You don't need to have plenty of followers to make money on social media if you are just starting out. But what you need to know is which are the best platforms suited for your purpose and how to earn a decent revenue out of that.
Well, the good news is that there are so many avenues to make money on social media! And the bad is that you don't know where to start!
Creators and brands having similar thoughts and concerns, this article is your best bet to learn and explore these pathways to turn your social media presence into a profitable venture.
In this article, we shared practical methods on how to make money on social media (platform-wise for both creators and brands)
On Facebook
1. Use Fan Subscriptions
Previously known as Fan Subscriptions, now called only “Subscriptions,” this option is a way for creators to have a recurring income from their most loyal followers. The option specifically allows followers to access exclusive content, discounts, and other perks through a paid subscription model. Thus, if you are a budding creator and thinking of ways to monetize your Facebook presence, try this out to earn based on how subscribers pay for subscriptions. But besides that, Facebook will pay creators a bonus of between $5 and $20 for each new subscriber until the end of 2021 as a part of their pledge to invest over $1 billion in their creators before 2023.
2. Invest In Video Content
With Facebook being the top platform preferred for video content, it is wise to level up your video content or Reel game if you want to earn some bucks from the platform. Both as a brand and creator, it's time to invest to produce quality content as from the Facebook Reels bonus program, you can earn up to $35,000 per month if it's successful, having at least 1000 views over 30 days. Besides this, you can also use overlay ads to monetize your Facebook Reels that are placed directly on the top in a banner or sticker format.
Source: Search Engine Journal
3. Utilize In-Stream Ads
Working a lot like monetizing a YouTube channel, Facebook In-Steam Ads help creators and brands monetize their content, earning revenue based on views and engagement. These can be short videos or image ads that a user needs to watch while scrolling through a Facebook video if they are interested in watching the entire video. For instance, check out this instream ad below.
Source: Social Media Examiner
4. Run Paid Events Online
This is one of the most preferred ways of generating income from Facebook. However, to access this option, you need to meet Facebook’s monetization eligibility criteria before you can start creating paid events. Once you are eligible, you can host paid online events, workshops, or webinars to share expertise or unique experiences with your audience for a fee. You can enable, schedule, and set up the required information about your event and the price through Facebook's paid events feature.
Source: Shopify
On Instagram
1. Leverage Subscriptions
Instagram's Subscription feature allows creators to offer subscribers exclusive content, stories, or perks for a monthly fee. This feature allows creators to generate recurring monthly revenue easily, as the most engaged followers can access your exclusive content and get a subscriber badge next to their name. Besides this, a subscription allows creators like you to add a membership to the Instagram account, set a price, and monitor who subscribes to you. However, Instagram Subscriptions is currently available to U.S.-based creators.
Source: Instagram
2. Use Instagram Shop
Much like the Facebook Shop, creators or brands can utilize the Instagram Shop feature to showcase and sell products directly from the profile under a “Shop” profile tab. This seamless shopping experience enhances the convenience for followers, turning engagement into sales. However, please note that the Shop tab on Facebook and Instagram will be withdrawn around March 2023, so it's wise to make the most of it while it's still there. But besides this, to keep up the merchandise, Instagram might still offer brands some sort of Shop section after the withdrawal.
Source: Padi.com
3. Offer a Service Or Coaching
Another practical and most effective way of generating income via social media is by offering services, consultations, or coaching sessions to loyal followers and potential ones. Whether it's mentorship, tutorials, or personalized guidance, leveraging skills through Instagram can create a revenue stream. If you have a talent or good knowledge of a particular subject, it's advisable to leverage that skill or talent and market the same on social media in a way that your followers value the same. Whether you are a copywriter, content marketer, or graphic designer, you can find clients easily or sell your digital product in the form of ebooks, guides, and PDFs and make great money online on social media.
4. Get Into Brand Partnerships
If you have an established or good presence on social media platforms like Instagram, collaborating with brands for sponsored content or partnerships can be lucrative. By promoting products or services to their audience, creators can earn income while offering authentic recommendations. By the works of it, brands offer creators either free merchandise or a charged amount in exchange for featuring content that showcases their product/ service. A lot of UGC Creators and micro-influencers are already exploring the benefits of leveraging brand partnerships on Instagram.
On TikTok
1. Join the TikTok Creator Fund
If you have a substantial number of followers in TikTok, say at least 10,000 followers, you can generate income from the content you are already creating based on video views and engagement. You just need to have 100,000 authentic video views within the past 30 days to be eligible to join this program. However, if you are already enrolled in the TikTok Creator Fund, you can upgrade to the TikTok Creativity Program that was launched in May 2023. With this program, creators like you can earn money on TikTok through branded content, tips, and gifts based on views.
Source: TikTok
2. Go Live and Get Gifts
Engaging with followers through live sessions on TikTok allows creators to receive virtual gifts from viewers. LIVE Gifting is one of TikTok’s most useful features for creators looking to monetize their content through livestreaming. TikTok allows followers to send you virtual gifts, which can be redeemed for payment. These gifts translate into earnings (diamonds), providing a direct way for followers to support their favorite creators. Just remember that the diamonds can then be traded for money, and you’ll need 200 diamonds for every $1 you redeem, with a minimum amount of $100 before withdrawing it. However, you will have to share 50% of your earnings with TikTok.
3. Affiliate Partnerships
TikTok Creator Marketplace is one of the best ways to help both brands and creators find and partner with each other on the platform and facilitate partnerships through an affiliate marketing campaign. Brands can easily scan the Marketplace and partner with creators who fit their criteria and are open to collaboration. This collaboration benefits both parties, with creators monetizing their content and brands reaching wider audiences.
4. TikTok Shop
Utilizing TikTok's in-app shopping features enables creators and brands to showcase and sell products directly to their audience. This E-commerce solution helps both creators and brands launch a Shop on their profile, partner with creators, and feature the products through videos. TikTok Shop allows a streamlined shopping experience to enhance engagement while providing creators with a revenue stream. However, you must know that TikTok’s social commerce solutions are only available in certain specific countries.
Source: Techcrunch.com
On YouTube
1. Monetize Your YouTube Channel with Ads
Monetizing a YouTube channel through ads is a primary revenue stream for creators. However, this facility is not available for everyone and needs you to have over 1,000 subscribers have a minimum of 4,000 organic public watch hours in the last 12 months in a country offering the YouTube partner program, along with several other criteria. By enabling ads on their videos, creators earn income based on factors like ad views, clicks, and audience engagement and, if successfully done, will help creators and brands earn money from the adverts running as people watch the videos. However, this process involves joining the Partner Program and complying with YouTube monetization policies, ensuring content aligns with advertiser-friendly guidelines to maximize earnings.
2. Enroll In the YouTube Partner Program
Joining the YouTube Partner Program is a beneficial step for creators seeking to monetize their content. Upon meeting specific eligibility criteria like those mentioned above, YouTubers get access to special features on the platform and apply for the program. Once accepted, they gain access to monetization features, including ad revenue, YouTube Premium subscription fees, channel memberships, and merchandise shelf integration.
3. Create Sponsored Content
Collaborating with brands for sponsored content allows YouTubers to earn income while promoting products or services. The advantage of this strategy is that you do not have to share any percentage of income with the platform. Here, you directly negotiate with the brand and get the money directly. All you have to do is to have an engaged audience and integrate brand offerings into your videos, maintaining authenticity and relevancy. If done correctly, successful sponsored content often aligns with the creator's niche and values, ensuring a natural fit that resonates with viewers.
4. YouTube BrandConnect
YouTube BrandConnect serves as a platform where creators and brands can discover collaboration opportunities as it facilitates partnerships between creators and advertisers, offering a space to pitch ideas, negotiate terms, and execute campaigns. Creators can connect with brands to create sponsored content much like that of an affiliate and promote a specific product or service, encouraging viewers to purchase the same. With this direct connection, both parties can benefit and maximize revenue potential as there will be no risk of spending time creating content that never generates sales.
On Pinterest
1. Join The Pinterest Creator Fund
This five-week program, popularly known as the Pinterest Creator Fund, provides financial support to content creators, offering incentives for producing high-quality, inspiring Pinterest content on the platform and receiving potential brand sponsorships. Once you get accepted, you get cash in the form of a cash grant, ad credits, and an equipment stipend. This initiative aims to empower creators by rewarding them for inspiring and informative content around diverse topics, encouraging creative contributions to Pinterest. However, this facility is available to underrepresented U.S., U.K., and creators in Brazil.
2. Become an Affiliate
Becoming a Pinterest affiliate involves partnering with brands to promote their products or services and is a great way to generate passive income on the platform. Creators earn commissions by driving traffic or sales through their affiliate links on Pinterest. You can create shop fronts and links that can be added to your social profile to help your audience find something useful, inspirational, and beautiful. This strategy helps creators earn a commission on sales if Pinners make a purchase.
3. Leverage Pinterest Creator Rewards
Pinterest Creator Rewards is a popular program for creators to generate a passive income by brainstorming original Idea Pins based on Pinterest prompts. Every prompt will outline certain rewards based on content performance metrics like engagement, views, and audience interaction, which can be the number of saves, reactions, or takes on your Idea Pin. These rewards can include increased visibility, early access to features, or additional tools to enhance content creation. However, you must have at least 250 followers and have created at least 3 Idea Pins in the last 30 days.
4. Help People Shop Looks
Creators can easily generate income by curating and sharing shoppable looks or product collections on Pinterest, especially as shopping is a top priority among platform users. Creators can create inspiring content and Idea Pins to tag the specific product in the photo so their followers can shop for the look. This makes the pin shoppable and makes it easier for your followers to find the products you are using. This approach drives engagement and generates income by facilitating the shopping experience for Pinterest users and helps brands showcase their products.
On Twitter (X)
1. Start With Ghostwriting
Becoming a Twitter ghostwriter is one of the most popular ways to earn money through the platform. Here, you just have to curate content in the form of tweets and threads for another person or company, and in exchange, you will earn money for the writing you provide. This idea can easily bag you something around a 6-figure business. But remember that to earn money as a Twitter ghostwriter, you need to be a successful Twitter writer yourself first.
Source: Millenialmoney.com
2. Build An Email List
This is another unique way of monitoring your efforts on X. With the help of an email list, every time you curate a piece of content and press the send button, your readers get an email from you in their inbox. Besides this, you can also sell your own product/services or a brand and simply make around $ 1,000 per month.
3. Post-Sponsored Tweets
Posting sponsored tweets can be one of your best bets to earn money on the platform. You just have to connect with a brand willing to sell or promote their products/services through sponsored tweets and get paid as per the contract. It can be based on the clicks, follower count, conversations, and retweets that are generated from the tweet. You can still make money with fewer than 1,000 followers, but it is more advisable to wait it out until you have around 5,000 to 10,000+ followers for better reach and engagement.
I transformed into @MadameWeb for the release of the new trailer! She's a superpowered clairvoyant and I'm so excited to see her origin story on screen 🕸️
— Caitlin Christine (@caitchristinee) November 15, 2023
Let me know your thoughts after watching it! #sponsored #MadameWeb @SonyPictures pic.twitter.com/67mhwTQI1A
4. Leverage Twitter Media Studio
You can monetize your content with the help of Twitter Media Studio by placing ads and sponsorships on your Twitter video content. For that, you just need to select and add a few tags that will show up with your video content and partner with some specific brands whose ads you want to promote on your videos. For better results, you can use Custom Twitter Feeds Pro to embed Twitter feeds with your videos on your website so that your visitors can check out your monetized videos as well.
Key Takeaway!
While your brain might now be swimming while processing all that information, and if you might be wondering which platform to monetize, then let me make it easier for you. Shortlisting your platform will only depend on your bigger goal apart from earning a good share of revenue. Earning can be a part or one of the purposes of your strategy but not a standalone reason. Hence, first, figure out what you want to achieve and then go ahead with any of the platforms mentioned above. Just remember that each social media platform has a different approach, so the outcome will not be the same for all. You will see results when your goals align with what the platform claims to offer creators and brands like yours.
Hence, maximize your earning potential by managing all your social media marketing and publishing with Statusbrew. Snag the opportunity of a 14- FREE trial and check out all the ways we can help you out with that!
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