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Best Instagram Business Ideas for 2021
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Want to learn how to make money on Instagram? I can’t blame you. Instagram is one of the biggest platforms with 1 billion active users. If you love Instagram and love creating visual stories and content, this could be the gig you are looking for! But, you are not really sure what kind of Instagram business ideas to start, and you absolutely have no idea how to get started.
Don’t worry. I researched this money-making opportunity to share with you some incredible Instagram business ideas you could start and make money from this year. In this post, you will also learn how much other people are earning from their Instagram business.
But first…
Why Do Business On Instagram?
I believe that every social media platform has its own unique way of helping you make money. But why Instagram, though?
Instagram has been around for the last 10 years. Over the last decade, we’ve seen Instagram grow from being an app where one posts photos, to a platform that markets businesses. According to Statista, Instagram has managed to increase its number of active users from 37% to 39% over the last year. Instagram now has over 1 billion active users.
But not only that, Instagram also proves to be an excellent platform for people to discover new products, and for brands to promote their businesses. Additionally, 87% of the respondents say they take action after seeing a product, such as going to the brand’s website, following the brand, and even making a purchase. Instagram has indeed become such a powerful platform that if your business isn’t on it, you’re likely to be bypassed by your competitors.
9 Incredible Instagram Business Ideas For 2021
1. Instagram Influencer
When it comes to Instagram profile business ideas, becoming an influencer comes top of mind. In short, you can use your popularity on Instagram to make money. So, the first biggest investment in running this business is creating an interactive and engaging community.
Instagram influencers have a solid following, a defined niche, and a targeted audience. As an influencer, you can make money by promoting brands’ products and services, often through sponsored content. Brands may pay you monetarily, in-kind, or in both. According to Fox Business, the highest-paid Instagram influencers are celebrities like Kylie Jenner and Ariana Grande who command millions of dollars per sponsored post.
According to Influencer Marketing Hub, there are a couple of factors that affect your income potential as an influencer, including but not limited to reach (number of followers), promotion method, the inclusion of media (video or photo), agency fees, etc. Out of all the social media platforms, Instagram is the top platform for influencer marketing.
How much can you make?
Your compensation per post will depend on your influencer category:
- Nano-influencers have 1K to 10K followers, and typically earn $10–$100 per post
- Micro-influencers have 10K to 50K followers, and typically earn $100–$500 per post
- Mid-tier influencers have 50K to 500K followers, and typically earn $500–$5,000 per post
- Macro-influencers have 500K to 1M followers, and typically earn $5,000–$10,000 per post
- mega -influencers have at least 1M followers, and payment varies, but you can just imagine how huge it could be!
Of course, you won’t get to the higher levels overnight. You must keep working on a niche and constantly connect with your audience. You also need to create engaging content that would prompt the most interactions (likes, comments, and shares).
2. Sell Your Products
One of the awesome business ideas on Instagram is by selling your products. According to Big Commerce, promoting your e-commerce business on social media not only widens your brand’s exposure but also cultivates a sense of community among your target audience.
What’s amazing about using Instagram for your business is that you can basically promote any product – food products, kitchenware, home décor, electronics, cosmetics, and more. You could even sell digital products on Instagram, such as courses, online training, eBooks, podcasts, and more.
Here are some of the most important things to work on to use Instagram to sell products or services:
- Setting an Instagram business profile
- Optimizing the bio and defining what your business is all about
- Using relevant keywords and hashtags
- Curating a feed that reflects your brand
- Utilize Instagram Ads to expand your reach
- Putting up product links in your Instagram stories
- Using specific plugins, such as the Shoppable Instagram stories, so that visitors can purchase your products directly from your feed
- Running promotions that are exclusive on Instagram, such as sales, discount codes, product launches, to draw more visitors to your Instagram account.
A lot of businesses have successfully utilized as a shopping platform, such as Gigi’s Boutique, Nordstrom, Lego, Sephora and Shiseido. This only means that with the right strategies, selling your products is one of the best Instagram business ideas you can get into.
How much can you make?
Having a great Instagram strategy could generate a lot of money for you. Take a look at how Neil Patel used Instagram to generate $332,620 from Instagram in three months and how his buddy generated over a million dollars. If you become your own influencer for your products, you could use your influence to earn more money selling your own products.
3. Affiliate Marketing
If you want a passive source of income, affiliate marketing on social media can prove to be one of the best Instagram business ideas.
As an affiliate marketer, your job is to promote products on your Instagram posts and stories. The description should be accompanied by an affiliate link. When your followers click on that link and purchases the product that you are promoting, you earn a commission at no charge to them.
It is essential to work on a specific niche or industry so you can create the appropriate Instagram business content ideas. For instance, if you are primarily promoting apparel and accessories, it makes no sense to suddenly post about cookware or electronics. Also, you will be working with a target audience in mind, so make sure that your contents are appropriate for your affiliate marketing business.
To start making money on Instagram with affiliate marketing, you need to pick an affiliate network to work with, such as:
- AWIN
- ShareASale
- Impact
- Rakuten
- Flexoffers
- Amazon
The affiliate network will give you a trackable link to the product so that you can easily how many clicks and sales you’ve made for each. You may be paid per number of clicks visitors made to the product’s website through your link, or per sale that you make through the affiliate link.
It’s also wise to choose the most profitable niches for Instagram affiliate marketing. According to TrendHero, the best niches that make money on Instagram are:
- Health and fitness
- Beauty
- Fashion
- Lifestyle
- Business
- Pets and animals
- Food and cooking
- Travel
It’s always good to pick brands from the niche that you are working with. Otherwise, your audience might find your posts insincere, impersonal, and overly professional, which are huge turn-offs.
How much can you earn?
Just like in blogging, the income you can earn with affiliate marketing on Instagram can vary wildly depending on your followers, niche, products you promote, and your audience. You can earn from a few dollars to hundreds per conversion.
4. Dropshipping
Dropshipping is another popular option for small Instagram business ideas. This business refers to the process of selling products on your online store. But instead of holding a physical inventory of the products, your supplier or manufacturer will send the orders directly to your customers.
This is an amazing way to run an online business because you won’t have to deal with inventory and storage space. Plus, the manufacturer takes care of shipping and delivery. You can set your own prices and pay the manufacturer only the cost amount. The rest you will keep as profit.
To get started with dropshipping on Instagram, you first need to set-up an online store (Shopify is a popular option for this). You then identify the products you want to sell and list them up in your store. You can then link your online store on your Instagram bio and promote the products on your posts and stories.
5. Instagram Manager
If you’re quite savvy about making Instagram business content ideas, then working as an Instagram manager can be an excellent fit for you.
In this business, you will basically be offering services to manage a person or brand’s Instagram account. Some people just don’t have the time to focus on running their Instagram profiles. Creating content and responding to comments can indeed get time-consuming. That’s why they outsource Instagram management to people who have the time and skills to do this.
According to Kicksta, successful Instagram managers are passionate about their niches, organized, and skilled in time management. It’s also essential to employ the best practices in Instagram management, such as using appropriate hashtags, responding to comments and messages, and building a sense of community within the account.
How much can you earn?
Instagram managers make good money. According to ZipRecruiter, the average pay for an Instagram manager is $27 per hour.
6. Product Reviewer
Reviewing products on Instagram is also one of the good Instagram business ideas. This gig is more fitting for people with a solid active following and well-defined niche. It basically works by acquiring new products and then reviewing them on your Instagram account. The reviews may be done in a video format, series of photos and captions, or posted on Instagram stories.
What’s even more amazing about this gig is that once you’ve established yourself as an honest and fair product reviewer, brands and companies will soon reach out to you for product reviews. It’s a fun way to get ahold of new products and create more engagement with your followers. Plus, if you combine this with affiliate marketing, you’re bound to make more money. If you’re ready to get started, have a look at this list of companies that will you free products for review.
7. Photographer
Instagram has always been known as a visual-centric social media platform. Each post comes with a photo or video.
With that being said, setting up your photography venture can be one of the top Instagram business profile ideas. There are many routes that you can take as far as the photography business goes, such as becoming a stock photographer, product photographer, or portrait photographer.
According to Photography Life, you can boost the performance of your posts by tagging your clients (such as the bride and groom), as well as fellow suppliers of the event. It also helps to use relevant hashtags and build a relationship with brands and businesses working in the same industry. Your photography business Instagram profile will not replace a solid portfolio, but still be selective with the images you post and make sure that they are interesting, relevant, and engaging.
8. Graphic Designer
If you’re working in the creative field, particularly as a graphic designer, then consider this as one of the Instagram business page ideas you can take advantage of. What makes Instagram an excellent platform to run your graphic design business is that they’re both visual in nature. So, if you don’t want to use a business website to promote your graphic design services, Instagram can be a wise alternative. Clients will easily see your work without having to keep scrolling for a long time.
To fully maximize Instagram for your graphic design business, make sure you get or convert to a business account. It also helps to choose an appropriate profile picture and craft and winning bio. Of course, make sure to add the link to your business website or portfolio as well, if you have it. And if you need some inspiration, you can refer to Canva’s curated list of graphic designers to follow on Instagram.
9. Pet Influencer
If your four-legged furry buddy is getting lots of love on Instagram, you could very well turn those affections into one of the most amazing Instagram business profile ideas: pet influencer. Yes, Insta-famous pets can bring in some income.
According to DogSphere, pet influencers make money in a variety of ways, including appearances in events and brand sponsorships. And apart from pet food companies, lots of other companies pay pet influencers to promote their products, including brands like Budweiser and Ralph Lauren. Of course, the bulk of the work goes to the pet owners and celebrity pets mostly need to look cute and adorable.
How much can you earn?
If you didn’t know the most followed dogs and cats on Instagram earn a staggering income. According to Dog Tipper, a pomeranian that goes by the name of JiffPom, who has over 10 million followers, makes over $30,000 per Instagram post. Now, being cute truly has its price!
Related: Interested in making money on TikTok instead? Check out our post on how to Make Money on TikTok in 2021!
How to Start Making Money on Instagram
While there are a couple of business ideas on Instagram, you want to get the basics down pat. Here are the most important things I’ve found to be crucial when you’re about to monetize your Instagram account:
Decide on niche
You have to pick a niche that you love and focus your content around it. Brands work with Instagram accounts within their niche because these accounts have the kind of audience they’re looking to sell to. For instance, if you’re a mommy Instagrammer, you’re more likely to land deals with mom and baby brands, and less likely with electronics. Your Instagram business content ideas should speak to the audience you are serving.
Grow your following
Having a solid following is crucial to your success on Instagram. Don’t worry if you’re just starting out with just a few hundred or thousand followers. We all need to start somewhere! You can get in more people to your Instagram account by posting relevant messages consistently. You want your content to appeal to your audience. Also, make sure to engage with your audience and nurture the community spirit with them.
Optimize your bio
Your bio is one of those precious real estate on Instagram where you can put clickable links, so use this space wisely. It’s also the first point of contact with your visitors once they get to your page. Make your bio short but powerful. Here are some awesome Instagram business profile ideas to consider:
- Add a description of yourself
- Place your passion and interests
- Include a call-to-action
- Place a clickable link to your desired landing page.
Strategize your hashtags
Hashtags give context to your content. They also make your content more searchable on Instagram. You can use a maximum of 30 hashtags per post, but Neil Patel says that the golden number is just around 15-20. But before you put any random hashtags in there, you want to research the best ones to use. Strive for a balance of low, medium, and high-competition hashtags, and make sure to cover each category.
Write catchy captions.
Instagram captions are also essential in winning your audience — as well as brands. The best caption speaks to your audience and entices them to act. You must craft your message well because you only have up to 2,200 characters to use for the caption. It should be short, powerful, and compelling. Make sure to include a shoutout to the featured brand or another Instagram user and do no be scared of using emojis. You can also use quotes and calls to action to hook your readers in.
Where to Learn How to Make Money on Instagram
If you want to get serious about making money on Instagram, consider taking online courses on Instagram marketing to fast-track your success.
Thankfully, there are many affordable Instagram resources you can find at Udemy. Udemy is my go-to place for cheap online courses to learn high-income skills.
Here are a few examples of Instagram courses you can buy for cheap at Udemy:
Instagram Marketing 2021: Complete Guide to Instagram Growth by Benjamin Wilson
This course will teach you:
- How to set up business or personal Instagram account to build your brand
- Get 10,000 real targeted followers to your Instagram account
- Convert your followers into paying customers
10 Instagram Marketing Strategies that Make Me 6 Figures by Nik Swami
This course will teach you:
- 10 amazing Instagram marketing strategies to attract thousands of followers every month and make money from Instagram
- Create high-performing content on Instagram
The Complete Instagram Masterclass by Diego Davila
This course will teach you:
- Create raving fans who love your Instagram content
- Dominate your niche or market on Instagram
- Beat your competitors on Instagram
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Instagram Business Ideas Final Thoughts
As you can see, Instagram is not just a platform to post your summer trips, OOTDs, and interior designs. Instagram has opened a whole new world for entrepreneurship. You can start by building a community within your Instagram account, thinking about the right niche for you, and of course, being interactive with your followers. From here, you will see your Instagram business ideas truly raking in the profit in a remarkably fun way.
Do you have more to add to this list of best Instagram business ideas for 2021? Let’s connect in the comments!
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