American photo and video sharing social networking service Instagram is working on a marketplace where brands and influencers can connect when they may want to pay to promote their products.
Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced the new marketplace Tuesday in a live video on Instagram. “Branded content is the economic engine behind the creator ecosystem,” Mosseri said. “Matchmaking is something we can add a lot of value for.”
While the company is yet to release further details on how the marketplace will work, we can confirm the feature is part of a suite of new initiatives from the Facebook-owned company to try and help people make money on the platform.
The photo and video-sharing app, through divvying up revenue for videos, tipping, and other means has prioritized monetization of content mostly due to Covid-19 when people were turning to the app as an alternative to in-person entertainment and business.
In the past, Instagram avoided getting directly involved in brand partnerships with creators, fearing the app would become too commercial. Instead, the deals have flourished informally. People with a high following often get asked by brands to promote products to their fans, either via email or Instagram direct messages. That has resulted in an opaque system, where the prices paid for the same kind of promoted posts vary greatly, Mosseri said.
Twitter is also working on the monetization of content and tipping features.
