If you are a new content creator on Instagram, you may be wondering how you can make money off your posts. This is one of the most important factors of creating content online, so you want to make sure you know what you’re doing.

Today, we will be going through the steps on how to set up monetization on Instagram so you can make sure you are making the most out of your content. We will also be showing how to set up payment, as well as sharing Instagram’s prohibited content so you can make sure you won’t get your content restricted. 

How To Set Up Monetization On Instagram

How To Set up Monetization on Instagram

The first step to set up monetization on Instagram is to make sure you’re eligible for monetization. This can be done by making sure you have a business account on Instagram. 

At this time, you don’t have to be verified to have a business account, which makes this feature accessible to any public account.

Make Your Account a Business Account

To turn your normal profile into a business profile, simply go into your settings and privacy tab. 

Here, you will see creator tools and controls. When you click on that, you will see the option to switch account type, either from a personal account or a business account’ 

Your account has to be public, meaning this option isn’t available to private accounts.

Check if You’re Eligible 

Once you have a business account, you can check to see if you are eligible for monetization. It’s as simple as going to your professional dashboard, which can be accessed by going to your profile.

Your professional dashboard will look a little something like this.

Next, click on the settings icon in the top right corner of the page. Here, you will find options to have a frequently asked questions page, require a minimum age for viewers on your page, and where you can see if you’re eligible for monetization.

Once you know you’re eligible, you can start to create sponsored content and create partnerships with brands and other creators.  

Branded Content Tools

In the same settings page, you will see the option to look at your branded content tools. This is where you can enable the ability to work directly with brands and have sponsored content. 

On this page, Instagram will give you a few tips to maintain eligibility to be able to create and earn money off your sponsored content. Some of these tips are: 

1. Stay up to date with Instagram’s community guidelines 

It’s important to stay up to date with Instagram’s community guidelines. This means you shouldn’t be posting inappropriate content, impersonate another account, or be spamming your followers 

2. Don’t share content you didn’t create or don’t have the rights to use. 

While you shouldn’t post work you don’t own on Instagram, this becomes a lot more serious of an issue when money and sponsorships come into play. It’s important to only post the content you have created so that you won’t get in trouble with the law. This can include using copyrighted music in the background of a video.

3. Don’t share content that can be considered false or misleading.

No fake news here! When you’re posting branded or sponsored content, you are sending a message to your followers. Don’t post fake information about a product or brand, and make sure you trust the brand before you partner with them.

Once you enable branded content tools, you’re ready to get to work!

Brands can request to work with you directly through your account, and you can see all the requests in the request approval page. This is a lot easier than a brand going through a social media manager or your email to try and work with you. Here, they can easily reach you through these tools and all communication can be done via the Instagram app. 

Instagram’s Monetization Rules 

Instagram has a lot of rules about monetization on their platform. It’s important to read through all the guidelines before you start partnering with brands.  Here’s a quick list of the most important rules to keep in mind.

Prohibited Formats

Instagram has a list of prohibited formats with monetization. This includes static videos, static image polls, slideshows of images, and looping videos. 

Prohibited behaviors 

Instagram prohibits engagement bait, which encourages your followers to click a link or respond to a post through likes or comments. 

Soliciting engagement is also prohibited, which Instagram defines as content that requests compensation in exchange for extreme behavior, such as showing graphic content or consumption of drugs or alcohol. 

Prohibted categories 

Instagram strictly forbids the monetization of misinformation, such as content that has been rated false by a fact checker. This includes misleading medical information, specifically noting anti-vaccation claims. 

Instagram also has restricted categories which could allow your content to be restricted to certain age groups and can reduce your ability to earn money off your content. These categories could be debated social issues, such as race, gender, sexuality, and religion

Tradegy or conflict, such as depictions or discissions of real life suffering, destruction or distress.  Any content that depicts death, mental illness, sexual or physical abuse, may be restricted.

Other restricted content could be cosmetic procedures and weight loss, family planning and contraception, and financial and insurance services. 

Getting Paid

How will you get paid?

Once you have started posting your branded content, you may be wondering how you are going to get paid. You can receive your payouts directly through Instagram if you specifically are working on projects that state “paid through Instagram.”

You first must add a payout account on Instagram. This can also be done in your professional dashboard.

First, go to payouts and select update payout method.  From here, you can select the type of payout account. It’s important to remember for US creators that you need to enter your tax information to receive your money.

You have to earn a minimum of $100 to receive your earnings.  Below is what your payment dashboard will look like. This is where you can set up all your payment methods, enter tax information and receive payment support. 

Regardless of your country and your currency, you will be paid in USD to your bank or Paypal account, which can then convert the money to your local currency. 

Payments can take about a week, so be patient. Most monetization products, the payout will be released on the 21st of each month. 

Your pay can also be put on a hold if your bank information has been changed, so make sure to keep that in mind when you are updating your payment information.

Remember, you can always request help through Meta or Instagram by contacting support and filling out a claim.