Does Instagram Pay You?

Can you get paid from Instagram?

If you’re asking if you can make money on Instagram, the answer is affirmative.

However, if you’re asking if Instagram specifically pays you when you create content like how Youtubers make money, the answer is No.

That said, if you had asked this same question between November 2021 and February 2023, the answer would have been yes. Instagram was running a Reels Play bonus program.

The program rewarded creators for reaching specific benchmarks. Some Instagram influencers and creators earned up to $35,000 in one month.

Instagram discontinued the program in March of 2023. Before being discontinued, the program was only available to US content creators.

Reels have since come to the fore on the platform since IGTV got discontinued by Instagram.

Do you get paid for views on Instagram?

You do not get paid for views on Instagram. There are other ways to get paid on Instagram, like earning money with badges during live videos.

This monetization method is interesting for people like fitness instructors, chefs, gamers, make-up artists, and instruction-based content creators. More on this monetization method later on.

Different ways to make money on Instagram

There are multiple avenues to start making money on Instagram, even if you don’t have a mammoth following. We’ll address these methods below.

1. Live Video Badges

You can earn money when you go live on Instagram. Badges are like super stickers and super chats on YouTube.

When you’re live, your followers or audience can reward you by buying badges. They can do so in increments of 0.99, 1.99, and 4.99 US dollars.

The only prerequisite is to have at least 10K followers and set up a creator or business Instagram account and a payout account. Available payment methods include direct deposit and PayPal.

2. Sponsored Instagram ads from Brands

Get brands and businesses in your niche to sponsor your posts. You may think you need a large following to ask brands for sponsorship, but that is not entirely true.

Truly, a large following is helpful, but what is more helpful is having a reasonable amount of highly-engaged followers. There’s no point in having a million followers and getting only 100 likes or a few comments.

Many social media gurus agree that an acceptable engagement rate is about 1-5% of your audience. This rate means that if you have a thousand followers, getting engagement from 100-500 followers is okay.

With this knowledge, you can pitch brands and businesses how your page can add value to their business. Note that this is beyond the follower count.

Remember to always add “Paid partnership with” plus the brand or page you’re working with in the caption of sponsored posts. The Federal Trade Commission also requires you to use the #ad and #sponsored hashtags with an Instagram ad.

3. Instagram Subscriptions

This monetization method is perfect for all types of accounts, irrespective of your follower count. If you provide educational and tutorial-based content, this method is tailor-made for you.

Paid subscriptions allow you to offer exclusive content to your subscribers. Subscribers also stand out in your DM and comments, allowing you to prioritize their interactions.

You can do subscriber-only lives, reels, posts, and Instagram stories. You can also chat exclusively with up to 30 paid followers at a time.

Eligibility for Paid Subscriptions

To be eligible for paid subscriptions, you must meet the following criteria:

• Be at least 18 years
• Be a United States resident
• Have at least 10,000 followers
• Meet IG’s “Partner Monetisation Policies and Content Monetisation Policies”

If you’re eligible, you can set up subscriptions from your Professional Dashboard.

How much can you make on Instagram?

The average monthly income of an Instagram influencer is about $2,970 per month. However, Instagram influencers with over a million followers earn $15,356 monthly.

Per industry insiders, most influencers charge $100 per post, but that’s the minimum. Christiano Ronaldo reportedly makes $1.64 million per post, while Kylie Jenner makes $983,100.

How Many Instagram Followers Do You Need To Make Money In 2023?

Per Business Insider, Instagram influencers with 1,000-10,000 followers earn $901 monthly. HypeAuditor puts this figure at $1,420 per month.

If you have less than 10,000 followers, you can still earn money, just not off of methods like subscriptions and live badges. Micro-Influencers are earning an income from Instagram too.

Based on available evidence, it is prudent to have at least 1,000 highly-engaged followers before thinking of making money on Instagram. Of course, the more, the better.

Our advice is to choose a niche and provide exceptional value, creating and sharing Instagram reels with incredibly high-quality and valuable content.

Also, do not use nefarious means to grow your account, like buying fake followers. At the end of the day, this will be painfully obvious down the line when your account of 10,000 followers is getting two likes on each post.

Other social media that pays you

TikTok and Snapchat pay content creators. However, in both cases, the follower requirement is quite steep.

Based on reports, you need a minimum of 100,000 TikTok followers to participate in the “Creativity Program Beta.”

TikTok has yet to share more information about the program other than “users will need to be at least 18 years old, meet the minimum follower and video view requirements, and have an account in good standing.”

Snapchat also recently announced a revenue share program with select creators with at least 50,000 followers. Additionally, eligible creators must have over 25 million snap views and post over ten stories monthly.

Which Social Media Pays the Most?

Every considerable report in the public space suggests that TikTok, Snapchat, and Youtube pay the most among all social media platforms.

All three platforms have programs that reward users for creating content. TikTok has a Creativity Program Beta program. Snapchat has a revenue-sharing program, which it recently expanded.  

Frequently Asked Questions

Below, we’ve provided answers to some additional questions you may have.

How many views on reels to get paid?

Under the Reels Play Bonus program, creators needed to get at least 1,000 views within 30 days to earn money.

If they hit the view target Instagram set for them, creators will collect the full bonus. The views target and bonus amount varied from creator to creator.

Does Instagram pay for likes?

Instagram does not pay for likes. Even when the social media platform launched ways for creators to make money, the company did not include ‘likes’ in the benchmarks creators must meet.

Likes are, however, important to show potential sponsors that you get good engagement on your IG page.

Wrapping Up

Instagram has paused all programs that based creators from its purse. Notwithstanding, you can still make money on Instagram in different ways.

These methods include sponsored posts, subscriptions, and live video badges.

While you need a good number of followers to start making life-changing money, you can start earning some cash on IG even with 1,000 engaged real followers.

Did you enjoy this article? Please share with your friends and let us know in the comments if we missed any other ways to make money on Instagram.