Subscriptions Coming to Instagram (for Creators)
Instagram Subscriptions is the latest monetization feature for influencers (aka Creators) to grow their income directly on the platform.
Creators can set a monthly price of their choice and unlock a purple “subscribe” button on their profile.
In addition to supporting your favorite creators monetarily, benefits of subscribing include exclusive subscriber-only content such as:
Subscriber Lives
Subscriber Stories
Subscribers also get Badges that will appear next to comments and messages. This will help creators “easily identify their subscribers”—and it also sounds like a great way that the platform will elevate and advertise the subscription opportunity to non-subscribers.
The feature is only available to a few creators for now. If you want to check it out for yourself, the current influencers mentioned in the Insta announcement include:
Why it Matters
Paid subscriptions have been slowly infiltrating the social web, from Twitter Blue to OnlyFans. Subscriptions came to Instagram’s parent Facebook in 2020 (well, their parent is now “Meta”… but you get it). YouTube has been a boon to many video influencers since paid subscriptions and merchandise selling rolled out in 2018. TikTok is reportedly playing catchup.
The catch for creators is that with subscriptions, you need to create both public content and gated “special” content for your paid audience. Burnout can be a real concern. But for those who can make it work, it can become quite lucrative.
In the meantime, the influencer economy isn’t slowing down, so the platfroms’ ongoing battle to be the go-to platform for the best creators will continue.
See Also: If you’re a Creator looking to upgrade your measurement strategy, check out this Guide to Instagram Analytics from our friends at Adobe Express.
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