Can You Really Earn Money as an Eco-Friendly Instagram Influencer?

More people are becoming passionate about sustainability. However, they don’t always know what changes they can make in their daily lives to lower their carbon footprint and minimize the waste of natural resources.

Fortunately, the interconnectedness of social media has made it easier than ever to communicate eco-friendly living advice. Instagram, in particular, has helped eco-conscious consumers discover sustainable brands and living tips.

A number of Instagram influencers specialize in sharing sustainable living advice. you could actually start your own green business as an Eco friendly Instagram influencer.

But is it really possible to make a living as a sustainable Instagram influencer? Yes. However, you need to understand the general process.

When you open Instagram and start scrolling through your feed, you’ll find 2 out of 5 people promoting a brand. Are they for free? Are they doing it so that they are noticed by that particular brand? Are they a celebrity or someone with popularity? These are the questions you get when you see posts like these. And the base question that lies is how much money are these people earning and how they are earning.

Well, all these people promoting and marketing for a particular product for some time are called Instagram influencers and the influencer market has grown in recent years. Many of them are focused on sustainable living. The number of eco-friendly influencers is surprisingly large as well. Leah Thomas, Elizabeth Teo and Jhánneu Roberts are some of the leading influencers that teach people about eco-friendly living.

The size of this market is becoming huge and so is the competition. Even the sustainability influencer business model is becoming saturated, but you can still stand out if you do things right.

Let’s see who are these influencers and how they earn money from Instagram.

Who Are These Digital Creators?

Influencers are also known as digital creators as these people create content on different topics for digital platforms. As the modern marketplace for ideas is almost entirely occupied by social media platforms, the opportunities for these digital creators have increased substantially. 

As mentioned above, these creators focus on reaching out to the audience through their creative content, from social media platforms like Instagram. 

How do Sustainability Influencers Make a Living?

The work of eco-friendly influencers is usually the same but with a little twist. Being loyal to their tags, these people can influence other people with a new ideology. They have a unique and creative idea on environmentalism, such as zero waste living in urban areas. If other users on Instagram, like their idea sustainable influencers can gain traction. This is how most activities trend on the app these days.

Other than this, another activity that has been included in their list is promotion and marketing. Many giant brands and companies are now demanding established influencers to promote their products to attract users towards them. And surprisingly, this has worked for many eco-friendly brands and companies.

Eco-friendly businesses cater to a niche market. They know that many customers dismiss them over skepticism of greenwashing, so they need to reach new customers through mediums they trust, such as sustainable influencers. And in return, green influencers are getting paid in hefty amounts. But it is not as easy as it sounds.

Requirements to Be An Eco-Friendly Influencer

The basic requirement of being an eco-friendly influencer on Instagram is having a particular number of followers on your account. The current criteria for influencers is having 10k followers on their profile which is the beginning.  

With this number, many features are unlocked on Instagram which includes the slide-up feature on their stories. Given the niche audience for sustainability topics, you will need a focus that is both unique and appeals to a large number of people to meet this figure (such as green living influencer Aditi Mayer, who talks about the intersection of social justice and sustainability).

Let’s learn how Instagram influencers that specialize in green living earn their daily lives through their work.

The Earning Pattern Of Instagram Influencers

Digital creators have many ways to earn money through the Instagram platform. Below we have listed the type of content influencers post and earn money from them.

Sponsored Posts 

These are the most common content influencers post on their profiles. In these sponsored posts, a brand makes an influencer a medium through whom they reach the untouched audience. This is a good way for ethical brands to document their approach to protecting the environment, since many customers are skeptical of these claims.

Mostly, brands send their products to the creator and ask him or her to use that product in whatever photos they are going to post. With this, the audience who are engaged with that particular influencer gets to know about the product and is encouraged to use that product.

Affiliate Marketer

Being an affiliate marketer is a little similar to sponsored posts, but the twist is that the influencer can sell that particular product themselves. Here a fixed price for the commission is decided between the creator and the brand. The more the products are sold by the influencer, according to that the commission is increased.

Many green businesses are turning to affiliate marketing, since they struggle to make money with traditional marketing strategies (HBR talked about this in their article The Elusive Green Consumer).

Here, not only the number of followers on a profile matters but also the status of engagement on your profile. If an influencer has more than 2 million followers but the audience is not liking and view their posts, brands won’t prefer them for the marketing process. 

Does Engagement Matter For Influencers?

Even though you have a large number of followers on your profile it doesn’t mean that all of them are keeping an update with your activity. For influencers, the number of likes and views they are getting on one post is important. For this, the aspiring creators or the people who are starting their journey of being an influencer buy real Instagram views. But these views are organic and real. 

How Much Do Eco-Friendly Influencers Charge For A Sponsored Post?

Usually, this negotiation depends on the quantity of content an influencer will dedicate to the brand. If the brand and the creator are dealing with one dedicated post and story then mostly influencers demand either money or most commonly free products from the brand. 

But if it is a whole campaign, the scenario changes, and as the work includes more effort and work, both money and free products can be charged by the creator. According to the resources, most influencers charge more than $200 for one post. Since green businesses often have lower profit margins, they might have to pay less to influencers. But these companies can still pay well.

It is noted that this amount depends on how creatively you shared your post and how many people you have been able to attract towards that brand.

Instagram Analytics 

For the above-mentioned case, influencers use business tools provided by Instagram. With these tools, creators can see the actual activities on their profiles. What kind of people are liking their posts? What is the age group of active followers? Are they male or females? From where their followers are? These analytics helps them to tailor their posts in the future and reach more people more creatively. 

You Can Create a Thriving Business as a Sustainable Influencer

If you are serious about spreading the word on sustainability, then you could actually make great money as an influencer. But you have to have the right business model in place.

In a nutshell, Instagram influencers have a lot on their plate. If you are someone who is aspiring to be an influencer, it will be a good idea that you start with creating some awesome content. 

Attract and interact with the audience so that they are also actively sharing and liking your posts. Brands will only give you work if you have a good digital presence so that you can meet the expectations of the brand. 

As the industry is new and still growing but at a fast pace, facing competition and making your presence is also tough.