We are all aware of the initial features and opportunities that allowed online content creators to earn money from their social posts, such as YouTube ad sense and promotional brand deals on Instagram. However, these are now just a couple of the ways in which creators can monetise their content, in many cases, allowing them to earn their sole income from social media.
Pinterest launches a Creator Fund to pay influencers
As many of us may not automatically think of Pinterest as a platform for influencer content, it is developing in a way that will boost its influencer culture. In September last year, Pinterest introduced Story Carousels, allowing creators to reach a wider audience. The addition of the story carousel on the home page means that creators who post to their stories regularly will always end up on top of their audiences’ feeds.
The introduction of a feature that is similar to that of an influencer native platform, such as Instagram, meant that Pinterest was able to work on expanding its creator base. The next step for Pinterest in its journey towards allowing its creators to monetise their content is the introduction of its new creator fund.
Initially, the creator fund will provide $500,000 to small groups of influencers throughout 2021. The first group of influencers to receive access to the fund will be eight creators who come from under-represented backgrounds. Pinterest plans to expand the programme throughout the year, adding more creators.
Clubhouse introduces direct payment option to support creators
Since its boom over the past year, the team behind Clubhouse has been working on ways that they can reward creators on the app financially. ‘Payments’ will act as a direct monetisation option for people who open and moderate rooms on the social audio app. The feature has began its testing process, initially available to a small test group, with the intention of eventually rolling out to other users in waves.
Users will be able to send payment within the app by visiting the profile of the creator they would like to support. If the creator has the feature enabled, the user will be able to tap “Send Money” and enter an amount. It has been reported that Clubhouse will take no cut of the payment, meaning the creator will receive 100% of the profits.
With these new features in their launch stages, we will continue to follow the updates of the new monetisation tools, focussing on content creators receiving financial recognition for their work. It will be interesting to see whether more social platforms follow these trends.
