How to Make Money on Instagram in 2025

Whenever you scroll Instagram, you’ll inevitably see ads, influencers promoting products, and brands introducing new services.

Even celebrities starting their own side businesses use Instagram to promote new products and services. This is because Instagram has come a long way since being a simple photo-sharing app.

In 2025, Meta promotes the platform as a creator economy center. It invests top dollar to keep the best talent engaged, while drawing more advertisers and shoppers.

If you want to share in the spoils this year, you’ll be glad to know you don’t need the thousands of followers that celebrities have. All you need to know is how Instagram monetization works and how to make it work for you.

Get Paid as a Content Creator

Becoming an Instagram creator is one of the best ways to make money on Instagram.

At the end of 2022, Facebook announced that it would invest more than $1 billion in various programs. These programs are intended to allow content creators to earn money on the platform.

If you are starting out on Instagram, your best bet is the Creator Fund, which you can use to monetize the content you create through badges, bonuses, and ads.

• Live badges

  To create content people want to see, you must build a relationship with your audience.

  You can earn live badges when you become a ‘favorite creator’ to a large following. These badges double as ‘tips’ that you can earn during an Instagram live stream.

  Badges come in the shape of a heart, and you can add the feature to your profile by selecting ‘badges’ under ‘grow your business’.

  When you start a live stream, the badge icon will be visible to the left of your screen. Tap on it to turn the feature on during your live stream, allowing your followers to support you.

• Instagram bonuses

  You can also earn bonuses on the platform if you achieve specific goals. You can collect a bonus if you sign up for ads or create a certain number of Reels.

  However, you cannot join a bonus program; you must be invited. You will only be invited if Instagram deems you eligible.

• Instagram gifts

  Your audience can also support you by sending you Stars during live videos. Stars are Instagram gifts and are worth $0.01 each. The more followers you have, the more you can earn.

Sell Products Via an Online Instagram Store

If you have products you want to sell, Instagram offers you a massive customer base. Over two billion active users spend at least 16 hours on the app monthly.

If you use Instagram Shopping, you can create a store on the platform and add tags to your posts so users can shop instantly.

With Instagram Shopping, you can tag your products in various posts, including reels and stories. These tags will direct your viewers to your e-commerce page or online store.

You can also create an entire storefront and checkout, making it easy for users to scroll through your products and buy what they want.

Become an Affiliate Marketer

Affiliate marketing has been around for a while and is still huge in 2025.

If you become an affiliate marketer, you promote brands and products on Instagram. You receive a commission whenever someone clicks on a link you share and buys something.

Affiliate marketers get promo codes or trackable links so that brands can track their sales. Affiliate marketing is not the same as being an influencer, however.

Influencers are paid an agreed-upon fee for continued brand exposure. Affiliates can only make money when their posts result in sales.

Some Instagram creators snub affiliate marketing as ‘being too difficult.’ But if you do it right, you can make a lot of money this way.

For instance, you should use several links in your bio, link-in-bio page, and Instagram stories. Using all these link opportunities allows you to promote products for different brands simultaneously.

Digital Product Sales

You should look into digital product sales if you don’t want to sell physical products that need to be shipped or delivered.

There is a massive demand for digital products on Instagram, and you can fill a gap in a specific niche.

However, it is important to understand the products you sell. If your followers have questions or concerns, you must be able to respond.

Digital products can be anything from workshops to e-books, digital art, or graphics. You can specialize in one digital product or sell a range depending on your audience.

Partner With a Brand

If you dream of becoming an Instagram influencer, you can make money through influencer marketing. This is one of the most popular ways for content creators to monetize their accounts.

Influencer marketing means partnering with a brand and creating sponsored content. You should only partner with a brand that offers products and services your followers need.

You must also believe in and use these products and services yourself. Ensure that you don’t bombard your audience with salesy content.

The goal of sponsored posts is to be non-intrusive while subtly promoting something people are interested in.

Ideally, you want to steer away from showcasing and aim to incorporate the product or service into your usual content.

Consider Selling Photos Online

You can also go back to basics and use a photo-selling marketplace to make money on Instagram. You can link sales pages in your bio and sell your photos or even art through your online store.

Instagram Shopping features will come in handy here, as you can also sell your photos directly on the Instagram platform. Remember that you need an Instagram Business account to access Instagram Shopping.

The Monetization Options on Instagram Are Endless in 2025

The great thing about monetizing your Instagram account is that you don’t have to stick to only one option. You can explore all the diverse ways to make money and use several that work for you.

It is important to stay updated with relevant platform updates and stick to Instagram’s policies as you create income streams.

And you must always prioritize authentic content and engagement to keep your followers loyal to your account.