Facebook Inc.-owned Instagram is now going to get its own marketplace where brands can connect with influencers they may want to pay to promote their products.
Instagram is going all-in on creators as the company is working on a suite of new tools to help influencers make money off its platform. These new tools include creator shops, affiliate commerce, and a “branded content marketplace.” Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg announced the upcoming features during a live stream with Instagram chief Adam Mosseri.
Creator Shops would be an extension of the company’s existing shopping features, which allows businesses to sell products. “We see a lot of creators setting up shops too, and one part of being a content creator business model is you create great content, and then you can sell stuff, and so having creator shops is awesome,” Zuckerberg said, according to Yahoo.
Zuckerberg also said that the social media giant is working on tools that would enable Instagram ‘influencers’ to get paid for promoting products. Zuckerberg said that creators “should be able to get a cut of the sales of things that they’re recommending and we should build up an affiliate recommendation marketplace to enable that to all happen.”
Finally, Instagram is working on a “branded content marketplace” that would work towards matching influencers with sponsors. The Facebook CEO noted that such a tool could help enable up-and-coming talent to monetize and help create a kind of “creator middle class.” He didn’t disclose how these deals might be structured but said the plan is to offer “very favorable terms” to creators. “We’re not building this from the perspective of us trying to make a lot of money.”
“Branded content is the economic engine behind the creator ecosystem,” Mosseri said, according to Bloomberg. “Matchmaking is something we can add a lot of value for.”
Due to the fear of the app becoming too commercial, Instagram for many years avoided getting directly involved in brand partnerships with creators. Instead, the deals have flourished informally. People with a high following, either via email or Instagram direct messages, often get asked by brands to promote products to their fans. That has resulted in a not so transparent system, where the prices paid for the same kind of promoted posts vary greatly, Mosseri said.
