Instagram Debuts Gift Offerings for Creators

Meta is expanding its Instagram gift program to draw more creators to the platform.

The social media company launched the gift feature last year to give creators a way to earn money from fans of their Reels, the short-form video function on Instagram and Facebook.

Now, Meta said it is planning to expand the program into new markets, according to an announcement posted Friday (April 14) in a post on the company blog. Those markets include Australia, Canada, France, Mexico, New Zealand and the U.K.

“We’re also adding a new feature to show you which fans have sent you a gift so you can recognize your supporters,” the post said. “If you tap the heart icon next to your supporters, they’ll get a notification that you’ve seen and recognized their gift, providing an even stronger sense of connection between you and your fans.”

This new feature is among a series of updates for Instagram creators. Also on the list is a new dedicated destination for trending songs on Reels, letting creators see how many times the audio has been used or save that audio for later use.

In addition, Meta said it has upgraded Reels’ insights feature to offer two new metrics, “total watch time and average watch time — and making it easier to see your insights while viewing your reels directly.”

The company says it has also made it easier to edit Instagram reels by combining video clips, audio, stickers and text on one editing screen.

“This makes it easier to align and time elements of your reel to the right moments in a more visual way,” the blog entry said.

The announcement came on the same day as a report that retailers had seen positive results from Meta’s new retail media advertising tools. According to Modern Retail, companies that use Meta’s Managed Partner Ads Lite and local inventory ads have seen increased sales.

Among these retailers is Dollar General, which says Managed Partner Ads Lite — which lets retailers launch ads on Facebook and Instagram — has helped brands to connect with customers through advertisements on those platforms.

“DGMN can now help brands understand their true return on ad spend through attribution-based measurement, helping them validate their marketing investments,” a Dollar General spokesperson told PYMNTS in March.

Meta meanwhile, says Walgreens partnered with a consumer packaged goods (CPG) brand and employed the advertising tool to increase its sales of health remedies by 3.9% and skin care products by 2.5%.

The Managed Partner Ads Lite tools use consumer insights from retailers’ data and lets retailers work with brands on advertising, per the Modern Retail report.