Instagram Affiliate Marketing Primer and Most Profitable Methods

Instagram affiliate marketing is a huge business opportunity, and I’m going to tell you why and how you can take advantage of it. 

With more than 1 billion active users as of 2021,

70% of which are using Instagram to find new products, and

71% of US businesses now using Instagram,

It’s no surprise that the platform most infamous for influencers is also an affiliate marketing cash cow. We’re talking massive profits for minimal effort for brands and businesses. 

Not to mention Instagram’s Shoppable Posts and Product Stickers features all make Instagram prime for Instagram affiliate marketer’s pickins. 

Beyond the ability to sell products, there is a double value in driving large amounts of traffic to your Ecommerce sites and other funnels.  

“Why would you create something if not to promote it.”

– Larry Kim

If you like multiple income streams, or believe in a product, why would you not promote affiliate products on Instagram? 

Get ready to get a double dose of brand awareness, traffic, and sales with Instagram affiliate marketing!

Let’s begin with the rudimentary stuff and then dig into the nitty-gritty Instagram affiliate marketing nuggets.

Here is what we are going to uncover in this article:

• What is Affiliate Marketing on Instagram?
• How Does Instagram Affiliate Marketing Work? 
• How to Start Affiliate Marketing
• Commission Structures for Instagram Affiliate Marketing 
• Researching Your Instagram Affiliate Prospects 
• How to Measure Your Instagram Affiliate Marketing Strategy
• The Unicorn Instagram Affiliate Marketing Strategy

What is Affiliate Marketing on Instagram? 

While some affiliate marketing Instagram influencers are getting paid to snap photos with new sneakers or shampoos, this is not the consistent or viable Instagram affiliate marketing model we’re discussing. 

Nothing wrong with it. In fact, there are some insanely profitable and easy ways to monetize Instagram for influencers these days, such as a Customers.ai Comment or DM Autoresponder. 

If you have enough followers to command a regular paycheck from your Instagram influencer marketing, well then… let’s double it! 

So what exactly is Instagram affiliate marketing? Instagram affiliate marketing for B2B brands or any other business usually consists of an agreement between a product company and a marketer. 

“Affiliate marketing is the process of earning a commission by promoting other people’s or company’s products.”  

– Neil Patel

Often you will see discount codes or affiliate marketing Instagram influencers advertising special offers in their Instagram captions. 

In Instagram affiliate marketing, and almost any marketing, it’s all about tracking conversions, click to sale. 

So it makes perfect sense to leverage the most engaging social media platform to get customers clicking!

How Does Instagram Affiliate Marketing Work? 

It’s all about the CTAs! ?

And you can practically hone all your marketing magic into just a few stellar link opps on Instagram.

Instagram Link in Bio: Just like it sounds, you can add a link in your affiliate marketing bio for Instagram, which is clickable. There are many ways to encourage users to click your bio link and other Instagram marketing tips to optimize your bio. 

Instagram Story Link: Traditionally, the only option was the “Swipe Up” feature for business accounts with 10k+ followers. This is a fantastic feature in its own right but leaves something to be desired for many. 

The next option is way more exciting for all business accounts, regardless of followers, using Customers.ai’s Instagram Story Auto Reply tool. 

Here’s what you do, in a nutshell: 

#1: Sign up for Customers.ai for early access to 100% Instagram-approved Direct Messaging tools.

#2: Create as simple or complex of a chatbot dialogue you’d like in Customers.ai. 

#3: Whenever you or your brand are mentioned, the chatbot will automatically reply and begin the conversation sequence, including a CTA. 

#4: Drive your leads or customers to your website or other marketing funnels, and keep track and manage it all from the all-in-one Customers.ai Instagram DM inbox. 

This method is a double whammy as it boosts your engagement while driving traffic and sales simultaneously!

Instagram Direct Message (DM) Link: This is an excellent way to drive traffic and arguably one of the most effective. Anyone can send clickable links via DM.

Instagram IGTV Description Link: Another great spot for a clickable link on Instagram is your IGTV Description. Then, start promoting your IGTV and drive traffic through a CTA. 

Instagram Affiliate Marketing Pro Tip: Use a service like Rebrandly or Linktree to benefit from a shorter URL with richer analytics and tracking.

That’s great, but how do I get affiliate links on Instagram?

Another great reason to utilize Instagram affiliate marketing methods is that nearly every major affiliate network works with Instagram: 

ShareASale, CJ Affiliate, and Rakuten, and many other affiliate networks support Instagram affiliate marketing. 

There are tons of affiliate networks out there that tout Instagram support but not all affiliate networks are created equal. 

You may come across a bad apple that is not sticking to the commissions agreement or some other shady business. 

Steer clear of new affiliate networks that lack the credibility or trust of the more established Instagram affiliate programs.

If you’re in the digital marketing space, did you know that Customers.ai has an Affiliate Reseller Program? You earn 25% per referral and 5% of every sub-referral for life! 

It’s a pretty sweet passive income that almost anyone can set up and succeed with. 

Plus, you’re partnering with Unicorn Marketing legend Larry Kim, Customers.ai CEO, and WordStream Founder.

How to Start Affiliate Marketing

Finding high-quality affiliates to work with is key on both sides of the table.

Influencers shouldn’t bite on every offer thrown their way, and anyone with a larger following will have developed a discerning eye.

Suppose you are trying to find Instagram influencers to work with to sell your products. In that case, you can DIY the research (start in hashtags and geolocation tags) or automate and streamline it with an established Instagram affiliate network. 

Once you’ve gotten set up with an Instagram affiliate network, you will want to decide your preferred commission structure. 

Commission Structures for Instagram Affiliate Marketing 

There are two types of commission structures for Instagram affiliate marketing. 

Pay Per Click (PPC) – Every click, you get dollars… well, probably more like cents, but you get the idea. 

Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) – For every sale, you get paid.

It depends on your goals, but if you are trying to amp up sales of a product or service, CPA is the way to go. 

If you are looking to bank on clicks and use Instagram affiliate marketing as a sly passive (sort-of… you still have to do this stuff!) income, then PPC is your best bet. 

It also depends on your budget. The CPA route will be a bit safer. 

So you’ve got your Instagram affiliate network chosen and set up, and you’re ready to go with a commission structure. What’s next? 

If you build it, the Instagram mavens will come.

It can be that easy, but in the competitive world of social content marketing, they aren’t going to come knocking without putting in some effort. 

Now it’s time to use your marketing and sales skills to attract and close deals with the right influencers for your Instagram affiliate marketing program. 

Just like influencer marketing, it should be a win-win for both the merchant (seller or brand) and the affiliate (marketer or publisher). Make sure you are incentivized and giving incentive to your newfound Instagram affiliate marketer or partner. 

Incentives in Instagram affiliate marketing usually come in the form of a tiered program to receive bonuses and rewards. 

The more you can incentivize your affiliate partner, generally speaking, the better performance. It’s kind of the whole idea behind commissions, right? 

Research Your Instagram Affiliate Prospects 

Choosing an influencer or Instagram affiliate partner is also highly contingent on your goals and your budget. 

If you want local clientele or to drive traffic to a brick-and-mortar, geo-location tags are the best place to start. 

If you are going for Ecommerce or online brand awareness, start digging through your industry’s niche hashtags. 

I recently shared an entire article dedicated to how to find and choose the best influencers for your brand’s Instagram influencer marketing, including tips on: 

• How much does Instagram influencer marketing cost? 
• How to find the right influencer (which also applies to how to do affiliate marketing on Instagram)
• Instagram influencer marketing reporting and metrics.
• Examples of the top Instagram influencers by industry.
• How to use a 100% Instagram-approved comment bot to dramatically increase your engagement and reach.

Basically, the more followers and notoriety an influencer has, the more they are going to cost.

So if it’s an option for you, then by all means, find out who is the richest affiliate marketer for your niche and sign on! 

For example, a 9-year-old, Ryan Kaji, was named the highest-earning YouTube star of 2020 for his toy reviews. He is clearly cultivating his audience and driving traffic from Instagram as well. Way to go,Ryan! ?

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ryan ToysReview (@ryantoysreview)

Your Instagram affiliate network or partner will most likely prompt you for this, but don’t forget to package up some brand assets and guidelines to help the process. 

How to Measure Your Instagram Affiliate Marketing Strategy

All of the well-known and established affiliate networks will have metrics for your campaigns available within your dashboard. 

This applies to all types of affiliate marketing networks and tools, from Amazon’s influencer program to AdThrive’s optimization platform. They all have a user-friendly dashboard with analytics. 

You will want to measure, at the very least: # of affiliate links, # of clicks on affiliate links, and the total sales. 

However, like all things digital marketing, this depends on your goals. 

You might also be interested in measuring engagement, new followers, phone calls, emails, or leads that you can attribute to your Instagram affiliate marketing efforts. 

Some third-party tools can help you measure your Instagram affiliate marketing efforts, such as Tailwind. 

But if you want to boost your Instagram affiliate marketing efforts, read on for the Instagram tools that will drive a successful affiliate marketing campaign for your business. 

Pssst… Customers.ai has an excellent dashboard with high level and granular analytics readily available. 

The Unicorn Instagram Affiliate Marketing Strategy

Hopefully, you should have a grasp on the basics of Instagram affiliate marketing. 

Now, it is time to amp it up! With some traffic blasting and engagement exploding automation techniques via Customers.ai! 

Here are just a few of the benefits of utilizing Customers.ai with your Instagram affiliate marketing campaigns:

• Instant lead and data capture.
• More human and personalized automation with conversational auto-DM sequences.
• Pre-qualified leads via conversational chatbot and DM inbox.
• More engagement with your organic followers and an algorithmic boost in the newsfeed via Customers.ai Instagram Comment Autoresponder.
• More clicks, leads, and conversions with additional CTA links.
• Increase ROI on contests, giveaways, and promos by using Customers.ai “Comment Guard” or Instagram Comment Auto-Reply tool.

Autorespond to Comments and DMs with Customers.ai’s Instagram Tools

Let’s just take a moment to reflect on the awesomeness of automatically sending a DM to anyone who comments on your Instagram affiliate marketing posts. It’s rad. 

In one fell swoop, you’ve potentially quadrupled your Instagram affiliate marketing campaign’s results by organically boosting engagement and capturing lead data. 

Imagine you’ve hired a busy influencer… because hey if they aren’t busy, they probably aren’t that great. This mildly or quite possibly wildly popular individual will not respond to every DM, and potentially none at all. 

Customers.ai has given the DM inbox the upgrade and modern uplift it needed. Influencers love it because they can view all of their DMs in a manageable browser view inbox which also pulls in messages from their other channels. 

Not only that, but the real gem here is they can autoreply to DMs and mentions and ultimately capture and segment your leads into your marketing funnel accordingly. 

Check it out in action below: 

You could also just head over to Customers.ai’s Instagram page and try it out yourself!

This little trick alone takes a lot of the uncertainty out of investing in Instagram affiliate marketing, as it guarantees engagement and leads captured despite abandonment. 

Also, Customers.ai can enhance the metrics of your campaigns’ results. Ooh, la la!

Run a Clubhouse Lead Gen Funnel Through Instagram

Do what now? You read it right: the new Clubhouse app + Instagram = Untapped lead gen hack. This is a golden nugget for anyone involved in digital marketing. 

Get it while it’s hot! 

You will quickly find that there are a limited number of ways to exploit Clubhouse for lead gen beyond the word-of-mouth direct hits ?in Clubhouse rooms where all of the magic happens. ✨

?     Clubhouse has ZERO paid advertising… part of the allure for some. 

?     There are no “DMs” in Clubhouse.

?     Any links added are not clickable in the Clubhouse app. 

Therefore, the absolute best way to build a Clubhouse app lead generation funnel is to connect Instagram via Customers.ai to boost your affiliate marketing initiatives. ✅

Here’s the growth hack for you savvy affiliate marketers out there:

1. One of the only clickable links in Clubhouse is your Instagram page. So link it! 

2. Start building a following on Clubhouse by engaging with your industry niche in rooms. 
3. Drive traffic to your Instagram CTA link verbally and in your Clubhouse bio. Incentivize your audience to DM you with a keyword. 

4. Your Customers.ai Instagram DM Autoreply sequence kicks into action, captures their lead data, pre-qualifies them, and nurtures them into clicking your affiliate marketing links on Instagram! ?

Drive More Traffic to Your Ecommerce Pages with Story Links, DM Links, and Bio Link for Instagram Affiliate Marketing

Links, links, links… it’s the name of the game for marketers, from tracking and paid ads to the world of affiliate marketing and SEO. The internet is truly made up of a bunch of links. 

Take a look at the source code of any website, and you are bound to find a whole gamut of juicy links that web spiders crawl. 

See what I mean? Links are the nectar of digital marketing life. 

We should include them every chance we get on social media and especially take advantage of tracking.

Leverage the new CTA link opportunities that Customers.ai provides for your Instagram affiliate marketing campaign. 

Links in Instagram Stories

Instantly add a link to your Instagram Stories whenever your brand is mentioned! It’s super easy to create an Instagram chatbot with Customers.ai. Get started here! 

Links in DMs

As mentioned earlier in this article, you can include clickable links in your Instagram DMs. 

Don’t worry, you don’t have to spend hours digging your way out of an overflowing DM inbox. Simply automate your DMs with a conversational chatbot that is 100% approved by Instagram for ROI-driving madness! 

Just a reminder: You can experience how these Instagram affiliate marketing tools work for yourself by visiting @Customers.ai.ai on Insta and commenting or send a DM!

This is all great, but how many followers do you need to become an affiliate?

ZERO! Well… there isn’t much point in that, but the point I am making is that you do not need to meet any minimum requirements to get started reaping the benefits of Instagram affiliate marketing. 

Between following our best practices and some DIY research (or sign up for an Instagram affiliate network) and leveraging the additional affiliate marketing links on Instagram opps, you are on your way with the Instagram affiliate marketing gravy train! ??

Important Next Steps