An influencer stands in front of balloons celebrating 275,000 Instagram followers. — Influencer JaLisa Vaughn-Jefferson.

Marrica Evans

Influencers on Instagram earn money in a multitude of ways.
From sponsored content to getting tipped on IG Live, creators balance several streams of income.
We spoke with dozens of creators who shared how much money they earn.
See more stories on Insider’s business page.

Instagram and influencers go hand-in-hand.

The Meta-owned social-media platform has become a primary stage for influencers launching their careers. And they don’t need millions of followers to earn money on Instagram.

As more brands turn to smaller creators like “nano” or “micro” influencers with under 100,000 followers, establishing a full-time career as a creator is no longer a pipe dream.

But it’s not so straightforward to start earning money on Instagram. Unlike YouTube, Instagram doesn’t yet have a comparable payment system in place like YouTube’s Partner Program. Typically, influencers rely on sponsored content to make a living. From posting a picture to the main feed with #ad to sharing swipe-up links in a series of Stories, sponsored content takes on many different shapes.

Rates for these types of brand deals also vary.

For instance, influencer Alexa Collins — who has over one million followers — charged upwards of $1,000 for a sponsored Story on Instagram when Insider spoke with her. Meanwhile, Tyler Chanel, a micro influencer, told Insider she’d start at $100 for an Instagram Story and goes up from there, depending on the content and deliverables.

To land on these rates, some influencers rely on formulas like charging brands $100 for every 10,000 followers. But not everyone agrees on one formula.

Each deal has to also account for an influencer’s following, engagement metrics, and niche, while also calculating added fees like exclusivity, usage rights, and timing.

But if influencers negotiate well, brand deals can lead to big paychecks. For instance, one influencer with 275,000 followers told Insider she had booked $700,000 in brand deals in six months. And two micro influencers told Insider they’d earned six-figure salaries as full-time creators in 2021.

Sponsored content, however, isn’t the only income generator for these influencers — although it is generally the most lucrative.

Influencers also make money on Instagram through commissions on affiliate links, profits from selling merchandise, and proceeds from monetization tools the platform is slowly rolling out. One influencer who spoke with Insider made an average of $5,000 per month through affiliate links alone. Others are earning thousands of dollars from Instagram Reels Bonus Program.

Insider has spoken with nearly two dozen Instagram influencers about how much money they charge brands for sponsored content and how else they make a living using the app.

Here’s a comprehensive breakdown of Insider’s Instagram money log series:

How much money Instagram influencers make from brand deals

Working with brands on sponsored content is how many influencers earn an income on Instagram.

22 Instagram influencers told us how much they charge for and have earned from sponsored content. Here’s a full breakdown of our coverage:

“Macro” and “Mega” influencers

Micro influencers

Nano influencers

How Instagram influencers earn money beyond brand deals

From earning a small commission through affiliate links to getting tipped by followers on an Instagram Live, there’s a host of supplementary sources of income for creators on Instagram.

How much money do influencers make by promoting links or selling their own products?

Affiliate marketing

Influencers use platforms like LTK and ShopStyle to generate affiliate links or discount codes provided by brands to earn a percentage of sales.

Adding these links just got easier, too. In 2021, Instagram released the ability to add link stickers in Stories to all users — regardless of the follower count or verification status.

The platform also began testing native-to-Instagram affiliate marketing tools for influencers in 2021. Instagram has slowly expanded the test to more creators and has added new features like affiliate shops or expanding affiliates to Reels.

Read more:

Using Instagram’s suite of monetization tools

Facebook, now called Meta, announced in July 2021 that it would invest over $1 billion through 2022 into paying creators.

Since then, Instagram has announced several new monetization features for creators — including its own affiliate-marketing tools and subscriptions. And although the platform’s ad-revenue share program for ads played on IGTV (which rebranded to “Instagram Video”) came to an end in 2022, creators have turned to Reels as a way to earn money.

Instagram has several incentive programs under the umbrella of “Bonuses,” which pays creators for using features like Live or Reels and meeting certain goals or challenges.

In December, meme creator Jackson Weimer told Insider that he was paid over $6,000 from his Reels. Meta also added a bonus program and more ways to earn money from Reels on Facebook.

Creators can also make money on Instagram through “Badges” (a tipping feature) and selling their own merchandise or products in-app.

Read more:

Selling courses, direct-to-consumer products, and merch

Influencers can sell their own products and merchandise directly through Instagram’s shopping features, or leverage their audience to promote their own brands, products, coaching services, or online courses.

Some influencers, like Huda Kattan, go on to found brands that are worth millions — or even billions — of dollars.

Read more:

Reselling clothing

Resale apps like Poshmark, Depop, and Etsy have become lucrative small businesses for many Instagram creators.

Read more:

Poshmark clothing resellers are becoming Instagram influencers to drive thousands of dollars in sales and land brand deals

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