How to do affiliate marketing on Instagram

Instagram is an extremely useful traffic source for affiliate marketing across a wide range of verticals that many webmasters exploit to their advantage. For this reason, we explain how to do affiliate marketing on Instagram and go over the opportunities it gives for affiliates, including the Gambling and Betting verticals.

Why is Instagram affiliate marketing so important?

First of all, Instagram is a highly addictive platform that has captured the attention of billions of people globally who use it on a daily basis. The standard for the influencer and content creation market of today has been set by Instagram. Numerous people have effectively made a living off of their Instagram presence, demonstrating the platform’s potential for advertising and company promotion.

According to Statista, Instagram had two billion monthly active users globally as of the start of 2024: this puts it up against industry titans like Facebook and YouTube. 

This social network boasts a large global user base, with India leading the way with about 360 million members. This is especially important for those who want to use influencer marketing to promote online casinos in India.

Further down the list, with 169 million and 134 million users, are the United States and Brazil. These GEOs have sizable Instagram followings in addition to having some of the most attractive and competitive iGaming sectors in the world today.

Moreover, social media marketing on Instagram has shown to be very successful. Statista stated that in 2023, 80% of marketers globally used this platform as a means of business promotion.

Instagram is still doing well even if there are newer platforms like TikTok that are trying to draw in younger audiences that media holdings are interested in. Early 2024 saw Instagram maintain a year-over-year audience increase of more than 25%, a great example that shows ongoing interest and new user sign-ups.

Instagram’s continued relevance and popularity in the social media and affiliate marketing promotion scene are highlighted by this growth trajectory.

Affiliate marketing on Instagram: advantages and disadvantages

Like any other traffic source, affiliate marketing on Instagram has benefits and drawbacks, regardless of how profitable it is. Let’s discuss them:

Advantages of Instagram affiliate marketing

Here are the main reasons why affiliates choose to make money on Instagram:

• Precise targeting opportunities
  The platform’s advanced targeting system helps marketers to reach specific audiences based on demographics, interests, and behaviors;
• Advanced hashtag system
  A feature that greatly increases affiliate content discoverability, engagement, and attracts relevant users to offers;
• Flexibility of the advertising budget
  Instagram allows affiliate marketers to allocate resources efficiently and optimize campaigns;
• Effectiveness in influencer marketing
  Instagram is a great influencer marketing platform. So, webmasters can benefit greatly from collaborating with influencers to promote affiliate products here, especially in the Gambling and Betting niches without having to create a profile of their own.

Disadvantages of Instagram affiliate marketing

And here’s a look at the challenges you’ll face with affiliate marketing on Instagram:

• Moderation
  Instagram is part of the Facebook ecosystem, which presents unique challenges for moderation. As discussed in detail in our guide on advertising online casinos on Facebook, moderation on Instagram is tricky. While “white” offers may encounter fewer obstacles, webmasters still face difficulties navigating the platform’s policies and regulations;
• Affiliate link placement
  Affiliate links can only be placed in the profile description, restricting the direct promotion of offers within posts. This limitation requires webmasters to be creative in their marketing strategies to drive traffic;
• Unforeseen bans
  On Instagram, bans may happen without warning, and the support staff might not always respond right away. Strict moderation of advertising that we mentioned further complicates the process, necessitating careful adherence to guidelines and proactive management of campaigns;
• Demanding audience
  Instagram users expect creative advertising since they are used to seeing high-quality content. Innovative strategies and captivating content formats are needed to stand out among the visually appealing information on the platform.

But all these complexities of work are leveled out against the background of high quality of audience and large volumes of traffic provided by the social network in almost all GEOs.

How to use Instagram for affiliate marketing

Before we discuss how to start affiliate marketing on Instagram, let’s list briefly what every webmaster needs to have to make sales:

• white landing page for moderation (if you promote “gray” offers);
• landing page for real users;
• tracker for traffic analytics;
• domain for tracker;
• spy-service for competitor analysis;
• cloaking service;
• anti-detect browser;
• editor for making creatives;
• proxy.

Going further, there are two main ways to use Instagram for affiliate marketing, and the first is official advertising through Facebook Ads. In this instance, the webmaster must carefully review the platform’s internal guidelines. Here are some general considerations to make.

Define your target audience

Find out about your target audience’s characteristics, hobbies, and habits. The audience in the iGaming niche typically consists of young people who are looking for easy ways to make money. Divide up your audience into geographic segments and experiment with various strategies based on the tendencies and emotional triggers of each region.

Create compelling visuals

Since Instagram is a visual platform, concentrate on producing attention-grabbing visual material. To highlight the advantages of the affiliate offer, use videos and photos of the highest quality. To make sure users are more likely to click on to the landing page, your text and captions should be brief but intriguing.

As for the iGaming vertical, webmasters often make video creatives that combine memes and casino bonuses that are prominently displayed in the background. They publish them on Reels and encourage viewers to go to their profile to claim the bonus.

Optimize your profile and landing pages

Prepare your Instagram profile to serve as a gateway to the offer. Include a clear description of the offer in your bio and ensure the link to the landing page is prominently displayed in the profile header. Create engaging posts that describe the offer and encourage users to visit the landing page through your referral link.

Prepare for official moderation

In this section, we’d like to give some tips that’ll help to bypass the Facebook Ads moderation process:

• Before launching advertising campaigns, ensure all necessary payment information is added to your advertising account;
• Warm up your Instagram profile by posting regularly and engaging with your audience to establish credibility and authenticity;
• Avoid adding unnecessary individuals to your advertising account and use different IP addresses to log in to accounts to prevent suspicion;
• Do not use repeatedly banned domains for landing pages, and ensure there are sufficient funds in your payment system to cover advertising costs;
• If ads are rejected, address the issues promptly and make necessary adjustments to comply with guidelines;
• Start with smaller budgets to test the effectiveness of your campaigns and avoid linking one payment card to multiple advertising accounts to prevent potential issues.

How affiliate marketing works on Instagram without Facebook Ads

Without utilizing Facebook Ads, Instagram offer promotion necessitates original methods to run traffic to your affiliate link. Here’s how to market affiliate products successfully:

Create a high-quality profile

Create an eye-catching Instagram profile that makes it clear what you are trying to sell right away. To drive traffic to the landing page, including your affiliate link in the profile header.

Mass-following and mass-liking

Utilize mass-following and mass-liking techniques to engage with potential followers and increase visibility. When compared to official targeting alternatives, this method is less expensive and doesn’t require moderation. Even while the revenue might not be as high as with official targeting, it can still be a useful tactic for newcomers.

Collaborate with bloggers

Partner with influencers and bloggers to promote your affiliate offers to their audience. Although some bloggers might be reluctant to promote specific offers like online casinos since they are worried about their reputation, there are still friendly page owners out there.

Spam in comments

Spamming comments isn’t the most efficient way, but it can still bring in some traffic. To increase reach and automate the process, spend money on accounts and subscriptions to spam services. Remember that this method takes a lot of time and work, and its conversion rate is usually low.

Target audience Stories views

Target users who are interested in viewing Instagram Stories and engage with their profiles. You can use special services or manually view stories on unpopular personal profiles to attract attention. This method leverages curiosity and engagement to drive people to your profile and, ultimately, to your affiliate link.

By implementing these strategies, webmasters can promote offers on Instagram without relying on Facebook Ads.

Conclusion

This is everything you need to know about affiliate marketing on Instagram. As you can see, this social network is so appealing due to its’ wide and responsive advertising audience with strong purchasing power. With over two billion monthly active users worldwide, Instagram offers immense potential for promoting offers, including those in the Gambling and Betting niches.

The earnings potential on Instagram depends heavily on the method and strategy used to promote offers. While free and low-budget methods can yield limited results, leveraging paid advertising options like Facebook Ads can significantly increase profitability.

Ready to maximize your profits? Join Yellana affiliate network today and unlock a world of lucrative offers waiting to be promoted!

Daniil Kolesnikov

Daniil Kolesnikov is the author powering the content on the Yellana blog. Having written captivating articles on Web3 and Forex trading subjects in the past, his current area of expertise is affiliate marketing. Even when exploring many different niches for two years, the passion for iGaming is where his skills and creativity are currently directed. Follow Daniil for expert insights and fresh perspectives on affiliate marketing strategies in the vibrant iGaming landscape.