Instagram Bonuses: What is it? How does it work?

“What are Instagram bonuses?”

Chances are, you’ve been asked that question several times since you handle multiple client Instagram profiles.

Considering how most IG users are bent on monetizing their content, their eagerness to learn about Instagram bonuses is only natural.

The big question is, do you know enough about the Instagram bonus program to where you can explain it to your clients?

If you answered “no,” then you’re in the right place

Continue reading this guide to learn the ins and outs of Instagram bonuses.

What you’ll learn:

• What are Instagram Bonuses?
• How Instagram Bonuses work
• How to qualify for Instagram Bonuses
• Payout opportunities for Instagram Bonuses
• How to get started with Instagram Bonuses
  • Set up bonuses
  • Choose Reels for the Instagram Bonus program
  • Know the factors that keep you from earning from the bonus program
  • Track your Reels Play Bonus performance 
• Tips for creating Instagram Reels that help you earn bonuses
  • Create Reels that offer value
  • Post Reels at optimal times
  • Use trending music or audio
• Customers also ask
• Supercharge your Instagram marketing campaigns

What are Instagram bonuses?

Instagram bonuses are payouts that creators get based on the number of views that published Reels get within a specific bonus period or time frame (currently 30 days). 

Why Reels? Because according to recent data, Instagram Reels have an average reach rate of 20.59%, which is no small number. 

Instagram defines Play bonuses as opportunities to make money directly from the platform. 

Once you qualify to earn bonuses, you’ll get a notification on the Instagram app to start onboarding and enable bonus payouts. 

Instagram allows you to publish a maximum limit of 150 Reels and up to 11 million plays.

How Instagram bonuses work

Qualified users with a business or creator account can get Instagram Play payouts on Reels that generate at least 1,000 views within 30 days. 

Look for the expiration day of your 30-day access on your Instagram app’s Bonuses tab.

You can choose a number of Reels to count toward your Reels Play Bonus earnings, but the final payout is determined by your Reels’ performance (number of views). 

Remember that your per-play earnings can change over time, potentially decreasing as you participate in the program longer. 

The target maximum bonus payout amount and the number of plays vary for each account. For instance, you’ll need to reach over nine million views to earn a total bonus of $8,500. 

However, you can still get play bonuses (or portions of the bonus) for a thousand views and beyond, even if you don’t hit the target number of plays set by Instagram.  

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How to qualify for Instagram bonuses

The terms for Instagram Bonuses can change regularly. 

For now, the program is limited to U.S. and India-based content creators. 

There are two ways to access Instagram bonuses:

• Get a thousand Reels views within the last 30 days, and you can get a push notification from Instagram about creating content with a Bonus. 

• You must have 10,000 followers, more than five Reel videos, and 600,00 plus minutes of plays within 60 days to place ads beside your Reels. 

Instagram also provides eligibility rules and requirements for the Instagram Bonuses program, which includes the following:

• You must meet all the requirements for relevant Instagram bonus programs.
• Any branded content is currently ineligible for Instagram Bonuses. 
• You can view your progress toward earning any bonus in your professional dashboard. It can take 24 hours to update your latest earnings and progress. 
• The details and requirements of each bonus program vary by participant. You can view this information when onboarding to each program. 
• Instagram Bonuses don’t constitute the created content’s endorsement to earn said bonuses.
• Instagram won’t pay bonuses for content that reflects inauthentic or misleading behavior.  

Learn more about compliance with the bonus Program Rules under the Instagram Creator Incentive Terms.  

Payout opportunities for Instagram Reels bonuses

Understanding how much you can earn from Instagram Bonuses is crucial if you want to make it a part of your incentive program for your social media agency and managers. 

However, as mentioned above, each account’s details and requirements for earning Instagram bonuses can vary. 

Instagram can personalize the required number of plays and maximum earnings for each creator, making it challenging to determine the specific amount you could earn under the program. 

You can see your approximate bonus earnings within your bonus-specific progress page. 

Instagram processes all bonus payouts on the first day of the next month, and payout releases are on every 21st of the month. 

Your bonus payout only includes those you earned within that month. 

If your bonus opportunity runs over multiple months, you can receive earnings from the bonus opportunity throughout several payouts.

Know more by reviewing earnings and invoices within the professional dashboard. 

How to get started with Instagram bonuses

Start earning money from Instagram Bonuses with the following steps. 

Set up bonuses

Once you qualify for the Instagram Bonuses program and receive the notification to start your setup, navigate to the app. 

Then, review and accept the program’s terms and conditions.  

Select your country and business type (individual user or business owner). 

Business owners must confirm the business’s legal ownership and provide tax and legal information. 

Next, add a payout method and check available bonuses, including the Reels Play Bonus. 

Review your bonus opportunities and enable Reels Play Bonus.  

Remember to include a payout account to receive the bonus payouts. Failing to do so means you won’t monetize through bonuses after five months or after your earnings go over $500.

Plus, not adding a payout account within six months means you’re forfeiting your rights to receive payment. 

Choose Reels for the Instagram Bonus program

If you already know how to make a Reel with photos, videos, and other visual elements, choosing Reels for Instagram Bonuses should be a piece of cake. 

Before you share a Reel to include in your bonus payout, navigate to the Bonuses page on the Instagram app, and select Reels Play Bonus.

You can still modify the Reels you published within 24 hours to make them count toward your bonus payout. 

Click on Edit, go to the Bonuses page, and select Reels Play Bonus to apply it to your published Reel. 

Know the factors that keep you from earning from the bonus program

You can earn a bonus payout if you reach one of the milestones on your progress bar, even if you don’t hit your target number of plays within 30 days. 

However, your Reel can be ineligible for an Instagram Play Bonus payout if:

• You received a Reel violation thrice. Instagram allows two strikes before you become ineligible to earn Instagram Bonuses. 

A third strike means your Reels won’t be counted for a bonus for 30 days before you can monetize your Reels for bonuses again. 

• A rights holder claims your Reels. Instagram rewards creators for original content, so if a rights holder claims your Reel, Instagram automatically deems it ineligible for a Play Bonus. 

It means that if you repost a Reel on Instagram from other creators, it won’t be eligible for a bonus.  

You can appeal a Reel violation, and if you win, Instagram will consider the monetizable plays from the decision. 

However, if the win decision is released after your bonus opportunity expires, the monetizable Reel plays won’t be counted toward your payout. 

Track your Reels Play Bonus performance 

View and monitor your progress toward earning Instagram bonuses by going to your Bonus settings, and Reels Play bonus page. 

Regularly check your progress bar. It helps you improve your content strategy accordingly, from tweaking your content elements to adjusting your Instagram Reels length to boost views.  

For instance, if you’re about to earn a bonus and only need a few more views to hit your target, consider resharing one of the account’s popular Reels as a Story.

You can also repost content the brand created on other channels as a Reel or share a YouTube video on Instagram Story. 

Make your Reels or Reels shared as Stories highly engaging to help you get more views, shares, and audience interactions and hit your goal view count. 

Tips for creating Instagram Reels that help you earn bonuses

Instagram Bonus payouts let you earn money based on your Reels’ performance, which means your Reels must be engaging enough to help you hit your target views. The higher your Reels views, the more chances you’ll have of earning bonuses.

Use the following tips below to boost your Instagram Reels views.

Create Reels that offer value

Avoid creating Reels just for the sake of earning Instagram bonuses.

Focus on adding value to your audience.

After all, the more valuable your Reels, the more your audience will watch–naturally increasing your views.

Create Reels that provide a positive and memorable experience. Some examples are videos that educate, entertain, or help viewers discover new things. 

Your Reels should also be highly shareable to help your clients’ content reach more people. That way, their chances of winning new followers increase.

Post Reels at optimal times

One of the best ways to get maximum engagement for your published Reels is to post content at the right time—when your clients’ audiences are most active. 

Doing so helps the Reels you create for clients get in front of target audiences. 

Use tools with robust social media publishing features to publish Reels at optimal times to boost your chances of earning bonuses. 

For instance, Vista Social’s modern social media management platform shows suggestions for the best publishing times. Our platform also has planning, scheduling, and auto-publishing features.

One of our platform’s handiest publishing features is Instagram Planner. 

Our Instagram Planner has a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to easily add the Reels, images, and videos you want to schedule for publishing to your clients’ feeds.

It also allows you to upload Reels videos and images from your computer, a URL, users, hashtags, and more.

You can also design Instagram Reels with Vista Create. 

Vista Create allows you to make and design Reels without leaving the Vista Social platform for quick and easy content creation and publishing. 

The feature offers templates, media upload options, background music clips, animations, texts, and other editing tools to help you create engaging Instagram Reels in a flash. 

Design content that follows the required Instagram Reels dimensions. That way, your post doesn’t get padded, cropped, or stretched after publishing.  

The same applies to your Instagram Story size, so follow the recommended dimensions and specifications to ensure the content displays at its best quality. 

To find media already in the Instagram Planner’s library, use the search bar and apply filters to find the content you want quickly. 

Set the specific time and dates when you want to auto-publish Reels or add them to a publishing queue. 

Your scheduled Instagram Reels for publishing should now appear in your content calendar. 

Know the best times to publish your clients’ Reels and use a sophisticated tool with advanced publishing features to help get engagement rates and views up. 

Use trending music or audio

Include popular sounds or music in your Reels to get more people to tune into your published content.

For example, adding trending audio to Reels can also increase the chances of the content appearing on Explore pages of Instagram users who interacted with content using the same music clips. 

It’s a great way to increase your clients’ Reels’ view counts and add to your Play Bonus. 

Remember to put your or the brand’s spin into the Reel even when you use the same sound and music to keep it original.

Consider weaving in creative elements, such as highlighting parts of the lyrics relevant to the content. 

You can even add a pun or two to make things fun and interesting, getting more eyeballs on your Reels.

Customers also ask

Below are several common questions that people ask about Instagram bonuses. 

Why am I not eligible for Instagram bonuses?

Below are Instagram’s eligibility requirements that you need to adhere to.

• Meet Instagram’s community guidelines and partner monetization policies
• You must be a U.S.-based creator who’s at least 18 years old.
• You haven’t received previous Instagram bonuses. 
• You’ve published Reel with at least a thousand view

If you don’t meet these requirements, you won’t be eligible for the bonus.

Do I need original Reels to be eligible for Instagram Reels Play bonuses?

Yes. Your content must be an original creation to qualify for Instagram bonuses. 

Can I apply for eligibility under the Instagram Reels Play bonus program?

No. 

Currently, the Instagram Reels Play bonus program is invite-only. 

If you don’t get an invitation from Instagram, you likely did not meet the requirements for eligibility yet.  

Supercharge your Instagram marketing campaigns

Take your Instagram marketing to the next level with Vista Social.

Our social media management platform has many advanced features capable of bringing you more followers, engagements, leads, and even sales.

Below are some of Vista Social’s top features:

• AI assistant
• Advanced scheduling and publishing features
• Smart, centralized inbox
• Advanced and highly customizable analytics
• Etc.

Take Vista Social for a spin! Create a free account now.