Fashion and beauty influencer Blair Eadie, who has used RewardStyle since 2011 and recently has posted her wares on ShopStyle, is among several influencers Instagram picked to test the pilot version of its in-app affiliate program, starting during the holiday season.
The new feature, which Instagram announced in June, allows users to launch a curated shop on their profiles using product listings of participating brands. When users click the products and check out on Instagram, the influencers who posted them get a commission from 6% to 20% for the sale.
The pilot includes more than 100 brands and retailers, including Sephora, Charlotte Tilbury, BareMinerals, Zara, Laura Mercier and Revolve, an Instagram spokesperson told Glossy in a report Friday (Jan. 7).
“Affiliate has existed in the influencer space for the last decade, so it makes sense that Instagram is trying to create their own program to keep influencers converting on the platform,” said Eadie in the report.
In addition to Eadie and her 1.7 million followers, other influencers who are part of the Instagram pilot include Jean Wang (684,000 followers), Blake Gifford (162,000 followers) and Wendy Nguyen (1.3 million followers). Each influencer created holiday collections with fashion and beauty products.
Instagram also introduced Drops and increased its shoppable livestreams in 2021. Social commerce is expected to grow to $1.2 trillion by 2025, according to Accenture, with a growth rate triple that of traditional eCommerce.
Related: Microbusinesses on Instagram Learn There’s No Such Thing as a Free Sale
Instagram employs “shadow banning” on its platform, taking down certain content that may (or may not) violate Instagram standards and lower post engagement, harming sellers without the budget for sponsored posts.
This new structure “also means that large businesses can boost their visibility through paid advertising,” according to a report last month in The Financial Times.
“Businesses promote existing posts for a small fee to reach a wider audience — a promoted post — or create a new post to use as an advert, known as a sponsored post,” according to the FT report. “These give more reach, which in turn helps secure preferential treatment from the artificial intelligence powering the app’s algorithms.”
“Not all small businesses can afford this and the changes have had a tangible effect on sales traffic and engagement from Instagram,” FT said.
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