Instagram is further elaborating upon its platform for content creators, as it looks to add e-commerce tools in order to facilitate branded merchandise being sold online.
These features were introduced by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, along with Instagram's current head Adam Mosseri as part of a livestream, as reported by Engadget. Content creators and influencers have managed to drive much of the ad revenue on both platforms, and further catering to both them and their audiences feels like a natural next step for the social media giants to take. With both individuals elaborating on the new features, and how they'll affect the Instagram landscape as a whole, there's a lot for us to unpack here. Accordingly, let's begin.
One of these tools is labelled Creator Shops. As the title implies, this latest addition will cater to online creators and influencers to sell their relevant merchandise in an easy, accessible way. Shops itself is less of a brand-new creation, and actually stems from the already existing Facebook Shops, which caters more to businesses and startups as opposed to personal brands. Creator Shops is, as expanded upon by Zuckerberg, a response to content creators establishing online brands for themselves and their fans. In a way, providing this platform to them both adds to the ease of purchasing and advertising, while also lending to a sense of authenticity the products will carry.
Another feature being worked on by Instagram is setting up a rewards system for Instagram celebrities promoting products and items. The goal with such an endeavor is allowing these personalities to receive discounts on the products their promoting, in order to ensure that larger brands aren't taking any undue advantage of their images. Zuckerberg also further stated that plans were in motion to establish an affiliate recommendations marketplace, in order to promote such brand-creator relationships in the first place.
Finally, a final tool discussed by the duo dove into Instagram's plans for setting up an online marketplace for branded content, that would allow creators on the platform to connect with sponsors. Such a feature's existence could even help younger influencers, or simply more up and coming ones, to easily set up sponsorship channels as well as monetize their content. Zuckerberg even confirmed as much, wishing to establish a "creator middle class" that could be catered to on the platform.
Read next: New report shows the number of Instagram accounts have decreased to 8 percent as compared to 2019
These features were introduced by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, along with Instagram's current head Adam Mosseri as part of a livestream, as reported by Engadget. Content creators and influencers have managed to drive much of the ad revenue on both platforms, and further catering to both them and their audiences feels like a natural next step for the social media giants to take. With both individuals elaborating on the new features, and how they'll affect the Instagram landscape as a whole, there's a lot for us to unpack here. Accordingly, let's begin.
One of these tools is labelled Creator Shops. As the title implies, this latest addition will cater to online creators and influencers to sell their relevant merchandise in an easy, accessible way. Shops itself is less of a brand-new creation, and actually stems from the already existing Facebook Shops, which caters more to businesses and startups as opposed to personal brands. Creator Shops is, as expanded upon by Zuckerberg, a response to content creators establishing online brands for themselves and their fans. In a way, providing this platform to them both adds to the ease of purchasing and advertising, while also lending to a sense of authenticity the products will carry.
Another feature being worked on by Instagram is setting up a rewards system for Instagram celebrities promoting products and items. The goal with such an endeavor is allowing these personalities to receive discounts on the products their promoting, in order to ensure that larger brands aren't taking any undue advantage of their images. Zuckerberg also further stated that plans were in motion to establish an affiliate recommendations marketplace, in order to promote such brand-creator relationships in the first place.
Finally, a final tool discussed by the duo dove into Instagram's plans for setting up an online marketplace for branded content, that would allow creators on the platform to connect with sponsors. Such a feature's existence could even help younger influencers, or simply more up and coming ones, to easily set up sponsorship channels as well as monetize their content. Zuckerberg even confirmed as much, wishing to establish a "creator middle class" that could be catered to on the platform.
Read next: New report shows the number of Instagram accounts have decreased to 8 percent as compared to 2019
