Instagram Affiliate Marketing: Your Guide to Extra Income

Instagram and affiliate marketing is a union that was always meant to be. Instagram has always been an ideal platform for shoppers, sellers, and affiliates. After all, Instagram affiliate marketing is a win-win for both businesses and influencers. Businesses can reach a highly engaged audience and generate more sales. At the same time, influencers earn additional income and build their brand and follower count.

Are you looking for a side hustle or a steady income stream? Here’s everything you need to know about making money on IG with affiliate marketing.

Instagram Affiliate Marketing Programs

First things first, we need to clear the air. At one point, the platform had its own Instagram affiliate marketing programs. Users could sign up for the program, tag commission-eligible items in your content, and make a commission. Instagram ended the program in August 2022. This means that any older content you have that falls under the program will no longer earn a commission.

However, you can still earn income from your posts on Instagram. Wondering how? Let’s dive into the details.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

If you’re curious about what is affiliate marketing, we’re here to help. Affiliate marketing is a marketing tactic in which you promote products or services from other companies. In exchange, you earn a commission or income for each sale you make. It’s similar to the work a brand ambassador does.

Affiliate marketers on Instagram use a variety of methods. These include the following:

1. Product reviews and tutorials.
2. Sharing affiliate links in your bio, captions, or IG story text overlays.
3. Running contests or giveaways that feature affiliate products.
4. Collaborating with influencers promoting the same products or items within the same niche or brand.

Essentially, you share what you love with your community and earn income. Affiliate marketing is wise if you have featured products in your content for a while and have a large following. Your current followers will appreciate the ability to directly purchase products you feature with the click of a button.

How to Do Affiliate Marketing on Instagram

Affiliate marketing on Instagram allows you to receive commission payments for all the sales you drive for a brand. You can still partner with affiliates to market their products on the platform. If you’re wondering how to do affiliate marketing on Instagram, start by connecting with brands. Here’s how to become an Instagram influencer or brand influencer and market on IG.

1. Build a follower base. A key to affiliate marketing success is a large, engaged audience. It’s also crucial to the brand you represent. The larger the audience, the more your audience sees the product. Start by building your follower base. Partner your posts with the right hashtags to get more likes and follows, and learn the best times to post. These two tactics help grow your followers exponentially.
2. Get creative. We hate to say it, but makeup tutorials and #OOTD (outfit of the day) posts are a dime a dozen. It’s perfectly okay if you are a beauty or fashion influencer. In fact, they are incredibly successful. However, what sets wildly successful ambassadors apart is their content. Brands want to work with people who create creative, original and engaging content.
3. Reach out. Once you build your follower count and perfect your content, reach out to the influencer brands you want to work with. Choose a few that align with your content, goals, and aesthetics. Convince them that you are the ideal fit, and let them know what you have to offer.
4. Exercise patience. Building a follower base, creating content, and applying to become a brand ambassador takes time. You may not get there overnight and don’t get discouraged if you don’t hear back immediately.

Becoming a brand ambassador and starting your Instagram affiliate marketing journey is a great way to earn money.

Affiliate Links on Instagram

Affiliate links on Instagram are unique links you use in tandem with the products or services you promote. Instead of links, brands sometimes offer a unique coupon code to share with followers. When someone uses your link or code, you receive a commission for the sale you generate. You can use these links or codes on IG when you create posts, stories, reels, or host a live stream. Here are a few ways to use affiliate links in various Instagram content.

How to Use Affiliate Tags in Posts

You can and should use affiliate tags in your feed posts. As you carefully curate your post, consider the content you include. For example, if you’re a fashion influencer, you want to include the specifics of what you’re wearing. If you’re wearing or using something associated with your brand partner, be sure to tag them in the photo. For items from brands you don’t have a partnership with, most influencers use apps or platforms like LTK. LTK provides you with “shop” links so your followers can purchase what they’re interested in, and you receive a commission.

IG Affiliate Marketing in Livestreaming Content

Receiving likes on your IG live feels rewarding. You’ll know how your audience likes your content in real time. Plus, you can interact and answer questions right away. Unfortunately, you can’t add affiliate links or coupon codes to your content during a live stream. So, plan in advance before you go live on Instagram. Add any applicable Instagram affiliate marketing links or codes as you create the caption for your Live. Then, as you talk through your live stream, remind viewers to check out your link in the caption. For full effectiveness, remind them a few times throughout your stream.

IG Affiliate Marketing in Livestreaming Content

Receiving likes on your IG live feels rewarding. You’ll know how your audience likes your content in real time. Plus, you can interact and answer questions right away. Unfortunately, you can’t add affiliate links or coupon codes to your content during a live stream. So, plan in advance before you go live on Instagram. Add any applicable Instagram affiliate marketing links or codes as you create the caption for your Live. Then, as you talk through your live stream, remind viewers to check out your link in the caption. For full effectiveness, remind them a few times throughout your stream.

Affiliate Marketing via Shopping Discovery Platforms

Utilizing shopping discovery platforms like LTK or FlexOffers is ideal for monetizing content. Especially if you don’t have a formal brand ambassador offer from a specific company. These platforms allow you to monetize just about anything. Additionally, you aren’t limited to just one company or business. If you’re a lifestyle influencer showcasing your fresh fall home decor, you can compile your links in one place. Put your shopping platform link in your IG bio and caption in your posts. The more you use your link, the more income you make.

Using platforms like LTK or FlexOffers requires a little more work. Depending on which one you use, you need to sign up and tag your products so they are shopable. Keep in mind that these platforms may not be available in all markets.

Instagram Affiliate Tips for Success

Learning how to become a successful Instagram influencer or ambassador gives you a solid foundation. Especially as you embark on your Instagram affiliate marketing journey. Here are additional tips to help you level up your game as an influencer or ambassador using affiliate marketing.

• Keep new followers informed. Expect to have new followers daily or weekly. You should make it easy for them to learn more about you and how they can shop your affiliate content. Imagine if new followers have to scroll through endless posts to discover how they can shop. You risk losing potential sales if they tire and give up. Every 3-5 affiliate posts, add a quick note or link in your caption. Or, use a fun sticker in a Story to let your followers know where to shop.
• Create shoppable posts frequently. Five shoppable posts a month is the recommended minimum for constant exposure. It also is a regular reminder to shop your affiliate content. The more you share feed posts and Stories with affiliate tags, the better. More traffic means more sales, and your commission will be higher in the next payout.
• Create a collection of your favorite products. Your followers highly value your recommendations. So, compile a collection of your favorite products to give them an easier time browsing through your top picks.
• Learn from your Insights. Your Insights will tell you about your followers’ preferences and shopping habits. Use the information to improve your Instagram affiliate marketing strategy.
• Transparency is critical. Your followers will appreciate when you openly share that you earn from their purchases. Don’t forget to let them know that you appreciate their support of your content.

Successful Affiliate Marketing Examples

Social media influencers know it’s important that you spread brand awareness across all platforms. Once you have Instagram covered, be sure to market yourself in a blog post and through subscriber emails. Here is some amazing affiliate influencer marketing content to inspire you.

Erica Ligenza for Colleen Rothschild and Dime Beauty. This post is an excellent example of Instagram affiliate marketing as she essentially double-dips, highlighting two of her partnerships. The post below shows Erica’s friendly conversational tone with her more than 88k followers. It’s a great personal touch that definitely makes her posts personal. She finishes her caption with coupon codes to entice her followers to buy products.

Fashion influencer Jenn Im for Fable. In this post, Jenn encourages her followers to check out her collaboration and enter a giveaway. Giveaways are brilliant marketing tactics, especially if influencers offer extra entries for tagging people in the comments. Furthermore, her caption is straightforward and has a youthful tone. It’s perfect for her young followers.

Fashion influencer Mariano Di Vaio for Hair Bello. Mariano’s caption for this affiliate post is short and quirky—perfect for his target audience. The video shows how his hairdresser styles his hair with Hair Bello products. The caption captures his funny and lighthearted side, which his followers obviously love based on their comments.

Get Paid Endorsing Products Through Instagram Affiliate Marketing

Have you built a big enough following on Instagram? Do you have a strong connection with your followers? Do you have solid credibility as an influencer? If so, you can start earning more money through Instagram affiliate marketing. It’s one of the easiest ways to monetize your content on the platform and to keep growing your brand. Additionally, if you’re up for it, affiliate marketing is worth it.

Are you interested in becoming an IG affiliate but don’t have a big enough audience reach? If you’ve been struggling to get your engagement levels up, team up with an expert in Instagram growth strategy. A company like Path Social. Path has advanced AI targeting capability and an in-house team of experts. They help their clients gain real followers who are genuinely interested and engaged, thereby ensuring rewarding and lasting growth. Start growing and gaining Instagram followers today.