Meta is trying to lure more creators to Facebook with new monetization features. The changes come as the company looks to make the short form videos and AI-driven recommendations a more central part of its primary social network.
First, Meta’s “performance bonus program,” which rewards creators for engagement on their Facebook posts, is “expanding significantly.” The program is still invitation-only, but the company is planning to enroll more creators and add additional bonuses to boost their potential earnings. The expansion comes after Meta previously cut payouts from a bonus program that paid creators for engagement with Reels. It’s notable, then, that the performance bonus program is geared toward Facebook feed posts, not Reels or Stories. In a blog post, Meta notes that “most successful creators in this program post regularly, typically every day,” with a combination of text and photo posts.
Meta is also testing two new features that could make it easier to share content between Instagram and Facebook. The company will be experimenting with cross-posting for branded content so creators can more easily share sponsored posts from Instagram in Reels and Stories on Facebook. A separate test will allow “select creators” to make money from Reels that include licensed musical tracks from the company’s audio library.
According to Meta, the updates are meant to help creators “earn steady streams of income on Facebook.” But the changes also seem designed to boost creator engagement with Facebook as the platform struggles to hold the interest of younger users, who are more interested in TikTok and Instagram.
Getting more creators to post more original content to Facebook will also be an important part of Meta’s strategy to shift its main social network away from feeds toward a more TikTok-like “discovery engine” in the coming year. But in order to reorient Facebook around recommendations, Meta will first need a much bigger pool of original creator content to keep users scrolling.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-is-expanding-its-bonus-program-that-pays-creators-for-facebook-posts-150533570.html?src=rss