What number of followers do I need to start making money on Instagram?

Earning money at Instagram is a nice extra income for many influencers. But how many followers do I need to start making money on Instagram? In this blog article, we will explain to you which requirements you have to meet, what number of followers you need to earn money on Instagram and how you can use stylink to achieve this.

Is reach everything?

As with other social media platforms, it naturally depends on the reach. The more people your post or story reaches, the more influential you are as an influencer. Especially stars like Zoë Sugg, Sarah Ashcroft or Lorna Luxe earn a lot of money with Instagram. They are among the top influencers with millions of followers. But even if you do not have millions of followers on Instagram, it is still possible for you to earn money with Instagram. Reach is not the only critical factor for your success at Instagram. If you have perhaps 15,000 followers on Instagram as a micro-influencer, the chances are high that the commitment is better compared to large influencers. Your followers may link, share, save and comment more often than on an Instagram account with several hundred thousand followers. Relevance and credibility usually beat reach. But more about that later.

How many followers you need

On Instagram, it used to be an advantage to have more than 10,000 followers. With 10,000 Followers you could use the desired Swipe Up feature and place affiliate links, such as the recommendation links from stylink. But now, thanks to the new link sticker function that is available to all users, everyone can insert affiliate links to their stories. Once you have created an affiliate link with the Linkmaker, you can post it in your story. The more followers click on your linked product, the more money you earn. If you don’t know stylink yet, please read our detailed instructions for the Linkmaker.

Earn money as a micro-influencer at Instagram

One speaks of a micro-influencer when the number of followers is between 10,000 and 40,000. The definitions are often vague and vary from source to source. As already mentioned, these micro-influencers have fewer followers than the “big” influencers, but they usually have a very high level of commitment. Micro-influencers are, therefore, often considered more authentic. They are usually more concerned with the wishes of their followers and exchange ideas with them. Micro-influencers are often active in a specific niche, i.e. they do not only post on big, popular topics such as beauty and fashion, but also on topics such as running, bringing up children or skin problems. Ellie McLean, for example, has more than 16,000 followers who interact strongly with Ellie’s contributions. Followers of micro-influencers appreciate the lively exchange and credible content. They get the feeling that it is not only about sales and advertising, but that there is a certain closeness between them and the micro-influencer. A close bond gets created between the influencer and their followers.

Should you buy followers to earn money on Instagram?

It could be so easy: you could buy followers for a few euros to have more followers in general. We advise you: Don’t do that. Because you would have more followers but they won’t be active. These bought followers do not interact with your posts and bring you no money on Instagram. The fraud can be evident at first sight with many bought followers: If you have 100,000 followers, but your contributions average is only 1,000 Likes, you can immediately see that something is wrong. The Instagram Algorithm, your community and companies do not like to see this. If someone from the marketing department is looking for an influencer for cooperation, they might look at your Instagram profile. If it becomes apparent that you have a big community of followers, but hardly any comments or likes, you are immediately classified as dubious, and the possible cooperation drifts away. So don’t buy followers, no matter how tempting it is. If you continue to post good content, success will come automatically. Read more about winning followers in our blog post: 15 hacks for more followers on Instagram.

Money for posts and stories: Cooperations on Instagram

Cooperations with brands and companies are an attractive way to earn money with Instagram. However, it is a bit trickier to get this kind of cooperation than posting recommendation links in your Instagram stories using stylink. It isn’t easy to give a fixed price for a sponsored post that you can earn as an influencer. Firstly, it depends on the industry and how much a company pays for sponsored content. Topics such as beauty, fitness, travel and lifestyle bring in more money than art or business content, for example. Besides, it depends on the number of followers, that’s obvious. The more users are reached with the post, the more a brand is willing to pay for it. Gently ask what your advertising partner is willing to spend for your posts. If you have any doubts, you can ask other influencers in your area for advice on Instagram. When you’re ready for cooperation, don’t get tempted to post too many posts to promote one product. Your followers can quickly become annoyed when they think they only see advertisements on your profile.

Conclusion: Be credible and honest as an influencer

Even if you don’t have thousands of followers yet, don’t get discouraged and stay tuned. Keep posting engaging content – it will pay off. Be authentic and involve your followers. No matter how many followers you have, you can use the link sticker to make money on Instagram. You can benefit from stylink’s per-click compensation and earn money for every click of your Insta followers. And who knows – maybe one of our partner shops will also have you in their sights and offer you an attractive collaboration opportunity.