Your Instagram account is growing, hitting one milestone after another. If you’re noticing that your account is close to the 100k follower mark, it’s time to think of ways to monetize your following.
People just like you are making money – sometimes a full-time income – from their 100k followers.
However, your earnings with a 100k following will be drastically different than someone else in a different niche or who has a much higher engagement rate. With that said, let’s explore what others with a similar following to yours are earning.
How Much Money Can You Make With a 100K Following on Instagram?
Unlike YouTube earnings, you won’t find many people divulging their exact Instagram earnings. But we will analyze multiple data points to better understand how much value you have in your Instagram following.
Tom Archer
Tom Archer had a following of 133,000 followers in 2020, with an engagement rate of 4%. Estimates at the time suggested that he could earn $808 – $1,600 a post. Tom states that he charged around $625 per post on his channel and $2,500 was the most he charged for a single post.
If Tom goes on a trip and has a series of posts that he is going to share, he charges for a full bundle, but he doesn’t disclose this amount.
When Tom is charging $2,500 a post, he mentions that he has:
- Years of experience
- Lots of high-end photography equipment
What Reddit has to Say
Reddit may not be as detailed as Tom is with earnings or explaining their niche as he does, but it does shed light on what people are making in the 100,000-follower range. A post mentioning earnings states an account of this size will earn $500 – $5,000 per post.
Unfortunately, the bonuses for Reels are no longer available, so you won’t earn money using that method any longer.
Quora Users Chime In
Quora users also have this same question, and the figures are rather interesting:
- $500 – $2,000 per post
- $50,000 – $150,000 per year with a lot of sponsors
Shoutcart Costs for a Post from Someone With 100k Followers on Instagram
Shoutcart allows you to buy “shoutouts” from influencers, and you’ll need credits to unlock the full account name of the person you’re buying a post from. With this in mind, we’ve narrowed the list to people who have 100,000 – 150,000 followers to learn how much they charge per post.
We found:
- Prices from $10 – $6,000 per post
- 15% of accounts charge $900 or more per post
3 Factors That Affect Your Earnings
Having 100K followers on Instagram isn’t the only factor that will affect your earnings. Some micro/macro influencers earn significantly more than others because of these three factors:
1. Type of Collaboration
The type of brand collaboration can also affect your earnings. Some of the most common types of brand collaborations include:
Sponsored Content
For many Instagram influencers, sponsored content is how they make the bulk of their earnings.
Paid partnerships can be quite lucrative, depending on your audience and engagement levels. Brands may pay anywhere from $500-$5,000 or more for a sponsored post.
Some brands may want a one-off deal, meaning they want a single post. Others will be interested in forming a partnership. Longer campaigns give you the chance to earn more.
Affiliate marketing is another way for influencers to monetize their Instagram accounts. With this type of collaboration, you get paid for clicks or sales that you generate for brands.
Influencers use uniquely trackable links, known as affiliate links, to track clicks or sales.
One advantage of affiliate marketing is that you aren’t limited to how much you can earn. As long as people use your link to make a purchase or perform a certain action, you can continue earning commission.
But it’s important not to become a promotion machine. Affiliate products can boost your earnings, but if it’s the only thing you talk about on Instagram, you may lose a lot of followers.
Instagram Stories Takeovers
Some influencers participate in Instagram Stories takeovers. Essentially, they “take over” the brand’s account temporarily and post stories that show how they use the brand’s products or services.
A Stories takeover is a great way to humanize a brand and demonstrate the benefits of a product or services in a real-life setting.
2. Niche
One of the biggest factors that will impact your earnings is your niche. Some niches are known to be more profitable than others. Some of the top ones include:
- Traveling
- Fashion
- Beauty
- Lifestyle
- Health and fitness
- Business
- Parenting
- Animals
- Photography
With 100K Instagram followers, you can make money in virtually any niche. However, the ones listed above are more likely to help you land more lucrative deals.
3. Engagement Rates
Your engagement rates can also affect your earnings as an Instagram influencer. If you’re regularly interacting with your followers and have a lot of likes, comments and shares on your posts, brands may be willing to pay more for sponsorships.
Why?
Because high engagement rates indicate that you’re highly influential to your audience. They’re very interested in what you have to say and will be more likely to be swayed by a product or service recommendation.
4. Whether You Sell Your Own Products
If you really want to boost your earnings as an Instagram influencer, consider selling your own products.
When you sell your own products, you keep all of the profits.
Books, courses and merchandise are just a few of the many types of products you can create and sell as an Instagram influencer with 100K followers.
How Long Does It Take To Get 100K Followers?
Reaching the 100K-follower milestone will open doors to more profitable brand partnerships. But how long does it take to grow your follower count to this level organically?
Every Instagram user is unique, but you can expect it to take at least a year to reach this many followers.
A viral Reel may help you grow a massive following overnight, but don’t bank on this happening. Most users will have to put in consistent work to grow their following.
How To Get 100K Followers on Instagram Organically
Growing your following takes time, but using the right strategies can help you get there more quickly.
Here are some tips to help you start growing your follower count organically.
1. Find Your Niche
What’s your thing? Are you into fashion? Beauty? Music? If you haven’t done so already, choose a niche.
Your niche will be the focus of your Instagram content, and it’s what will help you attract followers who share similar interests.
Once you’ve chosen a niche, stick to it. Don’t bounce around from one topic to another, or you’ll lose the interest of your followers.
2. Plan Your Content in Advance
One great way to ensure that you’re posting consistently is to create a plan. Plan out your content in advance, so you’re not scrambling to find something to post.
Some influencers plan out the entire month. Others plan out just a few weeks or days at a time.
Instagram lets you schedule posts, so take advantage of this feature to put your account on autopilot.
When you plan your content, you have no excuse not to publish something.
3. Use the Right Hashtags
Hashtags can help Instagram users find your content. Make sure that you choose the right ones. Pick hashtags that are relevant to your niche and the content you’re posting.
Generic hashtags may get you views, but they may not necessarily get you more followers. If possible, choose hashtags that don’t have millions of posts. You’ll likely reach more people if you choose ones with less competition.
4. Make Connections with Followers
If you want to increase your followers and keep them around, make sure that you’re interacting with them regularly.
Make genuine connections. Comment back and add to discussions.
With this approach, your followers will be far more likely to stick around and even share your profile with their friends.
5. Create a Business Account and Analyze Your Insights
A business or creator account provides you with in-depth insights into your audience. When you make a post on one of these account types, you can view:
- Accounts reached
- Accounts engaged
- Total followers from a post
All of this data is provided for a specific period of time, such as seven days. You’ll be able to analyze how your reach is changing and which posts, Reels and videos performed the best.
Instagram can make you a decent amount of money, especially if you have a following of 100k people. Engagement is crucial to selling posts and landing sponsorships, but if you want to maximize earnings, consider selling a product to your audience.
