Instagram is the third-most popular social media network – making it an immensely powerful way for brands to connect with their target market.
Social media marketers no longer simply use Instagram to promote their products – but instead it's used to drive direct sales.
In this guide, we'll explore different ways to monetize Instagram. We'll focus specifically on the ways brands can use Instagram marketing strategies and monetization methods to generate sales and revenue.
Let's get started.
How brands can generate leads on Instagram
The most direct form of Instagram monetization for businesses is through an Instagram Shop. This online store lets you sell directly to customers from within Instagram, creating a seamless shopping experience.
Businesses can also partner with creators and influencers in affiliate marketing campaigns. Affiliate links are powerful because they incentivize your partners and influencers to drive their audience members to shop for your products or services.
Some brands even collaborate with popular Instagram creators to create one-off products that appeal to fans. This expands markets and opens up new revenue opportunities.
But you don't need a shop on Instagram or an influencer partnership to drive leads. Compelling Instagram content will also help increase your product awareness and drive sales from your audience.
Types of content most effective for sales on Instagram
Engaging content is the number one driver of success and sales on Instagram. This means well-written and well-thought-out copy and high quality imagery. It's important for any brand to consider its goals and target audience when building an Instagram marketing strategy.
A good mix of posts on your Instagram feed will include:
Product images
Your products or services should be the star of the show on Instagram. If you can produce video posts, photos, and Instagram Reels that make your products look appealing and create an eye-catching, scroll-stopping moment, you'll drive more views and engagement. In turn, this will drive leads to your sales page.
User-generated content (UGC)
User-generated content is a powerful way to drive sales. This is mainly because peer-to-peer content builds trust and community, which improves consumer confidence in your product. You can get plenty of UGC by partnering with an influencer or fans.
Hashtag challenges related to your brand, product, or service can also help drive UGC and build your profile. Unboxing videos are a popular and highly successful type of UGC that can help to drive sales.
How-to guides and tutorials
How-to guides and tutorials are a good way to sell your product or service's unique features in a compelling way. How-tos allow you to weave a story about use cases into the guide. They're also useful for customers who recently bought your product, which helps improve the amount of positive reviews and customer testimonials you'll receive.
Product demonstrations
Instagram Reels that show products being used in different scenarios or explore key features will help drive sales. These Reels should be eye-catching and visually appealing in a style that matches your brand image. Affiliate relationships amplify this style of content because popular creators have more Instagram followers than your Instagram page might attract on its own.
Product feature highlights
Short-form content, like Instagram Stories, is a good way to show off the key features of your products or services. Stories are also suggested to users on other Meta platforms like Facebook, so you get exposure to other Instagram users and across other social media audiences.
Stories are also useful because you can add a link on a Story to direct fans to your products or website.
Long story short: The best content to drive sales on Instagram is compelling, engaging, and useful to your target audience. This is the Instagram content more likely to get high engagement and maximum reach.
9 ways to make money on Instagram
Instagram offers a variety of ways to make money for creators, influencers, and brands. We'll quickly delve into all of these below, but with a special focus on the ways these Instagram monetization techniques benefit business pages.
1. Sponsored content
Sponsored content is a way to earn money by driving sales through a third-party sales channel. A brand partnership that includes sponsored posts allows you to access the large and loyal audiences of Instagram personalities. These creators have engaged followers, and Instagram users are more likely to buy products from brands that partner with their favorite creators.
2. Leverage Instagram Shop
Instagram's shopping features build a seamless path to sales for Instagram business accounts. Once you have over 10,000 followers, the platform lets you set up an Instagram Shop account.
With this feature set up you can tag products in your posts, Reels, and Stories to make it easier for your target market to buy in-app with a frictionless experience.
Benefits include a higher sale rate because there's less drop-off between exposure and purchase, plus better trackability and metrics for your campaigns. With an Instagram Shop, you compress the purchasing funnel to one location and make it easier for potential customers to convert.
3. Promotional offers
Instagram is a vibrant platform with a high level of immediacy. This immediacy is a compelling sales trigger, and you can amplify that sense of urgency by running promotional offers on the platform. This includes running campaigns to promote current promos and offers, as well as running dedicated Instagram promo offers that followers of your Instagram account have access to.
4. Affiliate marketing
Put simply, an affiliate marketer is anyone who is incentivized to sell your products. On Instagram, affiliate products are promoted by brand ambassadors or paid influencers who earn a commission from sales originating from an affiliate link, or that use a unique promo code.
This elevates passive influencer marketing campaigns into an active partnership where your partners are actively selling products or services on behalf of your brand.
5. Social selling
In this instance, social selling is using your Instagram presence to build a community of potential customers. Real estate agents are good examples of successful social sellers. Many in this industry understand the value of personal branding for building relationships.
A dedicated Instagram page for your professional persona lets you expand your influence and reach out into the community to attract new customers. Authentic and human connections are one of Instagram's main draws, and you can use these assets to drive sales.
6. Run ads for your business
Every successful social media marketing campaign involves at least some paid advertising. Successful Instagram marketers run ads which help amplify their efforts. Paid campaigns on Instagram let you sell physical and digital products to an audience larger than your follower count, which drives more leads and sales to your website or profile.
7. Explore subscriptions
Brands or businesses that sell digital content might choose to explore Instagram subscriptions. Digital products sold by businesses under this model include online courses, training modules, how-to-videos, user guides, and much more. Fans pay for exclusive content that offers value. In some cases, fans want to subscribe to brand accounts to get access to new features or to improve their skills with a product.
Another way to use subscriptions is by creating a Broadcast Channel. Broadcast Channels gives subscribers exclusive access to product drops or content that improves their connection to your brand.
8. Hire influencers to generate leads and drive sales
Use influencers to help you engage with audiences and drive sales. Influencers make money on Instagram through mutually beneficial brand partnerships – which might include affiliate partnerships, brand ambassador agreements, or sponsored content.
A network of influencers each with their own personal style boosts your brand's Instagram sales by multiplying your available reach. Influencers can promote your products or share promo codes in their posts, Reels, Stories, and even in live videos to drive more sales.
9. Leverage longer Reels for in-depth product releases
Instagram recently introduced its longer, three-minute Reels format. This new post feature is perfect for long-form product descriptions and even product release events. Product release videos drive product awareness and hype.
Eligible Instagram accounts with over 10,000 followers can add a link to your Reel, which lets you make money on Instagram by collecting deposits directly from your online launch.
Proven tips for successfully monetizing Instagram
Learning how to make money on Instagram is one thing. But planning an Instagram strategy that provides value for money is another.
Here are some best practices and tips for monetizing your Instagram successfully:
Build a strong following
Step one is to make sure you have a large audience of engaged followers. The best way to do that is by creating high-quality, relevant content that gets seen by a large number of people.
To build and grow a powerful social media presence:
- Create a content plan and post consistently
- Create high-quality content
- Use hashtags effectively
- Use social media tracking tools to measure your results
Social media management tools will help you plan, execute, and track your content to maximize your audience growth.
Engage with your audience
Engagement is king on Instagram. When you respond to comments, likes, and messages from your Instagram followers you help build a community around your brand account on the platform. This will help drive even more engagement, which Meta algorithms reward by sending you more impressions and views. This reciprocal cycle not only helps you promote your brand and products but leads to more leads and conversions.
Understand your niche
Use social media analytics tools to help assess your audience. Discover more about your demographic, such as when they're active on the platform and the type of content they respond most to. You can use these same tools to conduct competitive analysis as well.
Arming yourself with a clear understanding of your market segment will help you identify opportunities to drive sales and revenue using your Instagram profile.
Be patient
The speed of social media might make this next point sound counter-intuitive – but patience is a virtue when it comes to success on social. There are a few reasons for this.
To start with, it takes time for results to show on Instagram. Secondly, it's important to post your content when it's most likely to be seen and reacted to by your target customer, so wait for the right time to launch your next post, Reel, or Story.
Lastly, it takes time to get the mix of organic content, paid content marketing, partnerships, and programming right. Take time to gather data before you decide whether or not your social media strategy is working.
Frequently asked questions
Can you make money on Instagram with Broadcast Channels?
Brands can create Broadcast Channels to encourage more loyalty from followers. Customers sign up to their favorite brands' Broadcast Channels for VIP access to exclusive content drops and product launch events online. Businesses can leverage these tools to drive leads and sales.
Are giveaways good for generating leads?
Giveaways generate hype and engagement, which helps to drive leads because it increases the traffic to your Instagram profile. This makes it more likely users will click the link in your bio or the links in your posts so you can make more money on Instagram.
Giveaways can also help you identify qualified shoppers who are interested in your products, which gives you more opportunities to sell to them through Instagram and other social media platforms.
What are the best ways to monetize your Instagram in 2025?
The best ways to monetize your Instagram profile in 2025 are to:
- Create engaging content that drives sales leads to your own website
- Set up an Instagram Shop to sell directly to your followers through a mini online store
- Partner with Instagram creators to drive sales and make money through affiliate marketer relationships
Instagram is a powerful way to connect with consumers and drive direct sales through a variety of tools.
What types of content generate the most revenue on Instagram?
Conversion content is anything that drives a user to click a link to buy something, fill out their information, or take some other action. Once a customer has committed to interacting this way they're more likely to convert, helping you make money.
High-quality product reveals or unboxing videos are a great option to make money on Instagram because they generate product desire and demand. This content works best when it's connected to an online store, or when it's hosted by a popular creator with a direct affiliate link to capture sales leads.
Other revenue-driving Instagram posts include shoppable posts and visually appealing stories selling products like t-shirts or apparel.
Make money on Instagram with quality content
Visually appealing, educational, customer-centric content is the key to making money from your Instagram marketing efforts. A mix of organic content, paid Instagram ads, and partnerships with Instagram creators will help you reach the biggest possible audience.
A large, highly engaged audience drives product awareness, desire, and ultimately more sales leads to your website. The social capital invested in Instagram makes these customers stickier and more valuable, giving brands an elevated ROI over other direct sales marketing efforts.
