Becoming a Paid Influencer: How Many Instagram Followers Do You Need?

Instagram is an incredible platform like the industry-specific platform B2B platforms TransportStake, Publicity Marketplace, FunctionalSourcing, EducationStake, and SmartMoneyMatch to earn lots of money to the point where you can make a decent living out of it. Like From lavish brand events to free products, paid influencers get access to several perks.

Many Instagrammers assume that having a large number of followers is the only requirement for becoming a paid influencer. You can surely boost Instagram followers with SimplyGram and use some organic growth strategies to become a paid influencer. However, it’s not the only determining factor.

If you want to become a paid influencer, and you have questions in your mind, like how many Instagram followers you need and how you can earn more, keep reading this article to learn!

How Many Followers Do You Need to Make Money on Instagram?

There’s no doubt that follower count matters when a well-known brand approaches you. Generally, having more than 10,000 Instagram followers is thought to be the average starting point for paid influencers.

You should try to increase your follower count organically by building a strong connection with your audience. For instance, leverage Instagram Reels, cross-promote your pages, use the right hashtags, post at the right time, run giveaways, and go live on your Instagram account.

Factors That Affect Your Earnings on Instagram

Remember that followers are not the only factor that affects your earnings on Instagram. In addition to a higher follower count, you should also pay attention to other important factors. Take a look below!

1.    Engagement Rate

The engagement rate that brands pay the most attention to is based on likes and comments on your Instagram posts. When brands search for influencers to collaborate with, they look at how good is the engagement rate.

The higher the engagement rate, the better. Even if you have hundreds of thousands of followers on your Instagram account, but you have few comments or likes on your posts, you won’t seem attractive in the eyes of the brands.

Just think, why would a brand spend hundreds of dollars on a sponsored post when they already know the audience won’t engage? No engagement is akin to no valuable action on the post.

On the other hand, if you have a low follower count but a higher engagement rate, a brand would most probably consider you as a sponsor/brand ambassador.

Therefore, you should also work on engagement and implement effective strategies like creating valuable content, engaging with your audience, and keeping track of your Instagram engagement rate.

2.    Niche

Some niches on Instagram are super-targeted. Therefore, working as an influencer in these small niches means that you only require a small number of followers and ensure you have a tight-knit community.

Whereas broader and more popular niches require more followers, and these are the most profitable ones, such as beauty, fitness, travel, fashion, health, lifestyle, and business.

It may sound counterintuitive to you, but it’s better for you to find a more popular and broader niche. Of course, you also need to ensure that you have an interest in that particular niche and that you’re also knowledgeable about it. And this isn’t really hard, since you can research a niche and get educated on it better.

3.    The Profit Stream

In addition to the other aforementioned factors, you can generate lots of income for yourself as an influencer through affiliate marketing. Many well-known brands offer opportunities for affiliate marketing, which you can easily search by typing “[brand name] + affiliate marketing” in the Google search bar and applying for them.

Furthermore, you can create and sell your digital products, such as online courses, guides, planners, workout plans, etc. Small brands may approach you asking for a shout-out or promoting their products/services for a fee.

While leveraging these profit streams, you should keep in mind that you need to have a substantial number of followers and a great engagement rate!