Instagram Woos Influencers Back With New Features
Although left unsaid, we all know an Instagram user's goal is to get as many followers as possible. First of all, it makes us feel loved. When we see hundreds or thousands of people interested in what we do, we cannot help but feel special.
While popularity can make someone vain, it can also produce something good. For example, famous Instagram users can leverage their reach to open up opportunities for their growth. They already have a broad audience, so why not flaunt their skills or showcase their talent? There is a chance someone in there is a scout looking for future stars.
In a more realistic scenario, people with a high follower count choose to set up businesses on the platform. And there is no better and easier way to do that than advertising products to their followers. Thus, Instagram influencers are born.
What Are Instagram Influencers?
Social media influencers are people who can influence the buying habits of the public. They achieve this by promoting products that have something to do with how they look or what they like. Prime examples are girls promoting cosmetic products and bodybuilders advertising gym equipment. With their faces affiliated with the products, it generates trust from the consumers. That is why it is a trend in the business world to partner with influencers. Note that well-known celebrities can also do what influencers can. However, from a businessman's standpoint, the services of an influencer are more affordable. Besides, since their work is on social media, they seem more approachable.
Then Why Are Influencers Leaving Instagram?
At first glance, the job of an influencer looks easy. However, that is not true. Influencers have to hustle to get sponsorships. That became difficult when market saturation happened. As people realized the money-making potential of an influencer, more and more of them popped up. That led to heavy competition among influencers. It became hard to score bookings. Influencers had to lower their rate to cope with this new environment. Because of that, almost all of them became underpaid. Cheap service became the norm, even though that undervalues their work. Now, when an influencer charges for the right price, brands say their rate is exceptionally high.
Aside from that, the lack of support from the platform affects how influencers earn money. The social media platform benefits from influencers' work as much as the brands they promote. You would think that influencers, who do most of the work, gain equal benefits. Sadly, influencers are at the mercy of the app. Even simple changes in Instagram's algorithms and policies can cause detrimental effects on the influencer's livelihood. In fact, many influencers have been complaining that it gradually becomes harder to get their content seen by followers. So, they had to rely on gimmicks just to stay relevant. These means include loop giveaways and creating content they don't want to. Eventually, that will inevitably turn into burnout. Lastly, just like other people, influencers can get banned from the platform. For individuals like them, whose work is in the platform, that means losing their whole job. In an instant, all their hard work could go to waste.
Instagram's Defense Statement
Influencers are some of the important individuals that keep buying real followers on Instagram above most of its competition. Thus, social media sites cannot afford to lose them.
Instagram addressed Influencers' major complaints to gain their trust back. In a blog posted on the first day of Creator Week, Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, cleared misconceptions about their algorithms. He also spoke about it during the conference. The post clarifies that no algorithm oversees what people do and does not see on Instagram. Furthermore, he addressed how Instagram chooses which posts and stories appear at the top of users' feeds. In addition to that, Mosseri discussed how posts are selected for the Explore page and how Reels are prioritized.
There is also an issue where influencers suspect they are being shadowbanned on Twitter. Mosseri insists that this is not true. He says that posts would not consistently reach the same amount of people. That is normal. Besides, Instagram users tend to look at less than half of their Feed. That could be the reason why their posts seem invisible. However, he admits that Instagram has not been transparent regarding the content they have taken down. Mosseri says that is about to change.
Mark Zuckerberg Announced New Features For Instagram
The biggest news that came out from Creator Week came from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself. He announced new features that they will add to Instagram, which Facebook owns.
These updates will finally give the support from Instagram that the influencers have been asking for so long.
Instagram will be testing a native affiliate tool that will let influencers earn commissions from sales they inspired people to make. To be able to, all they have to do is to share posts about new products available for purchase via Instagram Checkout. A tag below their username that says “eligible for commission” should appear. That confirms that the post they made will generate money for them if people used it to buy the tagged product.
On top of that, they are working on tools that would allow influencers to sell their own products directly through their profiles. With this tool, influencers can set up new shops via the app. The goal is to make it easier for creators who already sell their own merchandise or want to start doing so.
The good news does not end there. Influencers will also get rewards from hitting certain milestones when using Badges on Instagram Live.
Zuckerberg said in a press release that they want to make Instagram the best platform for creators to make a living. He says that if creators have an idea, they should be able to share it with the world easily. Also, they should earn money for their work. These new features in Instagram will help them do that.
Date: August 10, 2021 / Categories: Interesting, / Author: Joy P
