Affiliate marketing on Instagram can be very profitable when done right because 72% of Instagram users make a purchase decision based on something they saw on Instagram.
In this post, we will explain.
- How to do affiliate marketing on Instagram.
- Which type of content for Instagram affiliate marketing?
- Where to put your affiliate link on Instagram.
- Should you do affiliate marketing on Instagram?
- Pros and Cons, and much more.
What is Affiliate Marketing on Instagram
Affiliate marketing is selling other businesses’ products or services for a small amount of commission.
Affiliate marketing on Instagram simply means selling other businesses’ products or services for commission on Instagram.
Content creators create content and put their affiliate links in places such as post descriptions, stories, and profile bios, and sometimes they share discount codes too.
How to Do Affiliate Marketing on Instagram
Here are the steps to do affiliate marketing on Instagram.
Create a Professional Instagram Account
Professional account has two category, Creator and Business.
The Creator account is best for content creators such as influencers and the business account is best for brands and local businesses.
Choose the one that best suits your goals.
Creating an Instagram professional account has many benefits.
You get access to Instagram insight that provides valuable analytics related to your account. You can see your follower growth, engagement, and much more.
It allows you to add your number, email, and business address which helps customers to find your business location.
You can run Instagram ads to promote your post.
Professional accounts can also use Instagram shopping to tag products in posts so users can directly shop from your profile.
How to create a professional Instagram account?
To create a professional Instagram account first you need to create a personal Instagram account.
Then go to your profile and click on “Edit Profile”.
Click on Switch to “Professional account”.
Select a category that best describes you and click on “Continue”. It helps your account to be discovered by a like-minded audience.
Now select the type of account you want. If your goal is to be a content creator click on Creator and if you have a business and want to create an account for your business, then click on Business account.
You can always switch your account from one category to another.
Build Your Audience
Start creating quality content and build your audience. Before you apply to an affiliate program first you need to build at least 10k followers on Instagram.
Create content based on the 80/20 rule.
80% of the content should focus on entertainment and education.
20% of the content should focus on promotion.
Avoid overpromotion as it can lead to unfollowing.
To build your audience you have to:
Choose a niche, and start creating content in one niche.
Optimize your profile. Write a compelling bio that lets people know what your account is about. Also, add your website or landing page link in your profile bio.
Create high-quality content. It will help in higher watch time, and also people love to share high-quality content.
Post regularly because social media is designed to promote fresh content. This way you can keep your account active and audience engaged.
Run ads if necessary, try to build your audience the organic way but if not working you also run Instagram ads.
Join affiliate program
Join the affiliate programs once you build your audience. Start joining affiliate programs that are relevant to the content you create on your account. This way your audience will be more likely to make a purchase.
Before you join an affiliate program check its commission rate, cookie duration, payment method, product or service quality, conversion rate, and reputation in the market.
How to find an affiliate program?
Here are the following ways to find an affiliate program.
Google Search
Search for the affiliate program in Google directly. Enter the company name and then add the keyword affiliate program.
Affiliate Network
Affiliate networks like Amazon, ShareASale, Clickbank, and more are platforms containing thousands of affiliate programs.
Company website
Visit the company website of the affiliate program you want to join. Scroll to the bottom of the website home page. There you can find its affiliate program to join.
Blogs
You can search for blogs that have written posts on affiliate programs. Enter the keyword “best affiliate program” in Google and you will find hundreds of blog posts that have compiled some of the best affiliate programs.
Diversify Your Income
Once you start creating income from your Instagram affiliate marketing business. Now it’s time to diversify your income.
Start tapping into other niches by creating more Instagram accounts. Each account should focus on one niche don’t create one account for multiple niches.
You can also hire more people to help you manage those accounts and once those accounts have at least 10k followers start joining affiliate programs for that account too.
This way you will diversify your income and if one of your Instagram accounts is not performing well the other will certainly do good.
Affiliate Disclosure
Disclose your affiliate relation with the product you are promoting due to FTC regulations.
You can write a clear disclaimer on your bio too such as “some of the links on your page are affiliate links”.
Mention the affiliate disclaimer in the post description.
Use hashtags such as “ads”, “affiliate”, or “sponsor”. This way the audience will know its affiliate product.
Be honest and genuine, and make sure you promote products that you genuinely believe in.
Types of Content for Affiliate Marketing on Instagram
Creating diverse and engaging content is the key when it comes to affiliate marketing on Instagram. Here are the various types of content that work best for affiliate marketing on Instagram.
Product Reviews: Share a detailed and informative review of the product you are promoting. Explain its pros and cons, its key features, also explain how it works, and your personal experience with the product.
Tutorial video: Create a tutorial video with the product you are promoting. For example, you are promoting a face wash. So you can create tutorial videos like “How to Glow Up Your Face” and use that product in your video.
Before and after: Before and after photos or videos are based on results. Show your audience the result of the product you used. This type of content works best for beauty and fitness products.
Comparison Posts: Compare two products in the same category and give your genuine opinion on which is better among them.
Create a sense of urgency: Announce deals, and discounts, to create a sense of urgency in your audience. You can also share limited coupon codes such as entering code “X” to get a 50% discount but this offer is only limited to the first hundred people.
Where to Put Affiliate Links on Instagram?
Here are the places where you can put your affiliate links on Instagram.
Profile Bio
You can put your affiliate link in your profile bio but what if you are promoting multiple products?
Don’t put your affiliate link in the profile bio but instead create a website or landing page and put all your affiliate product links there and then put that website or lading URL in your profile.
If you don’t want to invest in creating a website or landing page then you can also use Linktree.
Simply put all your Affiliate product links in Linktree and then put the Linktree link in your profile.
Use Coupon Code
On Instagram, you cannot put links in the post description but instead, you can give your audience a coupon code by using that code your audience will get a discount on the product and you will earn a commission.
Instagram Story
You can put an affiliate link in the Instagram stories too. The link will appear as a sticker on the story a user can interact with it too.
Sponsor Post
If you have a professional account then you can run Instagram ads and can also add a clear call to action button in the post.
Pros and Cons of Affiliate Marketing on Instagram
Here are the pros and cons of affiliate marketing on Instagram.
Pros of Affiliate Marketing on Instagram
Affiliate marketing provides a direction for Instagram influencers to monetize their content.
No need to create a product or manage inventory, the fulfillment will also be done by the merchant’s
potential to make passive income as long as people engage with your content.
You can also build your personal brand by promoting your own product.
You can also use Instagram ads to target a specific audience from a specific demographic.
Cons of Affiliate Marketing
Changes to Instagram’s algorithm can impact the visibility of your content.
Standing out of the crowd can be challenging.
Dependency on a single platform. One change to its policy can disrupt your affiliate marketing efforts.
Over-promotion or promoting products that are not relevant to your content can harm your reputation.
Limited places to put links can make it difficult to send traffic directly to the merchant’s website.
Conclusion
Affiliate marketing provides a significant opportunity for content creator on Instagram to monetize their content.
To do affiliate marketing on Instagram first create a professional account, build your audience, join an affiliate program, and start promoting affiliate products.
Don’t put an affiliate link directly in your profile, create a website or landing page with all the product affiliate product links and then put that URL in your bio.
If you don’t want to create a website or landing you can also use Linktree.
Success in affiliate marketing on Instagram hinges on a balance between promotional and entertaining, educational content. Avoid over-promotion as it can harm your account and reputation.
