Is it hard to make money on Instagram? How many followers does it take to become an influencer?
Business Insider set out to answer these questions by interviewing 20 Instagram brand ambassadors with follower counts from 2,000 to 100,000. They found that while it’s still tough to get major endorsements, becoming a “nano” or “micro” influencer is more simple than many people think.
Recently, Instagram debuted a number of programs designed to incentivize users to promote specific brands. For example, in October, Instagram opened link stickers to all users. This makes it easy to create links to any brand from inside of a story. The company also unveiled bonus payments for reels that get more than 1,000 views as well as a new affiliate marketing program that’s still in the testing phase.
To date, there are still only a few remodelers who earn virtually all of their revenue from product sponsorships on Instagram. These professionals take on just two or three projects a year solely to provide an opportunity to use the sponsored products. But while these individuals are rare, the barriers to entry seem to be coming down as the social media platform becomes increasingly friendly to affiliate marketing.
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