7 Clever Ways to Make Money on Instagram Without Followers (2024)

Social media has transformed from just a way to connect with friends to a powerful tool for making money online.

Even if you don’t have thousands of followers on Instagram, there are clever ways to start earning an income on the platform right now in South Africa.

The key is getting creative and identifying monetization strategies that align with your brand, audience, and niche.

Whether you’re an influencer, artist, photographer, chef, or just an everyday Instagram user, you can leverage the platform to generate cashflow without a huge following.

This guide will explore 7 proven methods for making money on Instagram without having a ton of followers.

We’ll cover strategies like selling products, monetizing content, participating in branded campaigns, and more.

So if you’re based in South Africa and want to know how to turn Instagram into a money making machine, you’re in the right place.

Let’s dive in and uncover some actionable tips to start earning through Instagram today!

How to Make Money on Instagram in South Africa Without Followers

Sell Products or Services

One of the most straightforward ways to make money on Instagram without a huge following is to directly sell products or services.

Here are some ideas:

Offer digital products

If you have a skill or expertise that can be packaged into a digital product, you can sell it directly through Instagram. For example, you can sell:

Presets for editing photos
Online courses teaching a skill
Ebooks/PDF guides
Stock images and graphics
Music, podcasts or audio lessons

You can promote and sell these by linking to a third-party site like Gumroad or Teachable in your bio or posts.

The advantage of digital products is that they incur minimal overhead, can reach a global audience, and earn passive income.

Sell physical products

You can also use Instagram to promote and sell physical products.

Things like apparel, jewelry, crafts, baked goods, artwork, and more can be sold directly through Instagram posts and stories.

You can link to your online store in your bio
Promote new product launches and sales
Showcase user-generated content of people using your products

If you don’t have your own ecommerce store, you can also earn commissions by promoting products as an affiliate.

Offer social media marketing services

This is a great option if you’re Instagram savvy.

You can offer social media management and consulting services to brands and businesses. Things like:

Managing accounts and posting content
Creating engaging captions and hashtags
Advising on content strategy and ideas
Running contests and campaigns
Reporting and analytics

You can promote your services on your Instagram account and portfolio to attract potential clients.

A branded strategy guide as a free downloadable lead magnet can also help convert clients.

Leveraging your Instagram skills and expertise is an easy way to start earning without a huge personal following.

You can start with offering services to individuals, influencers and small businesses in your existing network.

Monetize Your Content

If you’re producing great content on Instagram already, you can explore options to monetize it without relying solely on ad revenue. Here are some ideas:

Earn ad revenue on IGTV

IGTV allows longer-form vertical videos up to 60 minutes.

This presents an opportunity to create more high-quality videos that can earn ad revenue. Things like:

Video tutorials and “how-to” content
Interviews with interesting people
Daily/weekly shows around your niche
Livestreams of events and conferences

Enable video ads on your IGTV content. The revenue can start small, but top creators earn thousands per month.

Get sponsorships for posts/stories

You can collaborate with brands in your niche to create sponsored Instagram posts and stories.

Negotiate rates based on your audience size and engagement metrics.

Creative ways to integrate sponsors include:

Product reviews and unboxings
Branded tutorials or recipes
Giveaways and contests
Takeovers of your account for a day

Small businesses and those just starting out may offer free product instead of cash.

Take it to build your portfolio and work towards paid sponsorships.

Sell online courses or membership sites

Instagram is great for promoting online courses, training programs, virtual summits or membership sites.

Promote short teaser videos and testimonials on Instagram Stories and IGTV. Link to sales pages and registration forms in your bio.

Leverage Instagram to attract ideal students, clients and subscribers for your educational offerings.

Sell eBooks or guides

Publishing ebooks is easy and Instagram gives you direct access to target readers.

Create guides, workbooks or lists around topics that engage your followers. List them on platforms like Gumroad or Amazon Kindle and promote them on Instagram.

The set-up costs are low but you can earn passive income for months or years from each ebook. Offer limited time discounts to boost conversions from Instagram traffic.

Content monetization works best when your followers are invested in your niche and see you as an authority.

Use Instagram to highlight your knowledge, build authority and drive sales of your online offerings.

Leverage Influencer Marketing

Collaborating with other influencers in your niche is a powerful way to expand your reach and make money on Instagram.

Work with micro-influencers

These are accounts with typically 1,000 to 100,000 engaged followers.

Identify micro-influencers in your space and propose collaborations:

Sponsored posts where you pay them to feature your brand/product
Giveaways where you provide the prize and they promote the contest
Instagram takeovers where you share content on their account for a day

The engagement from a micro-influencer’s loyal audience can be more valuable than follower numbers.

Make sure to evaluate engagement metrics before offering any paid partnerships.

Get featured on bigger accounts

Look for larger accounts in your industry who might be open to featuring your content. Things like:

Asking to be interviewed on their Instagram Live
Having them repost your content or stories and tag you
Suggesting collaborations on co-created content

While getting reposted by an influencer with 50k+ followers can seem daunting, many are open to giving smaller accounts a boost organically if they like your work.

It can drive huge traffic and follower growth.

Join engagement pods

Engagement pods involve groups of Instagrammers who commit to liking and commenting on each other’s content. This boosts engagement and helps reach more users organically.

Seek out pods in your niche by searching related hashtags and connecting with likeminded creators. Contribute value by providing thoughtful comments and feedback.

Strategic influencer marketing can expand your organic reach and lay the foundation for paid partnerships down the road.

Promote Your Side Hustles

Many Instagram influencers and entrepreneurs use their accounts to promote other side hustles and money-making ideas. Some options:

Share your skills and talents

Instagram is the perfect platform for photographers, artists, designers, crafters, chefs and creatives to showcase work.

Ways to monetize your skills:

Offer freelance services like photo editing, graphic design, etc.
Sell finished work like prints, apparel with your designs or craft items
License your work for stock photos, videos, templates, etc.
Teach your skills through online courses or tutorials

Share your best work on Instagram and guide followers to your portfolio site or online store purchases.

Promote physical storefronts

For brick-and-mortar businesses, Instagram presents a free way to reach more local customers.

Things like restaurants, boutiques, salons and studios can promote:

New menu items, products or services
Special events, classes or pop-ups
Location tags and contact info
User photos enjoying the business

This social proof and online visibility can drive foot traffic to physical spaces.

Drive traffic to affiliate sites

Have an affiliate site earning ad revenue or selling other people’s products?

Instagram is great for raising awareness around your site.

Share snippets from new articles, videos from YouTube channels, or your latest product review roundup.

Use captions to encourage people to click the link in your bio for more.

The organic traffic from Instagram can significantly boost earnings from affiliate marketing efforts.

Promote other social channels

Are you earning money on other platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, podcasts or blogs?

Cross-promote new videos and content from these channels on Instagram.

Add links to all your profiles in your Instagram bio.

Highlight releases from other channels in your Instagram stories and feed.

This cross-pollination helps maximize earnings from your full suite of content across multiple channels and side hustles.

Participate in Branded Challenges

Sponsored contests and branded hashtag challenges have become huge on Instagram. Participating in these as a creator presents opportunities to get paid and access new promotions.

Join branded hashtag challenges

Big brands will often pay Instagrammers with decent followings just to participate in hashtag challenges and use their branded hashtags.

McDonald’s, Spotify, and Coca-Cola are examples of brands that routinely run sponsored challenges offering cash or prizes for participation.

Even if you don’t win, you gain exposure to new audiences already interested in the brand/product.

Showcase products creatively

Brands may reach out directly asking you to participate in user-generated content campaigns.

You can get paid to creatively showcase products on your Instagram account. Examples include:

Styling clothing in an Instagram photoshoot
Developing recipes with a new food product
Producing video tutorials featuring cosmetics or tools

The key is presenting the brand aligns with your niche aesthetic and audience. Turn down offers that seem overly promotional or inauthentic.

Promote giveaways/contests

Similar to UGC campaigns, brands may hire influencers to promote giveaways and contests.

You may get paid and/or receive free product packages in exchange for:

Promoting the contest in Stories and feed posts
Requiring users to follow the brand to enter
Announcing the winner

These should hit the sweet spot of entertaining for your audience while commercial for the brand.

With a bit of creativity, branded collaborations present big opportunities to monetize your account and get introduced to new brand partners.

Key Takeaways

Here are the key takeaways on making money on Instagram without a ton of followers:

Sell products or services – Offer digital or physical products, promote affiliate links, or provide marketing services
Monetize content – Earn ad revenue from IGTV, get sponsorships, sell online courses, guides and more
Leverage influencers – Collaborate with micro-influencers, get featured on bigger accounts, join engagement pods
Promote side hustles – Showcase skills and talents, drive traffic to other money-making channels
Participate in branded campaigns – Join hashtag challenges, creatively showcase sponsored products, promote giveaways
Provide value first – Develop high-quality content and build authority in your niche before monetizing
Analyze metrics – Continuously evaluate engagement, growth and sales data to refine monetization strategies

The key is picking money-making tactics aligned with your brand identity and audience interests.

With consistency and creativity, you can start earning a sustainable income from Instagram.

7 Clever Ways to Make Money on Instagram Without Followers