How to Make Money on Instagram – Earning from Affiliate Links
We’ve already covered how to make money on Facebook. Now it’s time to say a few words about the fact that earning on Instagram is also possible – and actually very simple. Instagram is a world of hashtags and beautiful photos, but above all a mobile app with highly engaged users who practically never put it down. It’s worth making use of the opportunities there and starting to earn on Instagram with affiliate links as soon as possible.
Earning on Instagram with affiliate links
If you publish on Instagram, you can join partner programs as a publisher and start working with brands without any additional formalities. Affiliate cooperation is currently the most popular way brands set up paid collaborations with influencers. After joining a brand’s affiliate program, the publisher can generate affiliate links to any products, post them in their Instagram content, and earn a commission from the sales they generate.
How to start making money on Instagram
You don’t need any extra skills to start earning on Instagram with affiliate links. It’s a very simple and intuitive method. All you need to do is go through the registration process in an affiliate network, add a link to your Instagram profile in your publisher profile, and you can start working right away!
Affiliate marketing on Instagram is used particularly effectively by creators in the fashion and beauty space, as well as food, sports and general lifestyle influencers. However, other, more niche product categories also have a chance to perform well on Instagram. The more specific the niche, the higher the audience engagement tends to be. That’s why the people who succeed in affiliate marketing are those who skillfully match the products they recommend to their audience.
Earning Money on Instagram – Link Sticker for Everyone on Instagram!
All Instagram users can now add active links to their Stories. Thanks to this option, nano- and micro-influencers on Instagram have the opportunity to earn money from the products and services they recommend!
How to make money on Instagram with Link Sticker
Link Sticker is an interactive element in Instagram Stories that allows you to add an external link directly to your story. After tapping it, the user is redirected to the specified page.
You add an affiliate link to the Link Sticker in exactly the same way as any other link you want to connect to the sticker. Anyone who sees the story can tap the sticker to go to the target page. The affiliate link will take the user directly to the recommended store and will track commission if the user buys something in that store within 30 days.
How to generate affiliate links and earn money from them
A publisher generates an affiliate link in just three clicks. It is the simplest tool used in affiliate cooperation. After registering in our network, the affiliate link generator will guide you through this process STEP BY STEP.
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In the menu, go to Affiliate links >>> Create affiliate link
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Select a program from the list
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Give your link a name
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Click CREATE LINK and you’re done!
The affiliate link generator can do even more. Its biggest advantage is that you can generate an affiliate link to any product in a store that runs an affiliate program. Just copy the URL of that product from your browser and paste it into the link generator.
Additional way to earn – affiliate link in your BIO
You can place an active link in your profile description, i.e. your BIO. This means you can put any affiliate link in the BIO. When you create a post about a product you’re testing or want to recommend, the best approach is to include a non-clickable link in the post caption and add information that the active link to the product is in your BIO.
As you can see above, from a technical point of view, making money on Instagram is very simple. Affiliate marketing on Instagram is particularly popular among fashion bloggers, who place a link in their BIO to the product they are showcasing in their latest photo. Every product category has a chance to perform well on Instagram. In fact, the more niche your topic and the more clearly defined your audience, the better results you can achieve. Of course, you should take care to grow your follower base, which you can increase by making use of Instagram Stories features.
How and how much you can earn on Instagram
Reach and engagement are the two key factors that influence how much revenue you can generate from Instagram. However, the size of the reach you need in order to start earning depends on several other factors:
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the niche/industry you operate in – the more niche your topic, the better, because in the most popular categories like fashion or cosmetics, competition is already very strong and breaking through is increasingly difficult
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the engagement of the community you’ve built – it’s not the number of followers that matters most, but how many reactions you get to what you post; if you want to know more, be sure to read the article on best practices on Instagram
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the products you showcase and recommend – if they are tried, tested and aligned with the profile you run, you will build trust and can start earning even with a relatively small community.
Earning on Instagram – when should you start working with partner programs?
And here’s the surprise: there are no entry thresholds for joining affiliate programs as a virtual publisher. It’s an excellent option even for beginner Instagram users. Very often, brands that set extremely high requirements for direct collaborations with popular influencers have no such requirements for affiliate partnerships.
Through affiliate programs, advertisers typically aim for long-term cooperation with influencers, which means they do not expect immediate campaign results. Companies are patient here. This is not the case in direct collaborations, where every campaign with a popular influencer must deliver clearly defined effects quickly—and the influencer is held accountable for them.
Therefore, affiliate partnerships not only allow you to start working with brands without unnecessary formalities, but also give you the comfort of being able to consistently and calmly show your potential as a publisher. The cooperation is voluntary, you act independently, and—very importantly—you can resign at any time without giving a reason.
What to recommend in order to earn money on Instagram
On Instagram, product recommendations usually combine visual aesthetics with strong emotional appeal. The most popular categories are cosmetics—especially promising ones that claim fast results: retinol creams, hydrating serums with hyaluronic acid, or natural plant oils. Influencers often show creams being applied with the fingers, highlighting texture and scent, creating the feeling that you can almost “touch” the product. Authenticity is key here: telling a story about how a cream helped fight acne or, conversely, prevented early wrinkles builds trust and encourages the viewer to click the link.
Alongside beauty, fashion styling leads the way: lightweight boho dresses, oversized blazers, the latest sneaker models or designer handbags. Instagram creators present them not just as items to buy, but as part of a lifestyle—an outfit for coffee with friends, a beach walk or an evening date. Through dynamic Reels—where a model twirls in a flowing dress or runs through the city in athletic leggings—the viewer feels transported into the scene and can jump straight to the store with a single tap.
In recent months, wellness products have gained importance: dietary supplements, adaptogens (e.g. ashwagandha or reishi mushroom powder), facial massage devices or jade rollers. Self-care content—promoting moments of relaxation with a face mask or a morning meditation ritual with an essential oil diffuser—evokes aspirations for a better lifestyle. What used to be a niche has now become mainstream thanks to Instagram.
Home and interior décor products also perform well—artisan ceramics, chunky wool blankets, minimalist coffee tables or designer lamps. These recommendations are often grouped thematically: “my favourite Scandinavian design elements,” “my living-room coworking setup.” With beautiful compositions and a cohesive feed, creators inspire followers to refresh their own spaces.
We must also mention technology—smart fitness bands, wireless earbuds, adjustable desk lamps or budgeting apps. These products are shown in short tutorials that demonstrate how to unlock all the features of a gadget, encouraging immediate purchase. Often the post is accompanied by a discount code, which further motivates quick action.
Finally, online courses and digital products are rapidly gaining popularity: workout plans, healthy-recipe e-books, ready-made social media templates or personal development programs. Influencers often pair them with authentic transformation stories—before-and-after photos, progress videos—and a sign-up link, creating a strong FOMO effect (“everyone is joining, and I want results too”). As a result, each recommended product becomes not just an item, but part of a narrative about a better, more stylish and more intentional life.
How to earn money on Instagram – free ebook included!
Download a free ebook with practical examples showing how to earn money not only on Instagram. Thanks to affiliate links, you can monetise any online activity across various social platforms: Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube or Snapchat. See how easy it is!
Social media are currently one of the most popular channels for starting to make money online. Each platform has its own rules, so before you start posting affiliate links, it’s worth taking a look at how professional bloggers and Instagrammers do it.
