You’re killing time, scrolling through Instagram to see what’s happening. Did you know you could be spending this time earning money online instead?
Social media is a powerful money-making tool, once you understand how it works. Through content monetization, you can earn a steady income stream, all through your Facebook or Instagram accounts.
Curious how it all works? To find out more, keep reading to learn how to make money from your social media accounts—plus, a few hacks to help you find success faster.
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How to Make Money From Social Media
It’s incredible how much money you can make from social media accounts, once you learn the basics. Social media has evolved from so much more than just a way of keeping in touch with friends and family—it’s now one of the world’s biggest sources of digital advertising.
You can make ad revenue from just about any social media channel. By starting an Instagram blog, you can profit from Instagram monetization, but you can also do well on Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, and Twitter.
But how exactly do you do it? Here are some of the best ways to make money on social media.
Brand Sponsorships
A popular way to make money online is through brand sponsorships. For example, say your social media accounts are dedicated to fashion—a clothing company might approach you about working together.
They would pay you to wear some of their new clothing and post a few photos or videos on your social media accounts. You get paid (plus, you get to keep the new clothes!).
What’s in it for the brand? Ideally, your audience would align with theirs, so they’re hoping your followers will discover their fashion brand, like it, and want to order some of their clothes.
The key to success with brand partnerships is working with brands you would use anyway and align with your account’s theme. After all, if your followers aren’t likely to be interested in the product you’re promoting, it’s not a good partnership.
There are a number of websites you can join where brands can find influencers to work with. Or, you can also reach out to brands directly, seeing if they’d like to work together.
Sell Your Own Products
Do you dream of starting a small business? If so, you definitely don’t need to open a storefront, as you can sell products directly through social media.
If you create and design your own products, such as jewellery, it can be great to sell them to your social media followers. Just be sure to take high-quality photos and videos, so buyers can see clearly what the goods look like.
You’ll also want to set up a secure payment system, so shoppers can buy with confidence. By building up your social media following, combined with paid online ads, it’s easier than you might think to open your own business.
Or, you can also sell products online, even if you don’t make them yourself. Many social media influencers sell products via dropshipping.
What is dropshipping? This is a method of e-commerce where sellers don’t stock the products—they’re shipped directly from a third-party warehouse.
Since you don’t need to manage your own inventory in a warehouse (or your basement), this is a much more cost-effective way of selling things online.
Create a Course
Are you an expert in something others want to know about? If so, think about creating your own course and selling it online.
Perhaps you’re a great writer, a talented photographer, or amazing at training dogs. There’s a huge demand for online learning, so think about packaging your knowledge into an online learning class that your followers can purchase.
There are a number of online course platforms that you can use to design your course, including Teachable and Udemy.
Affiliate Partnerships
One of the most popular ways of making money online, especially through Instagram and blogs, is via affiliate partnerships.
How does it work? A company provides you with a unique link to their website or product, which you share on your social media account.
For each sale that’s generated through your unique link, the company pays you a small commission. Like with brand sponsorships, you only want to work with brands you love and that are relevant to your niche.
For example, a travel Instagram account could work with a travel insurance company, promoting their insurance to their followers.
Nearly all major companies have affiliate programs, including Amazon, so there are plenty of opportunities to make money this way.
Manage Social Media Accounts for Others
What if you’re amazing at social media—but your own followings aren’t very big? You can still make money on social media, but by working as a VA.
A VA, or virtual assistant, works to manage someone else’s social media accounts—replying to comments, scheduling posts, research hashtags, etc. A brand or influencer might not have time to do the work themselves, so they’ll hire a VA to do it for them—and pay them a decent hourly rate!
If you’re across all the current social media trends and love working online, this could be an option for you.
You Can Also Earn Income By Starting Your Own Blog
In addition to your social media, you can also earn money by starting a blog, or website—all of the above content monetization methods will work on websites too.
Starting a blog can be tough since there are already so many out there, but it is possible! You’ll need a specific niche, well-written content, and lots of SEO knowledge.
Setting up a blog with WordPress is your best option, as it gives you more control over your website design, which makes it easy to work with advertising networks once your traffic has grown.
Be sure to share your blog posts across all of your social media sites, as this can help drive traffic.
Social Media Hacks
It’s clear there are tons of awesome ways to make money online from social media! However, to make money online, you’ll need to build up a decent following of engaged followers.
Here are a few social media hacks to help you grow your account—and attract the right kind of people.
Be Consistent
Consistency is a big part of social media growth. If you want to grow your followers, aim to be on Instagram or Facebook daily.
On Instagram business accounts, you can see when your followers are most active and online. Try to post at those times, since it will increase your chances of people seeing your content.
You also want to be consistent in what you post, meaning don’t post photos or videos that are irrelevant to your niche. This will confuse your followers, so stick to what you do best!
Treat Your Followers With Respect
Being authentic is a huge key to success when it comes to social media success. If you want people to buy your products or click on your links, they need to trust you!
For example, when you promote a product, you want your followers to have confidence in your recommendation, as this makes them more likely to try the product themselves. If followers think you’re only interested in their money, you’re not going to make many sales.
Actively Work to Gain Followers
The more followers you have, the more likely you are to make money. However, a small number of very engaged followers can be worth more than a huge following that never reacts to your content, so you need to have millions of followers to make money online.
However, you still want to actively work to grow your accounts. This will make you more desirable to brands as well, increasing your opportunities.
To grow your account, be sure to post only your best content. You also want to use the right hashtags, engage and follow other accounts, and try out paid advertising.
Watch Your Income Soar With These Content Monetization Tips
If you’re ready to ditch the 9-5 and work for yourself, these content monetization tips should help.
Success doesn’t happen overnight, but with time and effort, you can build up your social media accounts and start making money off them. You might also want to research strategies and techniques used by other successful influencers in your niche, as this can help you improve your methods.
Get started today and soon, you see money hitting the bank—all thanks to your social media efforts!
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