Instagram updates creator marketplace—what impact does this have on influencer marketing?

Instagram recently announced new updates to its creator marketplace. The company has expanded access to part of its creator marketplace via new APIs.

Through this, Instagram is making it easier for brands to discover and collaborate with creators from their existing third-party creator marketing platform, eliminating the need to go through the traditional Creator Marketplace process.

The first new API will enable brands to easily reach creators via their preferred creator marketing platform in a priority inbox on the creator marketplace.

The second API will allow brands to publish structured project briefs directly from a third party to the creator marketplace.

These APIs are being tested by Instagram with a small group of creator marketing partners as an initial step.

In addition, the social network is also testing dedicated brand agencies' access to the creator marketplace in order to allow them to manage creator discovery and collaborations on behalf of their brand clients. Again, Instagram is testing this access only with a limited number of partners.

As part of this expansion,

Creators can be filtered by gender, age, number of followers, and interests by agencies.

It will also add the capability for agencies to search for creators based on their engaged audience's demographics, such as gender, age, interests, country, and city.

Furthermore, agencies can send messages directly to creators' dedicated partnership message folders, as well as publish discoverable projects to which eligible creators can apply.

It is indeed a welcome move!

Why?

On the one hand, social media platforms like TikTok are under threat of being banned. It's only fingers crossed for brands that rely solely on this platform. How they are going to build a brand from scratch on other platforms remains a big question.

On the other hand, competition in the digital landscape is getting fiercer by the day. It, in turn, puts marketers under tremendous pressure to be creative, try different marketing approaches, and stay up to date with changing trends so as to attract audience attention and establish their brand presence among target audiences.

To surpass all the challenges and lead the race, the world of influencers has become the prime consideration for brands and marketers.

Now, with expanded access to the Instagram creator marketplace, the platform will possibly help brands and marketers in many ways.

Finding the right profile becomes simple:

Without jumping from one place to another, marketers will be able to easily access the profiles of a wide range of creators available in a short time.

Choosing the appropriate influencer that meets the respective brand goals is crucial to reaping better results. This way, from micro-influencers to celebrity endorsements, Instagram’s new move will provide greater flexibility to marketers to find and collaborate with creators at ease.

No need to compromise on Influencers:

For instance, let us presume a marketer is required to choose the creator that has followers in a specific demographic or age group. And that too within a defined budget. If the marketer is not getting multiple choices on the Instagram marketplace, they do not need to compromise on their choice. Through the new integration, marketers will be able to easily search for more creators who meet their criteria on third-party platforms and make the right choice.

Saves plenty of time:

As marketers have plenty of options to choose from, if the particular creator is not responding, they can easily move on to the next. Correspondingly, it will eliminate the need for them to spend never-ending time following up with influencers just because they don’t have a choice. Thus, it will help both creators and brands make quick deals without wasting time.

Overall, we believe Instagram’s new move with its creator marketplace is all about providing more flexibility and benefit for both creators and brands.