Instagram Subscriptions should provide creators with “a predictable income”
Image Credit: Instagram
Subscriber Stories, Subscriber Lives and Subscriber Badges are all new features coming to help creators make a living on Instagram.
At the start of the year, Instagram said in 2022 they plan to prioritise new features for teens and creators. Initially launched on Facebook back in 2020, Meta are now bringing Subscriptions to Instagram, letting creators monetize their content across the social media platform and giving fans exclusive content via a new Subscribe button on their favourite creator’s profiles.
- 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.
🎉 Subscriptions 🎉
— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) January 19, 2022
Subscriptions allow creators to monetize and become closer to their followers through exclusive experiences:
– Subscriber Lives
– Subscriber Stories
– Subscriber Badges
We hope to add more creators to this test in the coming months. More to come. ✌🏼 pic.twitter.com/SbFhN2QWMX
Instagram Subscriptions will be launched to a small number of creators in the US to start, with the number of creators and features due to expand in the coming months. Instagram hopes to integrate Subscriptions across the platform. Creators set a monthly price of their choice. Instagram Subscriptions and Facebook Subscriptions will not take a cut from creators until next year at the earliest. To see the feature in action, creators with Subscriptions already include @alanchikinchow, @sedona._, @alizakelly, @kelseylynncook, @elliottnorris, @jordanchiles, @jackjerry, @bunnymichael, @donalleniii and @lonnieiiv.
Having subscriptions on Instagram makes building a more intimate relationship with my followers and fans possible. I am so excited to nurture those connections and make a lasting impact that will help keep my work sustainable.
@bunnymichael
Instagram mentions creators will be able to take their subscriber list and bring them to other platforms built by other companies, but does not expand further on this potential.
A side from videos and shops, this is the first time Instagram has provided creators with a revenue source. Previously, Instagram has largely been a way for creators to build their brand awareness, while income has come from other platforms like YouTube, or influencers could share ads and sponsored posts, paid for by other brands. In the video above, head of Instagram Adam Mosseri talks of Subscriptions providing “a predictable income”, thanks to monthly revenue based on how many fans are signed up, not the reach of each post, resulting in a more sustainable and less fluctuating income source.