# How to Find Affiliates on Instagram: A Step-by-Step Guide

Source: https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/recruit-affiliates-on-instagram

# How do I recruit affiliates on Instagram?

By the RecruitAffiliates.ai team · 26 October 2026 · 8 min read

Facts about other tools come from their own sites, with the date we checked. [Our editorial policy](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/editorial-policy) · [About us](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/about).

In short

To recruit affiliates on Instagram, search topic words, hashtags and your rivals' tagged posts, then check each account by hand. Use email when the profile lists one; otherwise send a short direct message. Offer a commission, a code and a free item. Give each person a tracked link. In our scan of 30 Shopify brands, Instagram gave 17 people.

An **affiliate** is a person who sends you buyers and earns a cut of each sale. That cut is a **commission**. To find affiliates on Instagram, search topic words, hashtags and your rivals' tagged posts, then check each account by hand. Email the person when their profile lists an address. Otherwise send a short direct message. Offer a clear commission and give each person their own tracked link.

**On this page 10 sections**

1. [How do you find affiliates on Instagram?]
2. [What did our scan find on Instagram?]
3. [How do you check an account before you message it?]
4. [What should you offer an Instagram affiliate?]
5. [What do you send, a DM or an email?]
6. [How do you track sales from Instagram?]
7. [Do you need to tell followers it's an affiliate post?]
8. [Where RecruitAffiliates.ai fits]
9. [Frequently asked questions]
10. [Sources]

## How do you find affiliates on Instagram?

Search for people who already talk about products like yours. Four searches cover most of it.

1. **Topic words and hashtags.** Say you sell a night cream. Search `night cream review`, `skincare routine` and `#skincarereview`. Open the accounts, posts and Reels your version of Instagram shows. Results are ranked, so do not treat the first screen as a complete or newest list.
2. **Posts that tag your rivals.** Open a rival's profile and its tagged-posts tab. Note the public accounts that have made a real post about the product. A comment alone is too weak.
3. **Your own tags.** Look at who has tagged your brand. They already like you, so a thank-you and an offer is an easy first message.
4. **Collaborators.** When you find a good account, look at who it posts with. Creators in one niche tend to know each other.

Keep a sheet with one row per account. Write down the handle, the post that caught your eye, where their email is (the bio, or a link to their site), and the date you messaged them. Twenty rows is a good first list.

AffiliateWP, an affiliate software vendor, suggests a similar mix of hashtags, Stories and brand match ([AffiliateWP](https://affiliatewp.com/how-to-find-affiliates-on-instagram/), published 19 December 2022, updated 1 February 2023, checked 26 October 2026). The steps below add message wording and an offer.

For a wider view of where affiliates sit, read [where to find affiliates](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/where-to-find-affiliates). For shops, our guide to [finding affiliates for a Shopify store](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/find-affiliates-for-shopify-store) covers every type of site.

## What did our scan find on Instagram?

Fewer than you may expect. On 22 October 2026 we ran RecruitAffiliates.ai's normal first search for 30 public Shopify brands, six in each of five categories. It showed 2,924 people in all. An AI model read the titles and addresses of 30 random rows and opened none of the pages. It judged 19 a clear fit, 2 a loose fit and 9 not promoters. Instagram gave 17 of the 2,924. Only seven of those shops had any Instagram result. Nine came from one fashion shop and five from three beauty shops.

Read 17 as what one run showed, not a total for Instagram. It does not mean Instagram is useless. It does mean Instagram is one source among several. In the same scan, 1,877 people (64%) had a review, roundup or comparison page as their best evidence. See the [method and limits](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/research/shopify-affiliate-scan-2026).

Test a small batch before you commit time. The scan counts people, not sales.

## How do you check an account before you message it?

Open the profile and spend two minutes on it. Look for four things.

- **Real comments.** Replies that talk about the post, not strings of emoji.
- **Fit.** Recent posts match your buyer, and the account has posted about products like yours.
- **Engagement over size.** Compare likes and comments with followers. Social Snowball, an affiliate platform, says to put engagement over follower count ([Social Snowball](https://www.socialsnowball.io/post/how-to-run-an-affiliate-program-on-instagram), checked 26 October 2026). AffiliateWP lists high followers with low engagement as a warning sign ([AffiliateWP](https://affiliatewp.com/how-to-find-affiliates-on-instagram/), checked 26 October 2026).
- **A way to reach them.** An email in the bio, or a link to a site.

Small accounts can do well. Our posts on [micro-influencers](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/what-is-a-micro-influencer) and [nano influencers](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/nano-influencers) show how to judge them.

## What should you offer an Instagram affiliate?

Offer three things: a commission, a code for their followers, and a free item.

| Part | What it is | Say it like this |
|---|---|---|
| Commission | A cut of each sale they send | "20% of every sale" |
| Code | A discount for their followers | "Your own code, SAM10" |
| Free item | A gift, no post required | "A free jar to try" |

Say the rate in your first message. [What to offer affiliates](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/what-to-offer-affiliates) explains how to pick one. A code gives them something to say in a Story or caption. Send the free item after they say yes. Our [gifting note examples](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/influencer-gifting-note-examples) show how to word it.

Say that the free item is a gift, not a payment for a post.

## What do you send, a DM or an email?

Use email when the profile lists one. It gives the full offer room and leaves a thread you can follow up. Use a short DM when there is no public email, or to ask where to send the details. This is our suggested sequence, not an Instagram rule.

**Example DM (under 40 words):**

Hi Sam, I liked your post on the 3-step night routine. We make a gentle night cream and pay 20% on every sale to people who share it. Can I email you the details?

**Example email, once they reply or you find their address (the 20% is an example rate):**

Subject: 20% on every night cream sale

Hi Sam, your night routine post is the kind our buyers watch. You would get a link and a code for your followers, 20% of every sale and a free jar to try, with no post needed. Want me to send the link?

Change the details to yours. Keep four parts: one true line about their work, one line on what you sell, the offer in plain numbers and one small question. The [influencer outreach email template](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/influencer-outreach-email-template) has three full versions and ten subject lines, and [how to write an affiliate recruitment email](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/affiliate-recruitment-email) covers follow-ups. Send a few at a time, not a hundred. Read and edit each one before it goes.

## How do you track sales from Instagram?

Give each person their own link and their own code. Without them you cannot tell who sold what.

1. Create one tracked affiliate link per person.
2. Create one discount code per person, such as `SAM10`.
3. Ask them to use both: the link in their bio, the code in their posts.
4. Review each person's orders after 30 days. Keep the link live if your tracking window is longer. Offer a better rate to the people who sell.

Your affiliate software issues the link. The code is a discount you set up in your store. Shopify tracking is covered in the [Shopify store guide](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/find-affiliates-for-shopify-store).

## Do you need to tell followers it's an affiliate post?

Yes. The US Federal Trade Commission tells creators to "Disclose the relationship if you got anything of value to mention a product" ([FTC, Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/disclosures-101-social-media-influencers), November 2019). It says the same applies when an endorsement earns money through affiliate links, and that advertisers need "reasonable programs in place to train and monitor members of their network" ([FTC, Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking), checked 26 October 2026).

So add one line to your message: "If you post, please say it's a gift and that you earn a commission." This is not legal advice. In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority has its own [influencers' guide to making clear that ads are ads](https://www.asa.org.uk/advice-online/influencers-guide.html), which lists affiliate marketing among its topics (checked 26 October 2026). See [affiliate disclosure examples](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/affiliate-disclosure-examples-for-brands) for wording.

## Where RecruitAffiliates.ai fits

RecruitAffiliates.ai finds the people and sends the first email. It does not message people on Instagram for you.

You enter your website. It finds websites, blogs, review sites, newsletters, podcasts, YouTube channels, and Instagram and TikTok creators. They are chosen to fit shops like yours. Each one comes with the page that shows why it fits, so you can check before you email. It looks for each person's email and checks it, so you get a [verified email](https://docs.recruitaffiliates.ai/credits#what-each-result-means). AI drafts a personal first email. You approve it, and it sends from your own inbox. Replies land in that inbox. A campaign is four emails in one thread.

A new mailbox sends 5 first emails a day in week one, building to 30 at most. The [Shopify page](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/for/shopify) has the five steps.

Launch is $79 a month for one brand, with a 7-day free trial and no card.

Try it on your store

See who would promote a shop like yours.

Type your store's website. We find the bloggers, review sites and creators who already cover shops like yours, and show the page we found each one on. Keep the affiliate app you use now.