Last year, Instagram launched Subscriptions, a feature for creators that lets them charge for their Stories and live streams and play them only for those who pay the subscription. And now, the platform is expanding its options, adding a tempting “holiday bonus.”
How it started
In July 2021, reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi first spotted Instagram Subscriptions. In November of the same year, some store analysts noticed it, along with the prices, which ranged from $0.99 to $4.99. In early 2022, the head of Instagram himself announced Subscriptions and told us a little more about it.
Adam Mosseri explained back then that this feature was meant for creators. “The creators do what they do to make a living,” Mosseri said. “And what’s important is that it is predictable. Subscriptions are one of the best ways to have a predictable income.”
How it’s going
According to Meta, Instagram has now surpassed 1 million subscriptions. To celebrate this and trap help the creators further, its parent company, Meta, offers additional perks for those who “have already built a strong community.”
“Since expanding access earlier this year to more creators, there are now more than 1M active subscriptions to creators through Instagram subscriptions,” Meta writes. “Most recently, subscriptions launched for creators in an additional 35 countries.”
The holiday bonus is a test that rewards creators for sharing their creativity through reels and photos (both single-image posts and carousels). This bonus is only available to a select group of creators who will be invited to participate until the end of the year. If you receive an invitation, you can activate the holiday bonus to start monetizing your content. Your earnings will be based on the number of reel plays and photo views you receive during the bonus period. Keep in mind, though, that your content must meet the Content Monetization Policies to qualify for earnings. In South Korea and Japan, this bonus will be known as the year-end bonus.
In addition to the holiday/year-end bonus, Instagram has also introduced new promotional tools. These include surfacing the Subscribe button when followers see content in the Feed and making it easier for creators to welcome new subscribers via DMs and Stories.
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