How many Instagram followers you need to start getting paid

• A couple thousand followers on Instagram qualifies some users as "influencers."
• But at what point — and with how many followers — can an influencer start making money?

With a few thousand followers on Instagram these days, it's easy to ask yourself: When can I start making money doing this?

The good news is, there's no strict minimum.

Three influencers Insider interviewed — all with under 3,000 Instagram followers — said they got paid by brands to post to their small audiences.

For instance, Kayla Compton became a brand ambassador for jewelry company PuraVida with less than 2,000 followers, she told Insider last year. She said her starting sponsored-content package at the time was $250, and that she also got paid by sharing affiliate links or codes with her followers and earning a small commission.

And now, it's easier than ever to share affiliate links on Instagram stories since the company rolled out access to link stickers to all accounts in October.

Instagram is also directly paying some influencers through incentive programs like "Bonuses" for Reels, which requires at least 1,000 views on Reels (rather than a follower minimum). On the other hand, other Instagram monetization features like "Badges," Instagram's tipping tool for IG Live, require that creators have at least 10,000 followers. Many of these programs also are limited to certain countries, have an age minimum of 18, and require accounts to be registered as business or creator accounts on the app.

While the doors have opened for many more creators on Instagram to start making a living, often they don't start making full-time incomes immediately (although a fair number of micro influencers with under 100,000 followers work full-time as influencers).

Read more: 19 content creators share how they turned their social-media side hustles into full-time jobs

Today, influencers no longer need hundreds of thousands of followers to start earning cash.

Here are a few reasons why:

1. "Nano" and "micro" influencers (typically accounts with fewer than 100,000 followers) are being hired by many brands across industries. These smaller influencers have demonstrated the power of niche and engaged communities on Instagram, where fake followers and disproportional engagement have flooded the platform. Influencers can earn hundreds to thousands of dollars from these deals.
2. Meta-owned Instagram is opening its multi-billion-dollar wallet and paying some influencers, which it announced last year with a flashy $1 billion investment into content creators through 2022.
3. Affiliate links are easier to share now than ever. Some affiliate programs do have their own requirements, however, such as LTK or ShopStyle. Instagram also is testing its own affiliate marketing program, which is available to a select number of creators at the moment. Influencers can get paid a commission on sales driven directly through Instagram. Bethany Everett-Ratcliffe, who's already enrolled and had 16,000 followers when Insider first interviewed her, earned more than $500 in one month.

Check out: Leaked commission rates from September 2021 reveal how much brands in Instagram's affiliate marketing test like Sephora were paying influencers

So, how much money are these influencers making on Instagram?

Insider interviewed over two dozen Instagrammers about how much money they make, with follower counts between 2,000 and just over 100,000.

Here's a full breakdown of our coverage:

From brand deals:

• Natasha Greene, a food and lifestyle creator with 137,000 Instagram followers
• Macy Mariano, a travel and fashion influencer with 102,000 followers
• Jehava Brown, a travel and lifestyle influencer with 70,000 followers
• Nick Cutsumpas, a plant influencer with 63,700 followers
• Ashley Jones, a fashion and lifestyle influencer with 45,000 followers
• Tomi Obebe, a lifestyle influencer with 40,000 followers
• Emma Cortes, a lifestyle influencer and podcast host with 47,000 followers
• Britney Turner, a lifestyle influencer with 27,000 followers
• Caitlin Patton, a lifestyle influencer with 22,000 followers
• Mary Margaret Boudreaux, a fashion and lifestyle influencer with 20,000 followers
• Gigi Kovach, a part-time lifestyle blogger and mom of two with 13,500 followers
• Tyler Chanel, a sustainability influencer with 12,000 followers
• Khadijah Lacey-Taylor, a fashion and lifestyle influencer with 9,800 followers
• Tess Barclay, a lifestyle blogger with 5,600 followers
• Laur DeMartino, a nano influencer and full-time college student with 5,200 followers
• Jalyn Baiden, a skincare influencer with 4,000 followers
• Jen Lauren, a part-time lifestyle influencer with 2,900 followers
• Amber Broder, a part-time skincare influencer and full-time college student with 2,300 followers
• Kayla Compton, a lifestyle nano influencer with about 2,000 Instagram followers

From Meta Platforms, including Instagram:

• Kelly Anne Smith, a personal finance influencer with 12,000 Instagram followers shares how much she earned from Bonuses in March
• Jackson Weimer, a meme creator who got paid more than $6,000 for views on his Reels with 114,000 followers
• Several influencers reveal the different 'bonus' payments Instagram is offering, with some stretching up to $35,000

From affiliate links:

• Bethany Everett-Ratcliffe, a lifestyle micro influencer with 16,000 followers, makes money using Instagram's native affiliate program
• Vi Lai, a skincare influencer, uses Instagram and TikTok to make thousands of dollars per month using affiliate marketing
• 4 Instagram influencers reveal what the platform's exclusive affiliate marketing beta test is like — and how much they're earning

Read more: Instagram is abruptly shutting down its affiliate marketing bonuses, which used to pay up to $400 a month