Instagram is a popular social media platform with many monetization techniques but we will focus on IGTV monetization (how to make $300 per day from IGTV). This feature on Instagram was launched in 2018 and has since served as a brilliant avenue for content marketing. It allows creators on the platform to interact with their audience via long-form video content.
While this was ongoing, the feature provided little or no monetary rewards directly from Instagram. This changed in 2020 when the platform announced its IGTV ads as well as IGTV monetization. This offered monetization of the feature to creators through in-stream ad placements. This effectively placed the Instagram platform in direct competition with Facebook and YouTube in terms of long-form video content sharing and marketing.
Creators can now get their accounts approved for the program and start using their IGTV content as an additional source of revenue. In this article, I will discuss extensively IGTV monetization, its working procedure, and requirements. We will also talk about the revenue-sharing terms used as well as provide insight into how to make $300 per day from IGTV.
What is IGTV Monetization?
IGTV monetization feature lets content creators on Instagram earn money by serving short ads along with their IGTV content. This feature is not automatically active and creators will have to agree to follow the Partner Program Monetization Policies to use it.
Instagram in a statement said, “Ads will appear when an audience clicks to watch an IGTV video from the preview button in their feed. They will be mobile-optimized, vertical videos and last up to 15 seconds long”. The IGTV monetization simply provides monetary rewards for Instagram’s vertical long-form video option.
IGTV videos usually run several minutes or up to an hour long and are present on the platform as long as creators want them to be. Creators can also direct the audience to such content from a post in their feed or a Story. Also, the audience can access IGTV videos from within the Instagram app, or they can download the separate IGTV app if they wish.
Eligibility or Requirement
While there has been much awareness of the introduction of the IGTV monetization feature, its eligibility requirements are still not forthcoming. This can be due to the platform’s desire to want to harmonize such requirements. But one thing is certain, if you want to include ads on your IGTV content, then you need to abide by Partner Monetization Policies.
And since Facebook is the parent company of Instagram, it’s easy to presume that its requirement will be similar to Facebook’s policies. So essentially, these policies will require users to follow community standards, share authentic content, monetize authentic engagement, and follow their payment and page terms.
Pending the full disclosure of the eligibility terms, content creators can check if their account is eligible for IGTV monetization. Simply open the Instagram Partner Program dashboard and select IGTV Ads. If an account is eligible, a message on the screen will say, “You’re Eligible to Monetize Your IGTV Videos”. If the message doesn’t appear on the screen that means such an account hasn’t yet met Instagram’s requirements for the program. Here are some of the most popular requirements from Facebook which creators have to satisfy:
- Must have more than 10,000 followers.
- They need to make videos that are more than three minutes long AND that have over 30,000 one-minute views over the previous two months.
- Must meet Facebook’s monetization eligibility standards.
There is a lot of reason creators will want to take advantage of this monetization feature. The growth of Instagram over the years has been astronomical as well as its popularity. This means businesses and influencers can leverage the platform easy to create extra earnings for them.
IGTV Ad Revenue-Sharing Terms
We know the next question on many creators’ lips is “what exactly will the revenue sharing look like”. Instagram gave an insight into this during an interview with The Verge, where it revealed that the platform’s IGTV ads will have a 55/45 revenue-sharing split. This means creators will effectively earn 55% while Instagram gets to keep the remaining 45% to itself. Sound familiar right! Yes, that’s because it’s identical to YouTube’s sharing formula too.
Regardless of the type of content you create, the revenue formula stands for all content creators who wish to monetize their IGTV content. While this is true, it’s important to note that different types of content will attract different levels of views, which will in turn determine how much you exactly earn through this method. Also, earning is dependent on what advertisers are will to pay for each view. So essential, the niche in which an ad is and how competitive the niche is will determine advertisers’ purchasing power.
Benefits of IGTV
Asides from earning money from IGTV monetization, the feature provides some other benefits that can help you grow in other areas of Instagram. This becomes important if you are monetizing the platform through various methods and can leverage the benefits to spur growth in those areas as well.
Creates Engagement with Audience
IGTV contents help creators create a long-lasting engagement with the audience which in turn is good for your Instagram business. Contents in this format are often higher-quality content than the regular feed posts and stories. Videos in the feed can’t be longer than one minute, and stories are filmed in 15-second segments. in the same vein, Instagram Live is great for longer-form content, but it disappears after 24 hours.
While it is true that IGTV videos can last for as long as a creator wants them to be on the platform, it often requires time and investing resources into creating quality IGTV videos, you can give your audience a dynamic, interesting way to see and learn from you that can last longer and create an ROI for your company. With the upcoming monetization options, you can begin to see that ROI come into your business in a different, more immediate way.
Being able to collect revenue from ads playing on your IGTV videos can give you a hands-off, passive income source that is sustainable, especially if your videos are evergreen. If people can get value from your videos at any time, IGTV monetization can be a way to add a new revenue stream to your business.
When creating content for IGTV, it’s a good idea to test it out in other forms on the platform before you invest the resources into creating the top-quality video content users are accustomed to seeing on IGTV. Test out different topics in your feed posts.
Reach New People
Instagram is a great place for brands and businesses to increase their reach and generate revenue. Content creators can help them achieve this through their activities with the aid of IGTV content. Now creators can extend their reach for partners to attract the target audience.
If you are a content creator and are yet to get on the Instagram platform, then you are missing out on an ample opportunity to increase earnings. Using IGTV can also allow companies to reach a different demographic and audience than Facebook and YouTube.
Tips to Maximizing your IGTV Monetization
Thankfully, eligibility for this feature on Instagram is not hard to achieve and if you do, then chances are you’ve crossed your first hurdle. It means you have the right audience as well as great content. But that is just the first step and as with every online business, you have to optimize.
If you want to earn more from IGTV monetization, then you have to implement some basic procedures to help get more exposure and increase your visibility.
Increase Your Followers
Asides’ creating awesome content, growing your follower’s list is the next most important thing if you intend to make money from IGTV monetization. Asides from the requirement of 10,000 followers, you need to grow way much more than this number. The more your follower, the more you are likely to earn from ads impression and clicks.
Join Instagram Pods
A creator can increase his or her earnings from IGTV monetization by joining pod communities. Instagram Pods are support groups normally consisting of 15 accounts or more. Their major goal is to commit to engaging in each other’s posts.
This essentially is to help defeat Instagram’s algorithm by receiving immediate engagement on posts. This helps increases engagement as well as pushes posts to the top of your follower’s Instagram feed.
Use Geo-tags
Instagram also provides geo-tags which are very similar to the Facebook check-in feature. If you combine this with your IGTV monetization, you are bound to attract more audience to your content and by extension increase your earnings. This is because users often search for content based on their region or location, so adding a location to your posts is a great way for local accounts to interact with you.
Engage Massively
Engagement is one of the most favored metrics on the Instagram platform. If you want to earn more from Instagram monetization, then you need to engage. Engaging creates trust from existing customers as well as shows potential followers that you aren’t all about business.
To engage, like, comment, and follow those who regularly interact with your content. Another way is to actively search other accounts and hashtags relevant to your brand. The advantage of engaging with similar accounts is that you get to see audiences who are interested in your niche and content. Take care not to overdo your massive engagements, so as not to run afoul of the platform rules.
Running afoul of Instagram’s limits will get you banned from using the feature for 24 hours. If this continues to occur, your account could be shut down permanently.
Use Insights
Content creators on Instagram can easily track their followers and post impressions. Also, if you intend to gain a large number of followers on Instagram, be sure to switch your personal page to a business profile so you can track your insights. Once that is done, you can use the information provided to plan and execute your strategies. This will ensure creators get the most from their posts and in turn earn more from your IGTV.
Optimize your Instagram Page
By optimizing your Instagram profile, you create a better chance for your business to be seen and understood by more potential audiences. An Instagram profile is the first point of call for potential followers and this is where you need to create a major impression. To optimize your page, ensure to include the relevant and necessary details:
- Always include a name
- Use a relevant high-quality profile picture
- Ensure your bio is simple yet concise enough to describe you and your business
- If you have a website, include a link to it. If not, include a means of communication there.
Schedule Your Post to IGTV
Regardless of the content, you share on your IGTV, you want to add a form of regularity and consistency to it. You should avoid posting content randomly as this will make you appear unprofessional. Rather, carefully plan the pace you want to post content and stick with it. Thankfully, there are lots of third-party apps that can help you plan and schedule posts on Instagram.
By scheduling your content postings, you create an environment of awareness with your followers. They now know when to expect new content from you as well as what to expect.
Conclusion
In truth, IGTV monetization is still a very new concept and a lot could certainly change. Be that as it may, the feature is quickly becoming one of the most popular ones on Instagram. And monetizing it only makes it more popular.
The feature allows for content creators to share long-form video content on a somewhat picture-sharing platform. Audiences now get to engage more with creators’ content while creators get to earn a share from revenue ads. The monetization has created a loud buzz around the feature and many creators are trooping to the platform to partake in the share of the spoils.
Also, the rise in long-form video content marketing on other platforms has also contributed to Instagram’s decision to adopt it. And with over 200 million users visiting at least one business profile each day, it is sure to become a success on Instagram. IGTV is one of the newer options on the platform for longer-form video content.
