Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday announced a slew of features Instagram is working on to help creators generate more revenue from their content.
This includes a marketplace that would help match brands with creators whose content fits the audiences that they are trying to reach.
Already, many social media creators get paid to post sponsored content, but the goal of this marketplace would be for Instagram to play a more involved role in helping brands discover emerging creators, said Adam Mosseri, the head of the Facebook-owned image- and video-sharing service.
“We should be able to help brands find creators that are uniquely aligned with the work they’re trying to do and vice versa,” Mosseri said on an Instagram Live broadcast with Zuckerberg.
These features come as Facebook adjusts to a recent change in Apple’s iOS ecosystem that will likely make it more difficult for the social media company to target ads to iPhone and iPad users. By keeping more commerce and sales directly on its apps, Facebook can more effectively deliver personalized ads to users and show the effectiveness of those ads to advertisers.
Zuckerberg also announced creator shops, which would allow creators to sell goods to Instagram users directly through their profiles on the social network.
Last year, the company introduced Facebook Shops and Instagram Shops as part of a push to bring more commerce directly onto Facebook’s service. These shops allow businesses to sell directly to users. Some top creators, such as Kim Kardashian, already have shops on their Instagram profiles. Creator shops would allow more creators to sell through Instagram.
“That’s been especially important in the last year. A lot of physical stores have had to close during lockdowns, but online stays open,” Zuckerberg said on the Instagram Live with Mosseri. “It can be a more personalized and convenient experience.”
Additionally, Zuckerberg announced an affiliate marketplace that would allow creators to get a cut of sales for products that they recommend in their content.
“People look to creators for recommendations about what’s good, especially in the places that they’re the experts on,” Zuckerberg said.
The Facebook executives did not outline when these features will roll out.
