Meta expands creator marketplace for Instagram in India: What's in store for brands and creators?

On February 21, 2024, Meta expanded its creator marketplace to eight countries, including India. Originally piloted in the US in 2022, this platform facilitates brand-creator collaborations. Evolving with time, it now boasts numerous features and has welcomed thousands of creators and brands onto its platform.

According to a post on Meta's blog dated February 21, 2024, the company intends to extend invitations to creators and brands located in Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom to participate in Instagram's creator marketplace in the upcoming weeks. The Chinese export brands will also receive invitations to engage with creators already on board in countries beyond China.

In response to brands' previous struggles in sourcing creators for partnership ads, the platform initiated testing of its new machine-learning-based creator recommendations for each brand. Leveraging Instagram’s data, this step aims to assist brands in easily identifying creators who align best with their campaign objectives.

Brands can additionally explore creators by filtering for various creator and audience attributes. The marketplace aims to cultivate relationships between brands and creators, offering new avenues for collaboration and growth, with the below-mentioned objectives:

1) After accessing the marketplace, a new AI system will recommend relevant brand-creator matches. Brands can also conduct searches for creators based on specific criteria.

2) Creators will receive brand messages in a designated folder and can initiate direct communication or propose projects to multiple brands.

3) Upon reaching an agreement, they can collaborate, create, and launch advertisements. Brands have the option to amplify existing content or devise new ad campaigns.

As brands eagerly await the utilisation of the creator marketplace, numerous questions loom regarding its potential impact on brands and creators, how it will diverge from previous methods of collaboration, ad revenue implications, and beyond.

Here is what the influencer marketing specialists think.

Edited excerpts:

Anish Mehta, founder, Animeta

I believe the creator marketplace launch is a watershed moment for brand-creator collaborations in India. With Meta and Instagram leading the charge, influencer marketing is set to skyrocket in awareness. It's not just a tweak, it's a major shift that will thrust influencer marketing into the mainstream, making it a potent force for brands to reckon with.

When it comes to revenue, I see the creator marketplace as a great opportunity waiting to be tapped. Despite already boasting a substantial Rs 3000 crore market, the launch could be the catalyst for exponential growth. With increased awareness and adoption over the next few years, one can anticipate the market size could swell to a staggering Rs 6000 crores — a testament to the burgeoning power of influencer marketing in India.

While the initial focus may be on brands discovering influencers, there is a potential future for creators' merchandise. Though it might not be the primary focus right now, there is a possibility that creators can leverage the marketplace to showcase and sell their own merchandise, adding another layer of opportunity in the evolving influencer marketing. Our vision is not just about organising the market, it's about laying the foundation for sustainable, scalable success in influencer marketing.

Shankar Shinde, co-founder, Aisles & Shelves

It will be a win-win opportunity for both brands and creators. Brands can browse the marketplace to find potential influencers to partner with. It will enable them to negotiate deals and manage their collaborations. While brands can increase visibility and sales, the creator will be able to monetise content and provide their followers with a convenient way to shop for their desired category or brand.

Many influencer-led campaigns involve amplifying content created by influencers. This will help brands combine the effectiveness of paid advertising with the impact of high-quality influencer content.

Creators will be able to generate a unique branded content ad code for their posts. The paid ad will show up as coming from the influencer’s account, which will fit right in with organic posts on users’ feeds. A smooth process for brands and influencers, both. Instead of brands trawling the internet for hours (or days) to discover the ideal influencer, Instagram has made it easier than ever to connect brands and creators.

Anurag Iyer, chief executive officer, BigBang.Social

With the introduction of the creator marketplace, brands will experience a shift in their approach to collaborating with creators. Our extensive network allows brands to tap into a diverse pool of talent, enabling more precise and relevant campaign customisation.

As official Meta partners, we are thrilled about the unprecedented opportunities this collaboration offers, empowering brands to achieve more defined solutions and unlocking the full potential of creator-driven content.

Micro-targeting will be significantly enhanced, providing greater visibility for micro and nano creators who might have been overlooked by larger brands. Leveraging our partnership with Meta, brands can anticipate heightened visibility and engagement for their campaigns.

Creators with their own merchandise will find the creator marketplace to be a valuable avenue to discover other creators and use the ad tools that Meta provides to grow their business, just like any other brand.

E-commerce brands can leverage these partnerships to retarget and micro-target their products effectively, utilising creator-driven content as a powerful sales funnel. The marketplace empowers creators with features such as cashback rewards and reward points, enhancing monetisation opportunities.

Anshul Gupta, founder and CEO, GoPromoto

I believe it would be a great fit for the creators as well as brands where they can map the kind of conversions and value they are getting on investment. It would uplift the people who do have good consideration and it’s a nice way for Instagram to monetise more branded deals at their end and take complete control over it.

By bridging the gap between brands and creators, the marketplace fosters mutually beneficial partnerships, ultimately leading to more authentic and impactful campaigns. If you are a creator selling your own stuff, the creator marketplace can help you reach more people and sell more.

Brands can find the right influencers to work with easily. For creators, it means more people seeing their stuff, chances to make money from sponsorships and grow their online presence. It's a win-win for everyone involved!