Instagram has launched a new form of creator tags that aim to add credentials to creative professionals, make people on the site easier to find, and spread awareness of the original creators.
What’s different about it?
The main difference between the before and after of this feature is that you can tag people in their roles with the updated creator tags. For example, if you were to post a photo of a professional shoot, you can tag the model with their username and “model” underneath, the photographer, the stylist, the set designer, etc.
This will make a lot of creative professionals easier to discover and follow. Maybe you’re not impressed by the local Soundcloud rapper, but you can appreciate and want to know more about the photographer. Now you will know exactly who he is amongst the dozens of tags on the photo.
In a statement, Instagram said: “Proper creative credit and recognition is a starting point for discovery, new opportunities, and economic empowerment. For many Black and underrepresented creators, crediting is an entryway to building a sustainable career as a creator, while combating cultural appropriation and ensuring the world knows who is driving culture.”
Why does this matter to affiliate marketers?
There are a number of reasons why this is a good step forward for marketers. For one thing, affiliate marketers pride themselves on maintaining a healthy relationship with their partners. If a marketer were to use content from a partner, for example as a means of showing off a good review, and the content isn’t credited, that could have a negative effect on the future relationship with the partner.
Considering, due to the new nature of the industry, creators tend to rely on word of mouth and the advice of peers to make business decisions, this could have a negative effect on future dealings.
Credit is also a big part of curated content, which a lot of marketers rely on. Sharing blog posts, social media posts, videos and other content that is relevant to your business is a good way of building audiences and relationships without too much time spent creating original content.
However, if that curated content isn’t credited, people will speak up and you will gain an unfavorable reputation.
