Instagram has managed to stay true to its tagline of capturing and sharing the world’s moments. It’s enabled countless people from our close friends to acquaintances to grow mass following on the platform and become influencers over time through their artistic work and photos. As a result, it’s only continued to grow these past years and become a mainstay in the gauntlet of social media platforms that help aspiring influencers and businesses flourish in the digital landscape.
However, in recent developments, Mark Zuckerberg commented on a live video that they are currently working on new tools to help influencers connect more easily with brands and monetize their content. He made mention of the potential to add creator shops and a brand marketplace. While there have yet to be any official posts from the company, we think it’s an excellent move forward that both content creators and businesses must utilize in the future.
Content Creators Are Already Advertising On The Platform
Firstly, we need to understand that the platform is already being utilized by content creators for advertising and marketing purposes for the longest time now, and to finally have a built-in means of monetization will make it more appealing. And if we could standardize this entire process, it would encourage more Instagram stars and businesses to use the platform to drive more engagement.
- Sponsored Posts Are Everywhere: Number one, you’ve probably seen multiple sponsored posts from some of the most famous Instagram stars on the platform, and even the up-and-coming content creators also get their share as well. However, one critique of this practice is that there’s no commonplace or set price for them, and those less famous often get significantly lower prices.
- Content Creators Rely On Affiliate Programs: Number two, Instagram stories are famous for all the affiliate programs they have integrated into them, from brand sponsorships to straight partnerships with the product; it’s a proven way of monetizing on the platform. And, compared to sponsored posts, this has been the more reliable way of turning Instagram from a side hustle into a full-time job because it pays better.
- Personal Brands And Products: Last but not least, any influencer who’s managed to amass a very loyal following and build a well-established personal brand has also gone on selling personal products and advertising them on the platform. Apart from the personal connection it builds with its audience, it’s the best way of monetizing and generating a steady stream of income on the platform.
A Virtual Marketplace To Connect With Brands
If Instagram were to follow through with the creation of a virtual marketplace to connect with brands on the platform, this will streamline the process of searching for brands to partner with or businesses looking for content creators because the feature would instantly connect them with relevant candidates. Furthermore, this monetization scheme will also allow the application to possibly rival YouTube in the future, especially with the platform’s growing audience.
- Network & Connect: It’s challenging to build from the ground up. With so many influencers on the platform that boasts a significant following, it can be hard to network and connect with so much competition. However, if the brand marketplace feature will recommend influencers to relevant brands as proposed during the live video, this would make the searching process easier.
- Standard Pricing: Once the feature is established on the platform, it will also pave the way for standard pricing and make Instagram marketing and becoming an influencer a more lucrative endeavor. As a result, this would encourage more professional PR agencies and advertising companies to work with influencers to leverage the tools available to them.
Creator Shops Will Make Things More Accessible
Apart from the brand marketplace, the creator shops would make the sale of personal products and the building of personal brands more accessible for content creators because they can rely on a direct means of reaching their followers. They wouldn’t need to go through the lengthy process of creating a third-party website and online shop, essentially centralizing their business onto Instagram.
- Exposure For The Little Guy: Instagram has long implemented the “shop from creators” feature where you get to discover the products they used in the photo and proceed to check out. However, the implementation of this feature has been very limited as it was only available to very famous figures. So, adding creator shops will give more exposure for the little guy and even encourage small to medium businesses to migrate their shops onto Instagram.
A Soon Must-have For Businesses
Overall, if Instagram’s plans to create a more accessible means of monetization on the platform were to be realized, this would become a soon must-have for businesses in the future. Plus, considering that tech stocks have been seeing unprecedented growth this past year, this would help create support and yield more gains for the tech industry as a whole.
