Social media platform Instagram is currently testing a new feature named Affiliate Shops. It is designed to encourage and enable the use of affiliate marketing links in its content.
Instagram, the online retail store?
Photo-based social media platform Instagram has newly launched a feature that will make affiliate marketing more accessible to businesses.
The move is the latest in a range of pushes by both Instagram and its parent company, Facebook, to become a hub for online retail.
Affiliate Shops
The new feature, named Affiliate Shops, is an extension of Facebook’s shopping feature, and was first mentioned in June at the platform’s Creator Week event.
The new tools allow content creators to earn commission from affiliate links in their content. Affiliate marketing managers will be able to set terms and commissions within the platform, and there will be new features added to the inbox to encourage brands to connect with creators for sponsorship, including a dedicated “partnerships” category within their inbox.
Creators’ businesses will be made much easier with the use of Affiliate Shops. Users can track how much of a commission they are owed based on the traffic coming from their followers to the product. The simple feature offers a list of affiliates currently in motion, and another dashboard to add items a creator wishes to promote with affiliates to their wishlist. They can even add items to their wishlist and declare them “eligible for commission”, essentially reversing the hunt for affiliate marketing managers, allowing content creators to approach marketers.
Are you eligible?
Although the affiliate features aren’t yet widely available, that might not be the only thing stopping you from gaining your affiliate commission. You must follow the Instagram Partner Monetisation Policies that say you must have “an authentic, established presence on Instagram” including “a sufficient follower base”. Visit Instagram’s Terms and Conditions to be sure that you qualify.
