Meta’s bid to woo creators to Facebook just might work, despite its recent legal woes

Digiday spoke with five leaders in the influencer marketing and creator agency space to see if Facebook is a viable option for creators, how it can retain talent, and if Meta’s recent legal woes will change things. For them, Meta’s creator push signals a shift toward more platform agnosticism, and a desire to reach Facebook’s massive distribution.

The Facebook appeal on its face

On paper, Meta’s promise to creators looks enticing: guaranteed monthly payments and increased reach to start posting on Facebook. Those with at least 100,000 followers on either Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube will get $1,000 a month, while creators with more than 1 million followers on either of those platforms get $3,000 a month. 

These guaranteed payments will only last three months, but vice president of product for Facebook Creators, Yair Livne, told CNBC that creators in the program will get a reach boost “in perpetuity.”

Scott Sutton, CEO of influencer marketing platform Later, tells Digiday there’s plenty of precedent for Facebook’s move, citing Snap’s 2023 push to lure talent with its Snap Star program, which has proved lucrative for a specific group of creators. 

“Facebook is absolutely slept on in terms of a platform for creators,” he said. 

According to a recent Sprout Social study, Facebook is the most popular social media platform globally, surpassed in the U.S. only by YouTube. And though you might think the platform skews young — 88% of polled boomers and Gen Xers say they used Facebook in the last three months — 77% of Gen Z said the same.

“Affiliate marketing and creator marketing come together and overlap more often now, so anywhere that customers can take direct action is appealing,” explained Natalie Silverstein, chief innovation officer at social influence agency Collectively.

According to Danny Frenkel, former Facebook employee who started Punchup.live, a platform for comedians to connect directly with fans, Facebook is uniquely effective at converting fans into ticket buyers. He said it’s currently the third-highest platform for ticket sales by a “significant margin” for Punchup.live, bested only by Instagram and direct sales on the platform. 

Despite the appeal, those who spoke with Digiday said creators won’t drastically shift their social media strategies overnight, no matter how enticing guaranteed payouts may be, but will likely start by simply cross-posting their content on the platform and seeing how it performs.

It’s a sign of the creator economy’s push for platform agnosticism: creators will incorporate Facebook posting as an additional layer of revenue and reach, rather than replacing the other platforms outright. 

Legal not-so-problems

Despite Meta’s recent courtroom losses, the professionals who spoke with Digiday don’t think it will be a major deterrent for pulling creators over to Facebook.

“Candidly, I’m not seeing a lot of conversation about it, I’m not sure how much has even broken through,” said a creator marketing executive who requested anonymity. They said they haven’t seen any slowdown in posting on Instagram, which is a part of Meta, and that this is largely because these platforms are where creators make their living. 

Julia Pascual, social and influencer strategist at AntiSocial, suggested the lawsuit could give creators more power in getting a direct line to the platform to “vocalize concerns of the public and their communities,” that might help get the platforms closer to “making institutional changes.”

Retention is the issue

Instead, the main hurdle Facebook faces with this creator push is retention. 

“Financial incentives can attract creators, but long-term retention depends on consistency, stable reach, clear monetization pathways, and product trust,” said Joey Chowaiki, coo and co-founder at creator marketing company, Open Influence. 

Pascual thinks the three-month time period should give the platform enough time to prove to creators that they’re getting meaningful content exposure by adding the platform into their daily routines. 

“Meta has to prove that this extra placement for their content will allow them to build a unique and engaging community on Facebook, in addition to TikTok and Reels,” she said.

(Digiday asked Meta about its retention plans, and if the platform will be offering a robust API integration like the one recently announced by YouTube, but did not hear back in time for publication.)

Sutton said he would “be surprised” if Facebook’s plan to build a robust creator economy on the platform relied solely on guaranteed payouts. He believes the platform’s robust ad network will translate well to creator marketing, and that creators will find their efforts well-rewarded.

“It should be in their best interest to build up a community and drive monetization, so even if that $1,000 [guaranteed payout] goes away, they’ll still be in a good spot and earn significantly, because the audience will be there and the advertisers will be there.”