Affiliate marketing and Instagram marketing are multi-billion dollar industries, and combining the two can create a lucrative side hustle.
Affiliate marketers on Instagram get paid when their followers purchase products they recommend on the platform.
Instagram is an ideal platform for affiliates, and not just because nearly half of users shop on the platform: Instagram's content formats (images, videos, livestreams) allow creators to provide detailed product information to shoppers.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to use Instagram for affiliate marketing and give you 7 tips to maximize your commission.
What is Instagram Affiliate Marketing?
Instagram affiliate marketing is a type of marketing where affiliates recommend a brand's products or services through Instagram. Affiliates receive a commission when their audience clicks on their unique affiliate link and makes a purchase.
There are several ways to leverage Instagram to reap the benefits of affiliate marketing: creators can include affiliate links in their stories, share personal discount codes, and direct users to brand websites from their profiles.
How to Get Started with Affiliate Marketing on Instagram
- Switch to a Creator or Business account
- Choosing the Right Affiliate Partner
- Increase your influence
Before we explain how to make money on Instagram with affiliate marketing, follow these three steps to prepare your account for affiliate promotion through the Creator Marketplace.
1. Switch to a Creator or Business account
To do affiliate marketing on Instagram, you need to convert your Instagram account into a professional account for creators or businesses. If you have a creator account, follow these key steps:
1. Open your Instagram account and tap on the hamburger menu.
2. Selection Settings and Privacy.
3. Tap Account Types and Tools.
4. If you are migrating from a personal account, Switch to a Professional Account Tap creatorIf you're migrating from a business profile: Switch to a Creator Account.
5. Choose a category that best represents your affiliate niche.
Instagram Creator Profile is designed for bloggers, influencers, and content creators.
For creators who want to monetize their audience on the platform, we provide access to tools like advanced analytics to see follower growth, audience demographics, and manage and sort multiple inboxes by type of message and engagement.
2. Choose the right affiliate partner
To make money on Instagram with affiliate marketing, you need to find brands that will pay you commission for the kind of products that you can authentically promote and sell.
There are two places to start:
- Affiliate Marketing Programs: Brands in various niches offer creators the opportunity to promote their products in exchange for a commission. Popular programs include Shopify Affiliates and Amazon Associates.
- Affiliate Networks: Platforms like ShareASale, Rakuten Advertising, Awin, and CJ Affiliate aggregate affiliate opportunities and allow marketers to generate custom links, track commissions, and receive payments from one dashboard.
It's reported that 80% of brands have affiliate programs. Many are free or have a low fee to join, but some of the more expensive affiliate programs are invitation-only.
3. Increase your influence
The size and engagement of your audience will impact the types of affiliate opportunities you have access to as a creator: Instagram influencers with fewer than 10,000 followers may struggle to negotiate individual commission agreements with affiliate program owners.
Here are some tips to boost your influence on Instagram:
Post when your audience is active
Look at your Instagram analytics to determine the best time to post on Instagram.
Be consistent
It lets users know what to expect when they click the follow button for the first time. Sharing new content continuously increases the chances of your followers engaging, which is a parameter within Instagram's algorithm.
Share non-promotional content
Maintain authenticity in your content by posting mostly non-promotional content. Marc Bromhall, founder of affiliate website Beginner Surf Gear, says, “I use the 1 in 20 principle, so only 5% of my posts are affiliate posts.”
Pick a Niche
Your goal is to become known as a trustworthy source of information, news, or entertainment within the industry in which you sell affiliate products. Being passionate about your niche will give you credibility in the eyes of your audience.
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6 Tips to Increase Affiliate Sales on Instagram
- Labeling affiliate products as paid partnerships
- Use a link in your profile
- Create a discount code Story highlights
- Record a product demo
- Use hashtags to expand your reach
- Track and adjust performance
Once you have set up your Instagram affiliate account, there are a few strategies you can implement to increase your sales.
1. Label your affiliate products as paid partnerships
The Federal Trade Commission has strict guidelines on how marketers must disclose relationships when it comes to social media advertising, including affiliate marketing.
If you use affiliate links, you must clearly state your relationship with the retailer so readers can rate your review or recommendation. You could say something like, “I receive a commission when a purchase is made through a link in this post.”
Instagram has launched Paid Partnership Labels, a feature to help affiliate marketers meet FTC approval requirements, which provides tagging opportunities for sharing branded content, as shown in the following Instagram post from Chantel Mila.
In this Instagram post created by @joycekittykat, a paid partnership tag indicates that Joyce has partnered with luxury accessories brand Eric Javits.
“Don't hide the fact that you're doing affiliate marketing, or it will come across as spam,” says marketer Latis Hudson. [audience]It's about building real relationships through authentic content. If they only feel commercially motivated, customers won't come back.”
2. Use a link in your profile
Since you can't add links to organic posts, take advantage of the link space in your bio – Instagram allows up to five links in your bio.
If they want more, affiliate marketers can also use a link aggregator like Linkpop to create landing pages containing their affiliate links, creating one link hub that can be used on their Instagram profile and elsewhere.
3. Highlight a story to create a discount code
Did you know that 40% of US consumers look for coupon codes before shopping online? Implement that information into your affiliate marketing strategy by sharing discount codes with your Instagram followers through Instagram Stories.
The story format is one of the most popular formats on Instagram. In stories, you can add affiliate links using link stickers to direct people to your products. Check out this example from @lilypeppbles:
Stories only last for 24 hours, but you can make them more permanent by creating Story Highlights, which will appear on your profile under your bio.
4. Record a product demo
Affiliate marketing works when your Instagram followers get to know you, like you, and trust you enough to buy the products you recommend. By demonstrating how to use your products, you help potential customers do just that, without having to leave their Instagram feed to search for answers.
There are several ways to achieve this:
- Instagram Stories. This feature allows you to post vlog-style videos.
- Instagram Reels. Use Instagram Reels for short TikTok-style videos.
- Instagram Live. Leverage Instagram Live to stream product tutorials.
“The best Instagram affiliate content typically takes the form of a recommendation or real-life product application rather than a sales pitch,” says Hector Ruiz, founder of affiliate website BBQ Grill Academy.
For example, in this Instagram video by @samiorenelda, the creator shows that she's partnered with Adobe to create demo videos for their products.
5. Use hashtags to expand your reach
To build an affiliate marketing business that generates passive income, you need to continually gain new followers on Instagram. With more people paying attention to your content, you reduce the risk of your audience becoming bored (getting tired of seeing the same content over and over again).
Hashtags help you engage and grow your audience: Instagram users can follow hashtags within the app, so your content can appear in their feed even if they don't follow the account.
To find Instagram hashtags, start by researching your competitors. Brands, bloggers, and publishers often use hashtags to expand their reach. Look at the captions and first comments of the Instagram posts they share to get ideas.
Before adding hashtags, double-check that they're not prohibited by Instagram's policies or guidelines. Hashtags like #adulting, #beautyblogger, #pushups, etc. are often misused and associated with spam content. Using these hashtags in your affiliate content may cause your content to be deprioritized.
6. Track and adjust performance
Tracking your affiliate performance is an important way to evaluate which marketing strategies are working with your audience.
Both affiliates and brands can collect and analyze this data through the affiliate marketing dashboard, which gives them key metrics such as conversion rates for promoted affiliate items, number of clicks on affiliate links, average order value (AOV), and more.
Additional key performance indicators (KPIs) include:
- Profile Activity. If you encourage your followers to put together a link collection, see how many people click on the link from your profile.
- Engagement rate. Evaluate this by your affiliate product offering, content type, and format – if tutorial-based Instagram Stories have a higher engagement rate than standard grid posts, prioritize them going forward.
- Followers. Knowing whether your Instagram followers are decreasing or increasing, and if that increase (or decrease) correlates with a specific campaign, can help you determine which strategies are most effective.
Gathering these types of insights can help you tailor your approach on how to get the most out of Instagram to boost your sales.
Start your Instagram affiliate marketing journey
Instagram is constantly evolving its platform to make it more creator-friendly, which is great news for affiliate marketers who use the social media network as a tool to earn additional income.
To get started with Instagram affiliate marketing, you'll first need to switch to a creator account, secure an affiliate partner, and build up your influence. Only then can you start promoting affiliate products that will entice your followers to buy.
Frequently asked questions about Instagram affiliate marketing
How do I do affiliate marketing on Instagram?
Switch to your Creator Account and get started with Instagram affiliate marketing. Attract new followers, grow your influence, and promote products that earn you commissions through your Stories, Reels, and Grid posts.
How do I get started in affiliate marketing as a beginner?
How many followers do you need to do Instagram affiliate marketing?
When sharing affiliate products on Instagram, quality of followers is more important than quantity. If your audience is niche and highly engaged, you can start earning passive income through Instagram even with less than 1,000 followers.
How do affiliate marketers make money on Instagram?
Instagram users monetize their profiles by sharing affiliate content. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link, you earn a commission. The percentage varies depending on the brand.
