You need to have a huge following to get paid on Instagram, right? Wrong! Getting paid on Instagram isn’t all about your follower count, but there are other things that are important.
By 2025, Instagram is expected to have over 1.4 billion users. The social network continues to grow, and that has given rise to influencers who are earning money through brand deals and Instagram’s own monetization tools.
But there’s a challenge that every aspiring influencer faces: growing a following. Understanding how many followers you need to start getting paid on Instagram can help you set goals.
Exactly how many followers do you need? Let’s find out!
How Many Followers Do You Need To Get Paid on Instagram?
If you’re an Instagrammer who wants to reach influencer status and start monetizing your account, you may be wondering how many followers you need to have to attract brand deals.
Many influencers with less than 10,000 followers are getting paid by brands. There are also no follower minimum requirements to open an Instagram Shop.
That said, some of Instagram’s monetization tools, like Badges and Subscriptions, have minimum follower requirements.
- Badges is a monetization tool for Instagram Live. Viewers can buy a badge to support you and get some extra recognition.
- With Subscriptions, followers pay a monthly fee to get access to exclusive content and experiences.
But to use these tools, you’ll need to have at least 10,000 followers.
Instagram’s monetization tools help reward creators, but they’re not as lucrative as brand deals and sponsorships. If brands don’t necessarily care how many followers you have, then what do they care about?
What Instagram Metrics Matter for Brand Deals?
Brands consider many things when deciding whether to make a deal with an Instagram influencer.
It’s not necessarily how big your following is (although that’s still important to some degree). It’s all about how well you connect with and influence your audience.
Here are some of the key metrics brands look at when considering partnerships:
1. Engagement
Of all the metrics, engagement is the most important. Brands want to know that your followers listen to what you have to say and interact with your content.
Brands will care about:
- Likes
- Comments
- Shares
- Saves
The higher your engagement rate, the more valuable you will be as an influencer. If you want to get paid on Instagram, a good engagement rate is between 1% and 5%.
2. Audience
Along with engagement, brands want to know that you’re reaching their audience. Your target audience must align with the brand’s audience.
3. Authenticity
Authenticity is a difficult metric to measure, but it’s still something brands consider when making deals with influencers. The partnership must be a natural one, so you can maintain your authenticity as an influencer.
Getting Paid as a Nano Influencer
Business Insider connected with influencers to learn how they’re getting paid on Instagram and released their finding in July 2023. Nano influencers thought they must have millions of followers to land sponsored post deals.
What these influencers did was impressive. Many put together their own media kits and sold to brands who see value in their close engagement with their followers.
One lifestyle Instagrammer has a following of 100 – 10,000 and charges $154 per in-feed post.
Can You Sell Shoutouts?
If you don’t have brands lining up to buy a post from you, it may be worth selling shoutouts. You’ll find a few platforms that connect brands with influencers who sell shoutouts.
Our internal research found:
- 1,400 follower account selling shoutouts
- 2,000 follower accounts selling shoutouts
You can get 1,000 followers quickly with the right approach and a plan. If you have a dead account, you can even revive it and may have a few hundred followers already.
How much will you earn with these shoutouts? That’s a different question. One was trying to charge $5,500 and another $300. We would be surprised if they had anyone buy a post for that much unless they were in very unique niches.
Getting Paid on Instagram Through Monetization Features
Instagram wants creators to create content. You can be paid for:
- Subscriptions that earn you recurring income on Instagram. Followers who subscribe receive unique content, can view special Stories and Lives and send you badges.
- Badges are a “tip” to support creators who are on Live. Your audience can purchase badges for $0.99, $1.99 and $4.99.
- Reels can help you get paid, but it’s through an invite-only program that may be phased out. Instagram announced on March 9, 2023 that they will not extend or renew deals to creators in India and the United States.
Creators can be paid at any level through affiliate marketing. Add a link to a product that you recommend, and you may get paid for the sale. How does this work? Find a brand that you want to promote and see if they accept “affiliates.”
As an affiliate, you’re paid for leads that you send who make a purchase or take the desired action.
If you want some inspiration to keep growing your account, check out our post on how many people with 100k followers earn on Instagram. You can begin making money on the platform with even 1k followers, but when you hit the 10k threshold, more money-making opportunities will open up.
