consumers, or 70%, turn to Instagram for their next purchases, making it the ideal platform for affiliates. Affiliate marketing with Instagram is successful. Affiliate marketing using Instagram might bring in around $5,000 per month.
More marketers are choosing to partner with niche creators rather than macro-influencers, despite the impression that Kardashian-style mega-influencers control the platform.
This is a trend that affiliate marketers should take note of: people trust other people.
Affiliate marketing on Instagram depends on being recognized as an authoritative source of information rather than trying to be an out-of-date influencer. Instagram is a fantastic source of free traffic for affiliates thanks to its enormous user base and space for just about any topic.
Additionally, even though Instagram is making an effort to be more creator-friendly by providing direct platform commissions, these payments frequently fall short of affiliate earnings.
Over half of one creator who asked to stay nameless yet received $600k in revenue in 2020 came from affiliate marketing. When Instagram began to pay for Reels, they only offered the creator $800 for each Reel with more than 100k views.
Affiliate marketing on Instagram examples include:
Erica Ligenza and Colleen Rothschild Beauty
Anna Everywhere
Mariano Di Vaio and Hair Bello
How Does Affiliate Marketing Work On Instagram
Here’s how affiliate marketing works on Instagram:
The official affiliate network for Instagram was created to create relationships between a user who is an affiliate marketer and the placement of some kind of introduction or advertisement of a company’s products or services on the marketer’s website, social media post, or anywhere that can be accessed via Instagram.
The affiliate marketer includes a description of the product or service in their postings and receives a commission for each sale that can be traced back to that post, such as through a URL link that has been personalized and has a special affiliate code put to the end of it in the post’s description.
Although we refer to these affiliate promotions as Instagram affiliate marketing, there is little doubt that affiliate marketing is not just used for Instagram.
Inherent customer interest is generated in the brand being advertised and pushed, and the influencer profile acts as the affiliate is used to entice its audience to the advertised goods. A portion of each sale made by the advertised product goes to the influencer. Affiliate marketing is influencer marketing’s new best buddy because this structure benefits both the company and the influencers.
You can learn the 7 p’s of Marketing by reading this post.
Now you know the basics of affiliate marketing. But you cannot do affiliate marketing through Instagram without creating a standing-out Instagram profile. So here’s how to create an Instagram profile for affiliate marketing.
How To Create An Instagram Profile For Affiliate Marketing
1. Choose A Stand-Out Username
You must pick an original username before you can post anything on Instagram. You might try alternative variations of your name if your desired business name is unavailable. For instance, if Jane’s Bakery is the name of your company, but the username “@janesbakery” is already taken, try adding the location of your company to the name and changing it to “@janesbakerychi,” suggesting that your bakery is situated in Chicago.
The “name” part of your profile is as crucial as the username. To make it simpler for users to find your page, make sure to capitalize and stylize your company’s name correctly. If there are different Jane’s Bakery locations, you can pick either “Jane’s Bakery” or “Jane’s Bakery Chicago” in this situation.
2. Use A Brand-Related Profile Photo.
For other users to recognize your brand, selecting the right image for your business’s profile is crucial. Make sure it’s simple for consumers and potential customers to recognize, as it will be one of the first things they notice when they visit your page.
As for your Instagram profile image, we advise utilizing your company’s logo. The storefront, mascot, or any other suitable image can be used, though, if your company has numerous branded images.
3. Include A Brief Bio
Your bio leaves a lasting impression on your audience by including additional details in addition to your images. Make it special and unforgettable.
You should introduce yourself to the users in this part and describe what you do. You can also include your address, a brief history of your company, a phone number, an email address, the times you’re open, and anything else you feel is necessary to say when introducing yourself to consumers who aren’t already aware of your brand.
Just 150 characters are available for these profiles, so be thoughtful when deciding what to say. No formal biography is necessary because we advise you to personify your brand in this section. Use language that your target market will understand, and visitors will be able to tell if your account is one they should follow.
Look at the following examples:
The bio on Apple Music is kept to a minimum. They additionally encouraged users to join Snapchat to cross-promote their other social media platforms. Apple also decided to post the album of a particular musician as their URL, which led consumers to their online store.
Users’ locations and email addresses are soon disclosed in their profiles by California Donuts. Customers will understand that they are available at any time of day.
In under 150 characters, Hoosier Mama Pie Company managed to fit its motto, two addresses, and usernames for Facebook and Twitter! Note how they enhanced their profile with emojis to add information.
Instagram’s web version allows you to edit your profile, making it simple and quick to format your bio.
4. Introduce A Trackable Link
You can also choose to include a link in your profile on Instagram. You could include several affiliate marketing links on Instagram in addition to the URL of your website.
You could connect your Instagram, for instance, to a blog post, an upcoming event, or perhaps an Instagram-only landing page. If it’s a link that isn’t on your homepage, you should update it frequently.
It is entirely up to you what you provide in that link box, but you should make sure it is a trackable link. Adding the traffic source is essential in measuring your Instagram efforts since it allows you to understand where leads are coming from.
This is one of the best ways for affiliate marketing. The links you provide can take the user to your site, where you promote the affiliate products.
With Google Analytics, you may discover how to create a unique URL. This tiny link has the potential to be a very effective element in your social media marketing plan.
5. Take Crisp, Fascinating, High-Quality Pictures
When we say high quality, we don’t mean whip out your expensive DSLR camera! With a little assistance from a few mobile photo-editing apps, your smartphone should be able to take high-quality pictures.
Lighting is the most crucial factor for capturing a good photo. Choose bright artificial indoor lighting if there isn’t any good natural light available. The brightness and exposure settings on a photo-editing app can be increased when all else fails.
The next step is to choose a topic that interests you. Use other products to include your product for visual interest or to demonstrate how it is used daily. For instance, Coca-Cola’s Instagram account doesn’t only contain pictures of Coke bottles; it also features consumer interactions.
If your company doesn’t offer items, you might publish images of people living the lifestyle that your target market is thought to be interested in. For example, if you promote hair products, you would want to show before and after pictures of your client’s hair to demonstrate how much your services can enhance their life.
Do not forget to provide value to your followers! While promoting your goods or services is recommended, it is not required to do so in every post. Nobody enjoys a sales-driven Instagram!
Taking quality images should be the starting point of your business’s Instagram presence. If you keep practicing, you’ll eventually master it, even if it takes a few tries to get into the swing of things.
6. Create A Theme
A flawless Instagram feed is not merely achieved by taking excellent photos. The next step is to create a theme, both visually and contextually.
What exactly is an Instagram theme?
Posting photographs that are related to one another should be your first step. These images convey a message and have a similar appearance or feel. If you want to display pictures of your bakery, for instance, you should have images of many of your pastries taken from a bird’s eye perspective and a close-up macro shot to highlight the texture and a picture of someone eating your pastry while sipping coffee. There are countless options, but the key is ensuring the photos are consistent with one another and true to the brand.
Using the same color tone is a simple method of developing a theme. You can accomplish this by applying the same filter to each photograph and fine-tuning it or editing your photos similarly. VSCO Cam, Aviary, Adobe Post, and Snapseed are a few of the tools we love the most for editing photos for Instagram.
In addition to developing a visual theme, you should also pay attention to the narrative your photographs convey. A strong tool in your caption section. You invite debate in your comments section by giving your brand a personality. Any effective social media strategy must include giving your page a human touch.
7. Post Consistently
You might ask, “how often should an influencer post on Instagram” that’s what we are going to talk about next.
We cannot emphasize this enough! The only method to expand your Instagram following (or any other social media following) is to post frequently.
Post too frequently, and your account will be considered spammy; post infrequently, and people will quickly forget you are even on Instagram! A maximum of three times per day are advised for posting. Utilize tools like Iconosquare to space out these posts and determine the best posting times.
Maintaining followers’ interest and engagement should be simple as long as you have a regular posting schedule for these images.
8. Use Relevant Hashtags
Sure, including “#like4like” in the caption of your photo might result in a few likes, but will it attract the correct crowd? Most likely not.
Although using your hashtag to promote your company is wonderful, it might not be enough.
By performing some research, you may find the perfect hashtags for your brand. By entering a keyword in the Instagram search bar, you may determine the popularity of various hashtags. Here, you can see which posts are performing the best when using the hashtag, the most recent images tagged with it and the number of times it has been used.
Additionally, we advise searching for hashtags relevant to your company outside of Instagram.
You can quickly be found in your niche thanks to hashtags. By fully utilizing hashtags, your business may participate in a bigger community.
Remember to include the geolocation tags as well! This feature will allow folks to see where you’re posting from and may help you get in touch with nearby users.
You can also check our guide on the top 10 hashtag generators for marketing to beat the competition.
9. Engage, Engage, Engage
A successful Instagram account requires more than just posting images. After your photo has been posted, you must participate in the second half.
Hashtags are an effective tool for building connections, as indicated in the previous stage. If you consistently include hashtags related to your brand in your comments and likes on pictures, you can drive some traffic to your profile. If users see that you liked and commented on another user’s photo, they are more likely to discover your profile and follow you.
Joining An Affiliate Network
There are several affiliate marketing schemes available. 80% of businesses employ affiliate marketing, according to Mediakix. Therefore, you must choose the curriculum that’s best for you.
Make careful to find affiliate offers and products that interest your audience rather than merely concentrating on high-paying affiliate schemes. When selecting an affiliate program, consider the following factors:
Does the program have a good reputation in the marketplace? Working with partners who people don’t trust is something you should avoid. The good news is that affiliate networks like ShareASale and Clickbank evaluate programs and showcase trustworthy, successful merchants you may collaborate with.
Has the program had a reasonable commission rate? For your time and work, you want to get paid well. Many schemes offer compensation for sales that range from 10% to 20% or more. Pick a price that is convenient for you.
Is the earnings per click (EPC) rate high? An industry-wide indicator called EPC displays the typical affiliate earnings per 100 clicks throughout a merchant’s program. These details are displayed for each retailer on networks like ShareASale. For instance, Modern Nursery offers a 5% fee, but its EPC is $38.20, so you could earn almost $40 for each click!
Running a successful affiliate business depends on choosing the appropriate programs. For instance, the hosts of the humorous podcast True Crime Obsessed, Patrick Hines and Gillian Pensavalle, humorously discuss true crime documentaries.
They have amassed over 70 million downloads in one year thanks to this unique approach to a well-liked niche, as well as an Obsessed Network with six more spin-off programs.
In each episode and on a special promo code website for its target audience, the podcast advertises a wide range of different goods and services.
Inquire about ambassador or affiliate programs from your favorite brands to get solid affiliate opportunities. You can advertise goods this way if you already like and value them.
The following affiliate marketplaces are some places where you can find goods and companies to work with:
- Commission Junction (CJ) Affiliate
- ClickBank
- FlexOffers
- ShareASale
- Awin
- Amazon Associates affiliate program – Yes you can use amazon affiliate marketing on Instagram
You have created a standing-out profile. And you have joined an affiliate programme. It doesn’t end there. You should know the right way to market your affiliate products on Instagram. Here are 7 ways to promote affiliate products on your Instagram.
7 Ways To Promote Affiliate Products On Your Instagram
1. Affiliate Link In Your Bio (Permanent)
Use the link in your bio to direct them to the website; this is the most obvious method. If you consistently promote the same company, item, or link, then this works nicely. People are then urged to click the link in your bio, you say.
This strategy is perfect if you are an exclusive affiliate and brand ambassador for one company.
2. Affiliate Link In Your Bio (Semi-Permanent)
The link in your bio can still be used if you wish to advertise a different product with each article, but you will need to change it to the most recent affiliate URL each time you publish a new post. This is not the most effective approach to using Instagram affiliate marketing and could irritate your audience, which would have a bad impact on engagement rates.
You can still encourage people to click the link in your bio, but if they see an older post promoting a different product, they will end up on a separate landing page.
3. Use A Linkable Instagram Gallery App
To create a virtual store of clickable Instagram posts in your profile, large eCommerce firms started using Curalate’s Link2Buy. Other programs have developed throughout time that offers the same functionality, such as the well-known Linkin.bio service provided by the Instagram app Later.
When using these tools, you set the link in your bio as your unique Instagram gallery app URL. When someone clicks on an image from your gallery, they are then taken to a screen with a list of Instagram posts that are clickable and will take them to your affiliate links.
4. Add A Link Sticker With The Affiliate Link To Instagram Stories.
Before October 2021, you had to have 10,000 followers to be able to do this, but Instagram then announced that everyone could now add a clickable sticker link to Instagram Stories, making it simple for your followers to visit the website on the other side of your affiliate link. Using Instagram Stories to drive traffic to your affiliate offers has never been simpler.
5. Put The Affiliate Link In Your Instagram Story, Image Description, Or Picture
This is the least successful method, but if you use a URL shortener like bit.ly and generate a customized URL that is simple to write and remember, some of your dedicated followers may merely screenshot your image or description manually and type the URL into their browser.
6. Use An Affiliate Promotion Code In The Text That Follows Your Image Or Photo.
You might receive a promotional or coupon code from some affiliate programs that are associated with your affiliate account. People can easily make purchases by going to the online store and entering their coupon code to receive a discount. A win-win situation where they save money, and you make money!
7. Start A Sponsored Post Campaign.
Wait…advertise? Oh, sure! Instagram allows you to promote affiliate offers. You pay money for this, but you receive the best clickable link: the “Shop Now” link that may be seen at the bottom of the picture. You might want to try this out if your affiliate offer has the potential to produce a high commission per sale.
How Do You Get Paid & How Much Money Can A New Affiliate Marketer Expect To Make?
Now you know how to make money affiliate marketing on Instagram but do you know how you get paid? Here’s how.
A commission is given to affiliate marketers in exchange for sending customers to businesses where they make purchases. Depending on the product and volume of referrals, these commissions might be as low as 1% or as high as 20%.
A unique link or referral code is used for internet advertising to measure sales. Since the affiliate can keep making money after setting up their campaign, in this sense, it is a source of passive income.
That’s it. We hope this ultimate Guide on how to affiliate marketing on Instagram will help you to build a successful business.
Also, You can do affiliate marketing on Pinterest. Here is the guide for Affiliate marketing on Pinterest without a blog.
