Today, 91% of marketing agencies believe influencer marketing is an effective marketing strategy. Instagram is among the most preferred creator marketing platforms, especially with the new creator marketplace. The Instagram Creator Marketplace constantly evolves with new features for a better user experience and improved brand-creator collaborations. 

Instagram launched the creator marketplace to help brands find the best influencers for their campaigns while allowing creators to market their portfolios. 

Finding the right influencer or brand to work with seems challenging, but not if you know how to leverage the influencer creator marketplace to its fullest potential. 

What is the Instagram Creator Marketplace?

The Instagram Creator Marketplace is an online community where Instagram creators can build a presence so brands can find the right creator to partner with for their campaigns. 

Within the Instagram Creator Marketplace, companies and influencers can access vital statistics, analytical tools, and a channel to hold discussions. 

Finding potential brand partners can be a data-backed decision in this marketplace. 

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Why do brands need an Instagram Creator Marketplace?

Instagram Creator Marketplace makes it easy for chief business development officers and marketers to find the right creators for their marketing campaigns. 

Businesses can now streamline selecting the right profile from multiple creator profiles for their partner programs as the marketplace: 

  • Saves time and eliminates manual searches: Before the introduction of the Creator Marketplace, brands had to look for influencers, which was a time-consuming process manually. With the marketplace, however, brands can apply filters, efficiently sift through hundreds of proposals from interested creators, and launch an influencer campaign quickly.
  • Access to a diverse group of influencers: On the Instagram Creator Marketplace, you can connect with influencers from different walks of life varying in age, backgrounds, and other diverse identities. These connections can help your brand reach a larger, more diverse audience demographic. 
  • Find trustworthy and vetted partners: When manually looking for influencers, it’s easy to partner with someone who is not truthful about their influencer status. The Creator Marketplace offers you the confidence and security that the platform has vetted the creators, and they are reliable as potential collaborators. 
  • No third-party involvement: Brands no longer have to depend on other partners/agencies to look for the right content creator and lose control. On the Creator Marketplace, brands can directly interact with influential content creators and establish a working relationship. 
  • Access to critical data about the project: Thanks to the data the creator marketing platform gathers, brands can learn much from it to further grow their influencer marketing efforts. 

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Benefits of Instagram Creator Marketplace for creators

As much as it helps brands improve their campaigns, the Instagram Creator Marketplace is a game-changer for content creators. It has helped provide access to more projects and improved visibility. 

Here’s more on the creator marketing platform’s benefits for creators and influencers: 

  • New income opportunities: The Creator Marketplace allows creators to monetize their skills on Instagram. Creators can reach more brands outside their immediate influence circle for projects and campaigns. 
  • It centralizes everything in one place: With the marketplace, requests, messages, deadlines, and campaign information are all on one platform. It also features a means of collecting payment for completed projects. So, without leaving Instagram, creators can access, accept and communicate about partnership opportunities.
  • Allows creators to showcase their skills: The platform enables creators to build a portfolio showcasing their stories and skills, better positioning them for brand collaborations. The portfolio overviews who they are promotes content, and shows the brands they’ve already worked with. Using these portfolios, brands can easily search for content creator accounts that match their interests. 
  • Apply to more projects: Since companies can now create their campaigns and projects, creators can also quickly access projects matching their skill sets. Campaigns and projects have more visibility, and there are more streamlined methods to ensure creator discoverability. 

Features of Instagram Creator Marketplace

Now that you understand the Creator Marketplace, learning more about its strategic features will help you use the platform effectively. The Instagram Creator Marketplace features allow creators and participating brands to position themselves better to build relationships and form brand partnerships. 

Portfolio for creators

This feature helps creators set up an online representation (portfolio) of their unique story, differentiating them from other creators. It generally includes an overview of who you are, previous content, and the brands you’ve worked with in the past. 

A creator profile on the marketplace: 

  • Demonstrates their ability to reach and engage with a particular audience, as well.
  • Positions them well for brand content partnerships. Brands can verify the portfolios while choosing the creator for their campaigns. 
  • Makes it easy for the creators to apply for various projects without manually collating information every time. 
Image shows how the creator marketplace features are displayed

Partner discovery

Not all that long ago, brands had to spend hours working with agencies or scouring the internet for the ideal partnership opportunity. However, the Instagram Creator Marketplace has now streamlined the process for both parties. This new platform improves creator discovery by allowing brands to look beyond their usual creators. 

Furthermore, creators can choose themes and hobbies related to their work to find ideal brand matches. 

Image shows how the creator marketplace partner discovery feature works

Partner communication

This feature allows for streamlined communication, whether it’s learning more about the project, negotiating terms, or charting a way forward between companies and creators. The category is at the top of the primary tab and organizes partnership-related messages separately from other messages. 

Instead of waiting for DM responses or losing emails in the sea of correspondences, the Instagram marketplace coordinates communication in a single place for improved operations. 

Organize projects

The marketplace allows companies to post and share project information, details, specifications, and costs. Creators can view project details, such as an in-depth description and rate. They can access these details in the Partnership messages folder. And it’s a great way to stay organized with various influencer and brand projects.

Once the creator and the brand have signed the partnership deal, they can add all details within a structured project for easy access and avoid any miscommunication. 

Image shows how the creator marketplace project view works

Get the ad code (for creators)

When creators share branded content, they use partnership ads on Instagram. Brands can create a unique code for that advertisement via the marketplace for creators to use when they promote the content. 

Creators can use this code while creating a post, story, or reel on Instagram, and the brand’s name will appear alongside their username in the ad’s header. 

Image shows how the creator marketplace ad code is displayed

Find projects

In today’s creator economy, the Instagram Creator Marketplace is one of the leading hubs for finding new projects. Instead of waiting for brands to approach you, budding creators can seek out projects on which they feel they can perform well. 

As brands can post their requirements in the marketplace, this becomes an ideal hub to find the project that will grow their audience and benefit the brand as well. 

Payments

Once a project is complete, the Creator Marketplace enables brands to pay creators directly through the app. The payment feature allows you to track payments in the Dashboard Tools area. 

This is especially important for growing creators and brands so that it helps them pay and collect payments securely and fosters a healthy relationship. 

How can brands join the Instagram Creator Marketplace?

A brand needs to have a business account to access the Creator Marketplace. If you don’t have one but already have an existing account with Instagram, you can simply convert it to a business account or create a new one. 

Business owners can register their brand’s interest by accessing the Creator Marketplace form and clicking “I’m Interested.”

Once you have a business account, here are the next steps you can follow:

to the Creator Marketplace form:

  • Click on the Creator Marketplace tab.
  • Accept the terms and conditions.

How can creators join the Instagram Creator Marketplace?

Firstly, you need to have a creator account because personal accounts can’t join the marketplace. To join the Instagram marketplace, a creator must follow the partner monetization policies and branded content policies

You can check your Instagram account settings to see if you qualify for the marketplace. And if you meet all the qualifications, you can sign up for the Creator Marketplace on the professional dashboard. You can follow the following steps on the professional dashboard to join the Creator Marketplace:

  • First, go to the professional dashboard.
  • Next, click on the branded content tools.
  • You can now click on ‘Join Creator Marketplace.’
  • The next three pages will be about allowing businesses to contact you for partnerships, and you should click on ‘Accept.’ It also makes your information accessible to brands. 
  • Next, you can ‘Accept changes.’
  • And finally, you can read and comply with the terms.
Image shows how creators can join Instagram creator marketplace
Image shows how creators can join Instagram creator marketplace

Once you join the marketplace, build up your creator portfolio to attract branded content partnerships. 

Providing additional information, choosing your favorite brands, and adding sponsored content interest make it easier for brands to find and collaborate with you. 

How to create a creator portfolio

A detailed creator profile makes it more likely for brands to choose you for their campaigns. And here is how to build your profile and creator portfolio to attract brands with similar target audiences:

  • Notice where ‘Your tools’ is and choose ‘Branded content.’
  • Next, click on ‘Creator profile.’
  • Choose a photo and upload it as your cover image.
  • Now, you can add important information about what you do and include reels you’ve created, projects, and brand profiles you’ve worked with. 
  • Click on ‘Save.’
  • To ensure your portfolio is visible and discoverable to brands, you must change your visibility to ‘public.’ 

FAQs about Instagram Creator Marketplace

How do you qualify for the Instagram Creator Marketplace?

As a creator, to qualify for the Instagram creator marketplace, you need to check your eligibility under account settings. You also need to follow Instagram’s branded content and partner monetization policies. 

Should I join the Instagram creator marketplace? 

You should join the Instagram creator marketplace to monetize your skills, work directly with brands to grow your profile, and find exciting new projects. 

How many followers do you need to join the Instagram creator marketplace? 

There isn’t a threshold or a certain number of followers required to join the Instagram creator marketplace. All you need is an Instagram creator account. 

How does the Instagram marketplace work? 

The Instagram creator marketplace is a brilliant tool for connecting brands with creators and facilitating collaboration. It’s how today’s brands and creators develop impactful partnerships for social media marketing strategies such as influencer marketing. 

Grow your social media presence with Birdeye

Influencer marketing is, without a doubt, an effective marketing tool. And Instagram leads the way in this creator economy category and collaborative marketplace.  This platform allows brands and creators to form meaningful relationships and grow together. 

Businesses must know that for the influencing efforts to impact business growth, it is important to focus on building your social media presence, too.  Birdeye has all the tools you need to make this a reality. 

Birdeye Social makes it super-easy to manage your social media efforts in one convenient place and grow your reputation with content creation, publishing, scheduling, engagement, and monitoring tools. Working with Birdeye can help you scale your presence and boost the impact of your campaigns, too. 

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