Instagram models make masses of money via influencer marketing. With more than a whopping 1 billion monthly active users, Instagram can provide a great audience reach. Many brands are using such an unprecedented opportunity to build brand awareness and increase their sales.
Influencer marketing on social media, especially Instagram, is among the most effective ways of increasing ROI. Majority of marketers are going to increase their budget for influencer marketing.
Modelling, fashion, and lifestyle are the most lucrative niches for influencers. Countless accounts are trying to gain followers and become an influential person in this field.
In this article, we’re going to introduce the important aspects of becoming an Instagram model. Then we’ll try to provide some criteria to estimate the price for collaborating with models.
Top Instagram models
To know how much money Instagram models make, it’s better to know top Instagram fashion influencers. In other words, by tracking the most sought after accounts in this niche, we’ll be able to estimate the value of working in such a market.
@gigihadid
52.1m followers
The number one Instagram model on our list is Jelena Noura Hadid. With more than 52 million followers, she’s earning more than $9.5 million each year, based on Forbes list of models.
Her father is Mohamed Hadid, a real estate developer, and her mother is a former model, Yolanda Hadid. Her sister and brother are also working as models.
@bellahadid
29.1m followers
Isabella Khair Hadid (also known as Bella Hadid) is the sister of GiGi Hadid and sits at number two. She’s been able to gain more than 29 million followers.
In 2016, she was chosen as “Model of the Year” by industry professionals for Model.com’s Model of the Year Awards.
Based on Forbes, she’s making around $6 million a year while she’s only 24 years old.
@chrissyteigen
28.2m followers
Christine Diane Teigen is an American model (born in 1985), television personality, and author. She made her modelling debut in 2010 and later was featured on the 50th anniversary cover alongside Nina Agdal and Lily Aldridge in 2014.
She has more than 28 million followers and wants to make America great again. She is earning $13.5 million a year.
@chiaraferragni
18.8m followers
Chiara Ferragni is from Italy and works on blogging, fashion design, and also the business. She has also authored The Blonde Salad.
Although she isn’t willing to talk about her income, her revenue from her verified account can be estimated between $8-10 million/year.
@gisele
15.8m followers
Gisele Caroline Bündchen is a Brazilian model, author, actress, and businesswoman with more than 15.8 million followers on Instagram.
Since 2001, Bündchen was one of the highest-paid models in the world and according to Forbes she’s making $17.5 million a year. In 2007, she was among the richest women in the entertainment industry.
@angelcandices
14.1m followers
Candice Swanepoel is a South African model with more than 14 million followers on Instagram.
She’s been one of the top-10 of Forbes’ list of top-earning models in 2016. She’s also a CEO and fashion expert and earns a more than $3 million a year.
@adrianalima
12.5m followers
Adriana Lima was born on June 12, 1981 and is a Brazilian model and actress. She’s best known as a Victoria’s Secret Angel from 1999 to 2018. According to Forbes she’s earning more than $10.5 million a year.
Of course, there are numerous other models on Instagram who could be listed. But it’s enough to know how much top fashion influencers on Instagram are earning.
It should also be noted that their income is not just from Instagram sponsored posts. But Instagram is certainly at the core of their activities which can help them to keep their fame.
How to estimate the value of collaboration with an Instagram model?
As you can see, the earning of mentioned Instagram models show that being a movie/music superstar is not the only way to make money.
Every influential person on Instagram with more than 1,000 followers can be paid, based on their engagement rates and their favorite niche.
Now, the question is “How much money do Instagram models make?”. This is an important matter for both influencers and brands to know how much money they should agree on.
Of course, there’s not a certain formula to determine the earning potential of an Instagram model. It’s good to categorize influencers based on the number of followers. Although the number of followers is an impactful factor, it can’t be solely considered for such an estimation.
Keep in mind that a highly-engaged influencer is relatively better than a model with more followers and lower social engagement.
Here are four categories of influencers:
- Nano-influencers: highly-engaged users with less than 5,000 followers. The price is usually less than $50 per post
- Micro-influencers: niche experts with less than 100,000 followers. The price is usually less than $100 per post.
- Macro-influencers: niche leaders with less than 1 million followers. The price is usually more than $500 per post.
- Mega-influencers: stars with more than 1 million followers. The price can even reach to more than $150,000.
How to make more money as an Instagram model
If you want to professionally start your career as an Instagram model and fashion influencer, you need to first build a social media strategy. Keep in mind that you can get ahead the completion just with some mediocre pictures/videos.
You need to have a consistent social media presence and build your brand identity on Instagram. Reach out to your potential fans is also a tricky procedure and isn’t as simple as many of models might think.
You’d better build a social media strategy which can hold you accountable to your objectives. Here is the summary of the steps you need to take to succeed in this way:
1. Setting clear goals
First, you need to define clear goals and certain metrics to be able to keep tracking your performance.
Building brand awareness, gaining more followers, driving traffic to blogs, building community, and increasing earning are several common goals you might consider for yourself.
Also, try to determine certain metrics to be able to measure your social activities. For example, engagement rates, clicks, and the number of followers are important metrics by which you can estimate the quality of your social presence.
2. Determining your style
Without a specific style, you can’t expect a huge success in your activities on social media. When you don’t have a certain style, followers won’t consider you as a unique and different model. As a result, they won’t accept your recommendations so your engagement rates will decrease.
So, try to choose your style carefully so that it fits you. You need to repeat your style in all your posts which can help users to remember your style.
3. Identifying your audience
Remember that you can’t reach out to every social media user. So, you need to identify the group of people who are most likely interested in your style.
Fortunately, there’re several social tools such as Kicksta which can greatly help you to target a niche audience. This can help you to save time and money to gain followers.
4. Creating compelling content
The most crucial part of being an Instagram model is to create content. Keep in mind that social users follow an account to watch unique and different posts.
So, focus on the quality and add context to your posts. Try to use all capabilities of Instagram such as regular posts, Live, Stories, and IGTV.
Don’t forget to use viral hashtags and creative captions since they can help you to reach maximum exposure and gain more followers.
5. Engaging with your followers
The engagement rate is one of the most important metrics in social media marketing. Keep in mind that the more friendly you engage with your followers, the better.
Try to encourage your followers, especially young social users, to tell their opinions under your posts and get feedback from them. You need to make them feel they’re important to you.
6. Cross-promoting with other social platforms
Although Instagram is one of the top social platforms for influencer marketing, you can’t solely rely on it to gain fame.
Try to perform a cross-promotion technique to leverage the power of other social platforms to promote your Instagram account.
7. Analyzing your performance
Last but not least you need to take care of your performance and keep tracking the quality of your social presence.
Instagram Insights is a perfect tool to monitor your activities and find out your strengths and weaknesses.
Try to find your best performing posts and repeat them regularly. Fortunately, there are a handful of tools such as Crowdfire that can help you to automate your posts.
Final word
We tried to answer the question “how much money do Instagram models make?”. If you want to collaborate with an influencer on Instagram, try to consider all aspects of his/her activities. On the other hand, if you want to become an Instagram model, try to keep tracking of the newest trends and optimize your
