Instagram Affiliate Marketing: Earn Passive Income in 2026

Instagram is great for affiliate marketing. Not only do nearly nearly half its users shop there, but Instagram’s content formats—images, videos, and livestreams—allow creators to show shoppers detailed product information.

Instagram affiliate marketing allows you to tap into customers’ willingness to buy via the platform. You’ll earn commission when someone buys through your affiliate link, making it a lucrative way to monetize your social media following and make money online. 

In this guide, learn how to leverage Instagram affiliate marketing, whether you’re a business owner looking to partner with influencers or a creator trying to maximize your commissions.

What is Instagram affiliate marketing? 

Instagram affiliate marketing is a monetization strategy where creators earn commissions by promoting products to their followers. Creators share trackable affiliate links through Stories, Reels, bio links, and discount codes—earning a percentage of each sale they generate.

Instagram’s visual-first format makes it particularly effective for affiliate marketing. Creators can showcase products through high-quality images, Reels, and Stories, which allow for detailed product demonstrations that build trust with potential buyers.

The platform’s expanded Shop features in 2025 have streamlined the affiliate process even further, letting creators make shoppable content by tagging products directly in posts while tracking commission through integrated analytics tools.

Benefits of Instagram affiliate marketing

A well-executed Instagram affiliate marketing strategy can benefit both brands and creators: 

Affiliates are incentivized to create great content

Instagram creators get a commission on every sale made using their unique affiliate link or discount code. The more engaging their content, the more money they earn. 

Affiliate marketing incentivizes creators to grow their audiences and continue producing content their followers will love. For brands, this means more high-quality user-generated content.

Creators get paid to promote products they already use and love

Maintaining audience trust is paramount. If a creator’s promotion feels inauthentic, it can lead to engagement and follower losses. 

This might sound like a roadblock, but instead of flooding Instagram with spammy links, savvy brands and creators generate passive income by authentically promoting products they love.

Brands can connect with audiences on a deeper level

Content created by a real person often appears more authentic than marketing materials created by a brand. Affiliate marketing leverages that trust, allowing brands to benefit from creator-built connections. 

Aside from generating sales, Instagram affiliate marketing also gives a window into consumer perceptions. Brands would do well to scan the comments section of posts with affiliate links for feedback they might not find on their own posts.

Instagram algorithm best practices for affiliates 

The Instagram algorithm rewards these four content patterns:

• Relationship signals (comments, DMs, saves) now carry more weight than passive engagement metrics such as likes.
• Content with clear disclosures performs better than hidden affiliate content.
• Content that keeps users on the platform longer gets priority in the feed.
• A consistent posting schedule is weighted more heavily than sporadic high-engagement posts.

To maintain visibility under these new rules, creators should:

• Focus on building genuine relationships with your audience through consistent engagement
• Create content that provides value beyond just promoting products
• Use Instagram’s native shopping features to keep users on the platform
• Maintain a consistent posting schedule with a mix of promotional and non-promotional content

How to do affiliate marketing on Instagram as a creator

Before making money on Instagram as a creator, you need to set up your Instagram account for affiliate promotion. Here’s how:

1. Switch to a creator or business account

Instagram creator profiles are for bloggers, influencers, and content creators. They include tools, such as advanced insights, for creators to monetize their content. View follower growth, audience demographics, and engagement levels, and manage multiple inboxes by message type.

Although you don’t technically need a creator or business Instagram account to share affiliate links or codes, having one of these account types provides valuable performance data. 

To switch from a personal to a creator account, open the Instagram app and select your profile picture in the bottom right corner of your screen, then tap the hamburger icon (three lines) at the top right corner of your screen. From there, follow these steps:

• In the “Settings and activity” menu, scroll down to “Account type and tools” under “For professionals.”
• In “Account type and tools,” tap “Switch to a professional account.”
• The next screen will walk you through the benefits of a professional account. Once you’ve reviewed the information, tap “Continue.”
• Choose the category that best describes your affiliate niche and tap “Done.”
• Select “Creator.”

2. Choose the right affiliate partners

To earn as an Instagram affiliate, you need to find brands that pay commission on products you could authentically promote and sell.

Affiliate networks like ShareASale, Rakuten Advertising, Awin, and CJ aggregate opportunities and let marketers generate custom links, track commissions, and receive payouts from one dashboard.

Amazon sells almost everything you can think of, so some creators enjoy the ease of affiliate marketing with Amazon Associates, which facilitates earning commissions on Amazon products.

If there’s an independent brand you already know and love, try reaching out directly to see if their team will provide your followers with a discount code. 

3. Label affiliate products as paid partnerships 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has strict guidelines that require creators to disclose affiliate relationships with brands, including affiliate links. To meet these guidelines, you could say something like, “I earn a commission for purchases made through links in this post.”

Instagram’s paid partnerships label helps affiliate marketers meet FTC endorsement requirements. It offers tagging opportunities to share a brand’s content, as shown in this Instagram post from Chantel Mila:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Chantel Mila | Home Tips (@mama_mila_au)

“Don’t obscure the fact that it’s affiliate marketing, since then you come off as spam,” says marketer Lattice Hudson. “Be truthful and fair with your [audience], establishing true relationships through authentic content. They won’t return if all they perceive is a commercial motive.”

4. Build your influence

Audience size and engagement rates determine the types of affiliate opportunities available to you as a creator. Instagram influencers with fewer than 10,000 followers may need help negotiating bespoke commission agreements with affiliate program owners.

Tips for building your Instagram influence include:

• Post when your audience is active. Evaluate your analytics to determine the best time to post on Instagram.
• Be consistent. Ensure followers know what to expect after hitting the Follow button. Consistently sharing new content nurtures more engagement, a key parameter in Instagram’s algorithm. “I posted a brand deal but I didn’t post after that brand deal, and then when I just posted something yesterday, it didn’t do too well because I didn’t post in between posting that brand deal,” explains Kheris Rogers, founder of Flexin’ In My Complexion, in a Shopify Masters interview.
• Share non-promotional content. Keep your account credible by posting mostly non-promotional content. Marc Bromhall, founder of the affiliate website Beginner Surf Gear, says, “I adopt the one1in-20 principle, so only 5% of my posts are affiliate posts.”
• Pick a niche. Demonstrating a passion for your niche builds authenticity. Use Instagram hashtags associated with your subject area so new followers can find you.

5. Set up Instagram Shop integration

Instagram has expanded its Shop features, allowing for more seamless integration with affiliate marketing. Setting up Instagram Shop integration can significantly boost your conversion rates.

To do this on Shopify:

• Connect your Instagram business account to a Facebook catalog
• Enable shopping features in your Instagram settings
• Tag products in your posts, Stories, and Reels
• Create a dedicated Shop tab on your profile
• Use Instagram’s affiliate tools to track commissions from Shop purchases

This integration creates a smoother shopping experience, as followers can browse and purchase products without leaving the app.

5 tips for making more affiliate sales on Instagram

Once you’ve set up your Instagram affiliate account, you can implement these strategies to improve sales:

1. Use your link in bio

You can’t add links to organic posts, so your link-in-bio space is prime real estate for affiliate promotions.

The platform allows up to five links in your Instagram bio. If you need more, use a link aggregator like Linktree to create a landing page with multiple links. These aggregators generate one-link hubs you can employ on Instagram and elsewhere.

2. Create a discount code Story highlight

Everyone loves a deal. Make this part of your strategy by sharing discount codes through Instagram Stories, one of the platform’s most popular formats.

Add affiliate links to Stories using the link sticker, like this example from @lilypebbles:

Stories disappear, but you can extend their shelf life by creating Story Highlights. Highlights appear underneath your bio and are visible whenever someone visits your profile:

3. Record product demos 

Affiliate marketing works when Instagram followers know, like, and trust you enough to buy your recommended products. Help potential customers make a purchase without exiting their Instagram feed with product demos.

“The best Instagram affiliate content is typically in the form of recommendations and real-life product applications, not sales pitches,” says Hector Ruiz, founder of affiliate website BBQ Grill Academy.

For example, in this Instagram video by @aimeesmalex, the creator indicates she is partnering with Adobe to create a demo video for one of its products:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by aimee smale (@aimeesmalex)

Instagram Reels tend to generate up to 125% higher reach than static single-image posts, making them particularly effective for affiliate product demos. But this depends on your industry and audience preferences. Test different content formats and double down on what resonates with your audience. 

4. Use hashtags to expand your reach 

You need a sustainable stream of new Instagram followers to generate passive income with your affiliate marketing efforts. Fresh eyes on your content decrease the risk of audience fatigue.

Conduct competitor research to find Instagram hashtags. Brands, bloggers, and publishers often use hashtags to expand their reach. Look at the captions and first comments on your competitors’ Instagram posts.

Before adding a hashtag, double-check that Instagram’s policies and guidelines don’t prohibit it. Some hashtags like #adulting, #beautyblogger, and #pushups are associated with spam content due to frequent misuse. Using them in your affiliate content could get your content deprioritized.

💡Tip: Geotag your location when you post affiliate content on Instagram. If you’re a travel influencer sharing Instagram Stories with affiliate links to the best activities to do in New York, for example, use the location sticker to reach people in the city.

5. Track performance and adjust

Tracking affiliate performance helps you understand which strategies are working.

Creators and brands collect and analyze performance data through affiliate marketing dashboards, which can capture key metrics such as conversion rates, affiliate link clicks, and average order value.

Additional key performance indicators to track on your affiliate dashboard include:

• Profile activity. If you’re pointing followers toward a link roundup, check how many people click the link from your bio.
• Engagement rate. Sort by affiliate product offering, type of content, and format. If tutorial-based Instagram Stories generate more engagement than standard grid posts, prioritize them going forward.
• Followers. Tracking whether your followers are stable, increasing, or decreasing—and whether changes correlate with specific campaigns—can help you determine the most effective strategies.

Acting on these insights can make your approach to driving Instagram sales more effective.

🌟 Looking for more ways to boost your income? Explore high-ticket affiliate programs.

How much can you earn with Instagram affiliate marketing?

Affiliate earnings on Instagram vary widely based on your audience size, engagement rate, niche, and the products you promote. 

Here’s what creators at different levels can generally expect:

• Nano creators (1,000 to 10,000 followers). Smaller audiences often mean higher engagement rates and tight-knit communities. Earnings vary significantly by niche, with creators in high-value categories like finance or tech potentially earning more per conversion.
• Micro creators (10,000 to 100,000 followers). This tier often hits the sweet spot for affiliate marketing: audiences large enough to generate consistent sales but engaged enough to trust recommendations.
• Macro creators (100,000 or more followers). Larger audiences can generate significant affiliate revenue, though engagement rates often decrease at scale.

Exact Instagram affiliate earning potential depends heavily on your conversion rate, commission percentages, and product price points. A creator promoting $200 skin care products at 15% commission needs far fewer sales than someone promoting $20 items at 5%.

These average affiliate commission rates from Referral Candy can help estimate your own earnings: 

• Apparel and accessories: 8% to 15% 
• Beauty and personal care: 10% to 18%
• Health and wellness: 8% to 15%
• Food and beverage: 8% to 12%
• Electronics and gadgets: 5% to 10%
• Home and lifestyle: 8% to 12%
• Sport and outdoor: 8% to 12%
• Jewelry and accessories: 10% to 15%
• Pet products: 10% to 15%

💡Tip: Supplement your earnings by combining Instagram affiliate links with shoppable content on other platforms. Pat Flynn, for example, runs the Smart Passive Income blog. He says he’s generated more than $3.5 million in affiliate commissions since 2010.

How to start Instagram affiliate marketing as a business

Affiliate marketing is a low-investment method for reaching new audiences and learning more about customers. Here’s how to create a successful affiliate marketing program for your business:

1. Join an affiliate network

The easiest starting point for brands is to use an affiliate marketing platform. These platforms have a built-in network of affiliates for you to tap into and handle commission tracking and payouts on your behalf.

Popular affiliate networks include:

• Impact (which powers the Shopify Affiliate Program)
• CJ Affiliate
• ShareASale
• Rakuten Advertising 
• Awin

2. Recruit affiliates

Every successful affiliate marketing campaign requires, well, affiliates. Affiliate networks can pair you with creators, but you can also recruit them yourself.

Consider promoting your affiliate program on your website and social media channels by linking to your application page. Additionally, look for creators who already follow or post about your brand and consider contacting them individually.

3. Ensure compliance

As a business owner, you’re responsible for preventing affiliate fraud and maintaining compliance with platform rules and legal regulations. 

First, ensure you understand the applicable laws and social media policies governing product promotion in your field. Next, include protective language in your affiliate agreements (a lawyer can help with this).

Provide your affiliates with compliance training and ensure the marketing materials you give include compliance instructions. Regularly check affiliate content for compliance, and end any affiliate partnerships that could put your brand at risk.