How to Monetize Instagram in 2024: Tips, Policies, Timelines

Psst—want to know how to monetize Instagram? 🤑

You’ll get the most crucial bits of information you need from this 5-minute guide.

This guide is essential because, if I’m guessing right, your clients are eagerly awaiting your help to monetize their IG pages.

That said, we kept this post as crisp and concise as possible. 

Let’s get started.

Table of Contents

• Instagram monetization policies you should know about
• How to monetize Instagram: 6 ideas you should try
• Tips for monetizing an Instagram account
• How to monetize Instagram: Frequently Asked Questions
• Grow your Instagram revenue with Vista Social

Instagram monetization policies you should know about

Before you worry about implementing Instagram monetization strategies, let’s do a quick review of Instagram’s content monetization policies.

There are quite a lot of them, so we’ll share an abridged version:

• Don’t use ineligible content formats. Instagram ads won’t appear on unsupported content types, like static-image videos, looping GIFs/animations, slideshows, and text montages. 
• Avoid prohibited behaviors. If you want advertisers’ money, never beg for engagement, be it in the form of likes, follows, comments, or shares (it’s also harmful to your client’s brand — to the point that you might want to learn how to temporarily deactivate Instagram).
• Don’t publish prohibited content categories. Whether or not you want to make money with Instagram ads, it’s always a good idea to avoid content that spreads misinformation, plagiarized content, and potentially harmful medical advice. 
• Steer clear of sensitive topics. Posts about religion, gender orientation, crime, politics, and similar topics won’t get you greenlit to advertisers. 
• Stay professional. Lastly, remember that advertisers also tend to avoid sexually suggestive content, strong language, and disturbing imagery. 

Take note that these policies only affect Instagram’s built-in advertising program.

You can still leverage the majority of other monetization tactics regardless if you comply with these policies or not.

As for Instagram’s Partner and Promotional tools, here’s a short list of policies you need to remember:

• Must reside in an eligible country. 
• Follow the content monetization policies and Community Guidelines.
• Avoid buying fake followers and engagement. 
• Only promote accurate and factual information. 

How to monetize Instagram: 6 ideas you should try

Great — you should now have a good idea of Instagram’s monetization policies. 

It’s time for the juicy stuff.

Here are six Instagram monetization strategies to help your clients grow: 

1. Join the Creator Marketplace

The Instagram Creator Marketplace will equip your clients with everything they need to make money with branded content.

Build up a list of preferred brand partners, specify relevant interests, create a portfolio, and earn money by publishing sponsored content — all in one place.

Image Source: instagram.com

2. Promote affiliate products

Affiliate marketing is undoubtedly the most flexible way to make money online, be it through a blog or social media page.

The rules are simple: sign up for an affiliate program, promote affiliate products, and earn commissions each time a paying customer uses your affiliate link or code. And, on Instagram, there are several ways to do this — from using a link sticker on Instagram Stories or mentioning your affiliate code in a post’s description.

Image Source: instagram.com, @lesliejoanny

3. Sell your own products

This should be a no-brainer if your client is an ecommerce brand. Influencers, professionals, and service providers can also leverage their social media reach and Instagram’s wide range of supported content formats to generate sales.  

Even real estate companies can get in on the action by using Reels to reach buyers.

Image Source: instagram.com, @oraclepropertygroup_

The key here is to use the Instagram content format that complements your client’s product or service.

A little bit of research will also unlock each content type’s full potential.

For example, if you’re producing a Story, think about the perfect stickers or music that can maximize engagement. For Reels, learn the correct Instagram Reels dimensions to preserve content quality.

4. Make money with badges 

If your client has at least 10,000 subscribers on a Creator account, streaming via Instagram Live enables them to make money through “badges.”

Just fire up the Instagram app, head to your Professional Dashboard, and tap “Set Up Badges.” Once active, your Live audience can show their support by giving you badges or “hearts” during your stream.

5. Enable Instagram subscriptions

Is your client passionate about Instagram content creation?

You can help them generate recurring revenue by offering paid Instagram subscriptions.

In exchange for payments, subscribers get exclusive access to premium Reels, Stories, Live streams, membership social channels, and more. This is a great way to monetize your client’s Instagram if they want to focus on content creation.

6. Join influencer marketplaces

Businesses on the internet are always on the lookout for potential influencers.

To help your clients land more partnerships, you can promote their Instagram account on influencer marketing networks like Collabstr and Ainfluencer. These platforms can help you through each step — from tracking brand deals to filing taxes. 

Tips for monetizing an Instagram account

Monetizing Instagram is 50% knowing the right strategies and 50% executing them with the best practices in mind.

Below are some of the most important Instagram monetization tips you should remember:

• Use Instagram features to passively generate user engagement. Anything helps, from learning how to get notes on Instagram to running Story polls, in boosting engagement and getting more conversions for your clients.
• Get to know your audience. Check Instagram’s built-in insights, poll results, and even your client’s Instagram Story viewer order to understand your audience and tailor your content strategy accordingly.
• Optimize written content. Work your marketing magic to craft optimized profile bios, photo dump captions, and DMs to build an authoritative Instagram brand. 
• Inject keywords into the right places. Help potential customers find your client’s page by adding relevant keywords or hashtags to their Instagram URL, post descriptions, thumbnails, and Story Highlight labels. 
• Establish brand guidelines and let clients help enforce them. Here’s a neat trick: you can save content as Instagram drafts and have clients manually approve them to ensure everything is on-brand. 
• Focus on community management. Don’t be afraid to block toxic users from commenting to create a more positive and welcoming environment for customers (be sure to learn the difference between Instagram restrict vs block). 

How to monetize Instagram: Frequently Asked Questions

1. How long before you can monetize Instagram?

You don’t really need to wait for a specific time period or reach a target follower count to start monetizing Instagram. With the exception of Creator Marketplace features like Live Badges, Instagram lets you use other strategies like online selling or affiliate marketing as soon as you start. 

2. Does Instagram pay you for views?

Instagram used to pay creators per 1,000 Reel views, but not anymore. The good news is, Instagram still helps creators monetize their page through brand partnerships.

3. Do you get paid for Reels?

The only way to get paid for Reels is to have it sponsored by a partner brand. You can find potential partners through the Creator Marketplace or third-party influencer marketing networks like Collabstr.

Grow your Instagram revenue with Vista Social

Successful Instagram monetization requires top-tier social media management (SMM).

This takes a combination of skill and the right tools to get the job done.

As far as SMM goes, none does it better than Vista Social.

You can schedule posts, optimize them with the right hashtags, manage conversations, track analytics, and more.

These are some of Vista Social’s advanced and immensely helpful SMM features:

• Visita Page. Allows you to add link in bio or create microsite or landing pages
• AI Assistant. The feature helps you create captions and blurbs for your social media posts
• Review management. Manage reviews from various sites.

Get started with a 14-day free trial here.