Meta-owned Instagram believes that content creators on the platform have such a large impact on their audience every day by sharing their talents, interests, and cultures – and this impact is certainly worthy of earning a regular income.
Previous monetisation tools have included a creator fund, and the launch of Instagram’s native affiliate programme, and Instagram is now happy to announce its latest monetisation feature – Instagram Subscriptions.
Following in Facebook’s footsteps
In 2020, Facebook, also under the Meta umbrella, launched subscriptions, which has enabled creators to build sustainable businesses powered by the support of their communities. Facebook creators shared positive feedback on the subscription feature, giving Meta the go-ahead to introduce subscriptions to Instagram, too.
Instagram subscriptions will mean that content creators can develop deeper connections with their most engaged followers by charging a monthly subscription fee that will give subscribers access to exclusive content and benefits, all within the same platform where they interact with them already.
Relationships and income will grow
Subscription testing has just started with a select number of creators who will be able to set a monthly price of their choice, unlock a “subscribe” button on their profile and offer the following benefits to their subscribers, according to Instagram:
Subscriber Lives: Creators can broadcast exclusive Lives to their subscribers, allowing them to engage more deeply.
Subscriber Stories: Creators can create stories just for their subscribers, allowing them to share exclusive content and to use interactive story stickers with their most engaged followers only.
Subscriber Badges: Creators will see a subscriber badge next to comments and messages so they can easily identify their subscribers.
After the initial testing phase, Instagram has plans to expand the availability of this feature to creators across the globe. Meta has also confirmed that as part of its continued commitment to supporting creators, Meta will not collect any fees from creators using the subscription feature on Facebook or Instagram.
Similar subscription models have been a huge success with the likes of OnlyFans and Patreon, and Instagram is embracing the tools it has to provide beneficial opportunities for creators on the app.
