Instagram has come up with new ways for creators to connect with their subscribers. As part of the work to help creators make a living on Instagram, we began testing Subscriptions earlier this year as a way for you to establish a closer connection with your community while earning predictable, monthly income.
We’ve expanded access to Subscriptions across the US and heard the feedback that more ways to share content and foster community would provide even more value to your subscribers while increasing your earning potential.
Today we’re rolling out new ways to connect with your subscribers, including subscriber chats, new ways to share permanent, exclusive content, and an exclusive tab on your profile.
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Introducing Subscriber Chats
The value of subscription offerings across the industry has largely been content-based, but we want to give you a unique way to build community with your subscribers, which we believe can also expand your earning potential. You can now create subscriber chats of up to 30 people to connect with subscribers in the moment and discuss things you’re passionate about, share your best life hacks or simply bring your subscribers together. Subscriber chats, powered by Messenger, can be created directly from your inbox or story and end automatically after 24 hours, so you can maintain balance and decide when and how you engage with your subscribers.
Subscribers can join chats from a new “join chat” sticker from your story, similar to the subscription sticker we rolled out earlier this year. You can add this sticker to both subscriber and regular stories, letting existing subscribers join the chat directly while followers can tap to easily subscribe.
“ …when I used to pop into a live stream of a creator that I looked up to, and they would read my name and respond to my comment or question out loud, it made me feel special. To be able to spread that love and appreciation to my audience with subscriber chats means the world to me, because I’ve been there, and know how great that feels.” – @jenningsbrower
The new subscriber tab in your inbox will allow you to easily organize and manage your chats with subscribers so you’ll never miss a message and can reply with ease.
Exclusive Posts and Reels
While exclusive stories and live allow you to connect with subscribers in the moment, we know that content that lives on your profile is an important way to attract new subscribers and retain your community. We’re introducing exclusive content as posts or reels, so your subscribers can engage in the comments and come back to enjoy the content you’ve created for them.
Exclusive Tab on Profile
“To deliver instant value for subscribers, we’re launching an exclusive tab on your profile for all things Subscriptions. Now you can create a world of exclusive content, from saving your subscriber’s lives to sharing feed posts and reels, knowing that your community can easily find it as soon as they subscribe.”, wrote Instagram on their blog.
Today’s updates are part of our ongoing work to make Subscriptions even more valuable for you and your subscribers. Recently, we’ve also made a subscription story sticker and promo reels to encourage followers to subscribe and an easy way to give subscribers a personalized welcome when they join with welcome reels.
Since first introducing Subscriptions earlier this year, they’ve been slowly expanding to tens of thousands of creators, and we recently shared that Meta will not be taking fees on Subscriptions through the end of 2024. We hope to bring Subscriptions to even more creators in the coming months, so keep an eye out for updates.
