- Badges will begin testing next month with a small group of creators and businesses;
- IGTV ads will be available to about 200 influencers in the US.
Instagram disclosed a 70% growth in views of live videos from February to March. On a blog post, the social media network announced that it will share revenue with creators through purchasable badges on live videos and ads on IGTV. Over the coming months, the badges feature will expand to Brazil and Mexico.
Badges will begin testing next month with a small group of creators and businesses. According to Instagram, besides these two Latin American countries, this news feature will soon be available across the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, and Spain.
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This way, some brands, and influencers will be able to sell items through Instagram Live. “From fitness instructors to dancers, artists to chefs, Live has helped creators and businesses stay connected to their followers and bring people together. With badges, creators can generate income from the content they’re already creating,” said Instagram.
Purchasable badges will appear next to a person’s name throughout the live video. Fans who have purchased badges in Live will stand out in the comments and unlock additional features, including placement on a creator’s list of badge holders and access to a special heart.
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IGTV ads will start next week. The idea is to make the platform more competitive and attractive for content creators to tackle YouTube. The novel feature will be available to about 200 influencers in the US. According to Instagram, the idea is that it will expand slowly across the world over time as the company improves the experience.
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Instagram also noticed that IGTV ads will initially appear when people click to watch IGTV videos from previews in their feed. The video ads will be built for mobile and up to 15 seconds long.
