Instagram rolls out Affiliate, new monetization tool for Creators

Several monetization options for creators on Instagram were unveiled during the Creator Week virtual event last Tuesday.

Mark Zuckerberg said during the event that any good vision of the future has to involve a lot more people being able to make a living by expressing their creativity. He said that giving them the tools to do so to support their work is critical.

As part of this, Instagram will begin testing a native Affiliate tool, which will enable creators to discover new products available for purchase via Instagram Checkout, share them with followers and earn commissions on resulting conversions, all within the Instagram application.

Users will be able to see “eligible for commission” on top of affiliate posts from creators featuring tagged products, letting them know that their purchases will help support that creator.

In the initial stage the tool will be tested with a small group of creators and businesses in the U.S., including Benefit, Kopari, MAC Cosmetics, Pat McGrath Labs and Sephora, with more to be added in the days to come.

Instagram creators who already have their own product lines can link their shop to their personal profile, as well as their business profile, and this update is available globally since 8th June.

The new Affiliate tool is predicted to open up new sources of monetization for content creators amid the rise of eCommerce and the increasing push to provide more incentive to keep top creators posting more often.

The only apprehension it may pose to brands is that they themselves won’t have an upper hand in deciding who endorses their product. Instagram might come up with an approval process for this and if it does, it will help creators make money from their IG content easily.

What do you think of the Affiliate tool from Instagram? Do you think it will change the marketing landscape of the social media platform? Tell us in the comments!