Did you know that affiliate marketing with Instagram is easier than launching your very own website?
Social media nowadays has become a complex platform that’s both convenient for marketers and users.
The thing about the digital age is that users are much more active on social media.
which means that you can easily reach an audience on Instagram.
One of the goals of affiliate marketers is to get their links out there in the most cost-effective way.
Some team up with their Dream 100 to grow their list, which is also effective but takes a while to reach your goals.
Nonetheless, it’s still progress no matter how fast or slow it is.
But how exactly do you link your affiliate links on Instagram and how does affiliate marketing work on the platform?
What is Instagram?
Instagram is a social networking app owned by Meta (previously known as Facebook), which also owns WhatsApp.
The app allows its users to share and edit photos online for free and billions of people around the world are using it every day.
But because every platform can be a marketplace, Instagram has become a good platform for marketers.
Instagram is also a place where influencers promote brands to their followers since it’s simple and you only need to take good-looking photos to be noticed.
Plus, you don’t have to worry about having a huge following since you can grow your audience on the way.
You can use hashtags and staying consistent is already enough to help you achieve your goals.
Affiliate Marketing With Instagram
Can you use Instagram for affiliate marketing?
This is one of the most common questions asked by beginner affiliates who want to monetize their followers on Instagram.
And yes, you can use the platform for affiliate marketing.
With Instagram, it’s easy to monetize your social media followers as an affiliate marketer even if you don’t have that blue badge on your profile.
The social media app comes with features that make it easier to keep track of your progress.
In case you didn’t know, affiliate marketing is a powerful strategy that allows influencers to promote products or services and earn commissions on the side.
If you have an audience on Instagram, why not take that opportunity to earn money, right?
Important factors in Instagram affiliate marketing
We all know that affiliate marketing isn’t just putting your links out there and praying that someone will click them.
It’s not just taking “aesthetic” photos since you also need to focus on other things and not just how your photos look.
No matter which platform you’re planning to promote a brand, you should know that there are important factors for effective affiliate marketing.
Quality Content
Consumers are more likely to interact with things that provide value and are worth their attention.
If you’re only planning to post products and links without making them look attractive and pleasing to the eye, then it wouldn’t work.
Since Instagram is more on the visual side compared to blog posts, you need to make your content high quality.
Once you have beautiful content on your profile, this will help you gain more followers on the way.
Engagement
Instagram may be focused on the visuals but if you want to connect with the right prospects, make your posts more engaging.
A simple “link in bio” isn’t enough to make them click on your link.
If you can write a decent description, that makes your content even more effective in getting potential customers.
Hashtags
Hashtags might be old-school stuff but they’re actually very helpful in reaching an audience.
Ever since Instagram added the feature where you can follow hashtags, this allows followers to see content on their feed right away.
Some people go to Instagram to search for local businesses to find products just like how they use Google and YouTube.
Consistency
Staying consistent in doing the three factors above is all you need when doing affiliate marketing with Instagram.
When you’re consistent with posting quality content and engaging with your followers, Instagram will show your posts more to people who interact with you.
Even if you think Instagram is only a place where people share photos of their lives. There’s actually more to it than just a simple social media platform and it keeps getting better as it keeps adding more features.
How does it work?
When using Instagram to promote products, the affiliate links are often posted in the profile bio.
You may have come across an influencer while scrolling your feed where they put “link in bio” on the description.
This link redirects users to their landing page where they can choose different products that they might be interested to buy.
Unfortunately, Instagram doesn’t allow users to put links as a caption that’s why you can’t directly add them to a post.
Alternatively, they can also add links to their stories and compile them in their highlights so that users can still check them out.
PROS and CONS of Instagram Affiliate Marketing
Instagram may be a good platform to be an affiliate but it also has its downside that you should be aware of.
PROS
- Increase Brand Awareness and Followers
- Increase Engagement
- Comes with advanced features
- Easier to reach organic traffic
CONS
- Some marketplaces don’t allow Instagram affiliate marketing
- Limited features available
Which marketplaces allow Instagram affiliate marketing?
Some big brands allow marketers to post links on Instagram. If you’re interested, you can try applying as an affiliate to:
ShareASale
ShareASale is one of the oldest affiliate marketplaces that has been around for more than 20 years.
The platform is well-known for its amazing offers and campaigns that help affiliates earn high commissions.
Rakuten
Rakuten Advertising is an affiliate marketplace that comes with popular brands and advertisers like New Balance, Sephora, JanSport, Udemy, and more.
Their program is actually quite different from its competitors since they don’t require affiliates to apply for the different advertisers once they apply.
CJ Affiliate
CJ Affiliate is another leading affiliate marketing platform that comes with the best brands to promote since it has over a thousand advertising partners.
Formerly known as Commission Junction, CJ Affiliate has become reputable for its rich ecosystem of advertisers.
Amazon
Amazon is the most popular online marketplace that has been around for years now and it’s no doubt they have an affiliate program to help promote their products.
Commission rates may depend on the different shopping categories but one thing for sure is that they have a wide range of products that you can promote on Instagram.
ClickBank
ClickBank is a huge affiliate marketing platform that’s popularly known as a retailer that sells products from different companies.
They also have one of the most reliable affiliate programs that you can find online
By the way, these are only a few of the popular affiliate marketplaces online that weren’t included here.
Want to learn more stuff about affiliate marketing? Click here to check out our affiliate marketing course.
Tips to be good at Instagram affiliate marketing
Every affiliate marketer wants to be good at Instagram that’s why we’ve compiled a few tips that you can use to level up your marketing strategies.
Choose an appropriate username
If you want your account to look real and reliable, use a username that’s easy to remember without lots of numbers and strange characters.
This is very important so that followers can easily search and tag you in their photos.
Just keep it simple.
Make your profile look attractive
This is probably the wow factor that makes users follow influencers.
Choosing a relevant profile picture and building an “Instagram-worthy” feed, is one of the reasons why people gain lots of followers.
Since the platform is more on the visual side, people are most likely to engage with accounts that are worthy of their attention.
Make your account public
Try to check if your account is visible to the public.
If your profile is private, it will only give you a hard time to appear on the ‘explore’ or ‘similar posts’ pages.
Have a creator account
Having a creator account is highly beneficial to content creators and influencers since it has special features that the regular account lacks such as the ‘insights’ tool.
This feature will help keep track of their performance on the platform.
Pick a niche
Focusing on a specific niche is also very important since it allows you to have a theme on your profile.
If your niche is plants and gardening, always try to post content that is relevant to your niche.
Add relevant hashtags
We all know how hashtags get our content on Instagram that’s why using relevant hashtags is a good way to reach organic traffic.
Some people even use hashtags to gain a following but be careful when adding them to avoid being tagged as spam.
To ensure that you’re using the right hashtags, doing some research can go a long way so take time on your relevant hashtags.
Interact with followers
The thing about Instagram is that it’s one of the best places to keep engaged with your followers.
Most big companies prefer accounts that have high engagement rates since it converts more.
If you want to have your profile appear in the best places, increasing engagement and responding to comments is a must.
What are sponsored posts and paid ads on Instagram?
These are both paid posts except that sponsored posts on Instagram can be content from an Influencer who was paid to post the product for their followers
On the other hand, Paid ads are the ones that randomly pop out on your news feed that has “Sponsored”.
What’s the difference between affiliate marketing and influencer marketing?
Affiliate marketing and influencer marketing share the same goal: increase brand awareness.
The only thing that makes these two structures different is that influencers receive a fixed commission, whereas affiliates earn commissions through affiliate links.
Sometimes affiliates work with influencers since it’s easier; they already have organic followers that you can easily reach.
Another benefit of working with Instagram influencers is that you can create a unique relationship between
Want to learn more stuff about affiliate marketing? Click here to check out our affiliate marketing course.
