The creator economy has evolved into a wide and vibrant industry enveloping numerous creators across the globe, partnering with brands, selling their own merchandise, earning money from their supporters, and earning a portion of revenue from advertisements on social media platforms. Facebook and Instagram are at the forefront of this industry, and the latest updates announced by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will bring more monetization options for creators on Facebook and Instagram.
Speaking at the “Creator Week” event, Zuckerberg said that they wanted Instagram and Facebook to be the best platforms for creators to make money and serve as a home base for them to tell their stories, grow, and make a living. He pledged Facebook’s support to aid creators and give them new ways to accomplish their goals, including a way for Instagram influencers to earn commissions from online sales they facilitate.
“While we’re proud of the progress we’ve made, we know we’ve only just scratched the surface and there’s more we can do to support creators around the world. Today we’re announcing new ways to help creators make a living as they build their personal brands across our platforms,” Facebook said in an official statement.
One of the new monetization tools for creators is an affiliate tool, which will allow creators on Instagram to discover new products available on checkout, share them with their followers and earn commissions for the purchases they drive. It will be tested in the coming months with a small group of US-based creators and businesses including Benefit, Kopari, MAC, Pat McGrath Labs, and Sephora.
Any affiliate post from a creator which features a tagged product can be easily identified with the “Eligible for commission” notifier at the top, making it easier for people to shop directly from the creators they love and give brands a new way to partner with and reward creators who share their products.
Additionally, for creators who have their own product line, Instagram has simplified the process of adding an existing shop or opening a new shop on a personal profile. They can now link their shop to their personal profile in addition to their business profile to display and sell their products directly (a feature that went global after the announcement). They can also set up a new shop and link their account with one of Instagram’s four merchandise partners – Bravado/UMG, Fanjoy, Represent, and Spring. According to Facebook, this feature will roll out to eligible creators in the United States by the end of the year.
If that is not all, creators can earn extra payouts if they complete certain milestones with Badges (on Instagram Live) and Stars (on Facebook in the form of free Stars), two existing ways for creators to earn from fans. The latest updates include the ability for supporters to purchase multiple badges during an Instagram livestream, testing the ability for fans to send Stars during recorded content, and the expansion of Stars to 9 new markets.
Some of the milestones creators need to complete to earn more, include going Live on Instagram with a different account, and broadcasting a certain number of hours, or earning a set number of Stars within a designated time period on Facebook, as a part of the Stars Challenges.
