Shopping Is Becoming More About Community & Curation 🛍️

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TODAY’S EDITION

• LTK and ShopMy's new updates put a focus on community and curation-powered shopping

• More than two-thirds of recommended posts on Instagram in the US are original posts

• Instagram now requires users to have at least 1,000 followers to go live

• TikTok expands its presence to more IRL experiences with new partners for its Out of Phone Program

• YouTube plans to use AI to verify the age of users

DEEP DIVE

LTK & ShopMy Push Towards Social, Curation & Community Shopping

The affiliate space continues to evolve, as both affiliate platforms LTK and ShopMy rolled out notable new features this week.

What's New

LTK added Public Profiles, allowing users to share with their friends the creators they follow, their saved posts, and their favorite products. It also added two-way messaging between creators and their communities, plus upgrades to search functionality.

This builds on LTK's recent focus on moving beyond affiliate tools and more into a social media platform, which makes sense as more than half of its traffic is direct.

Meanwhile, ShopMy made its first major push around its consumer experience by debuting Circles, which allow users to build their profiles and create curated groups of creators they trust, then get a dynamic feed of product recommendations from those specific creators.

Community & Curation-Powered Shopping

While these updates are different, there are underlying themes to both: shopping is becoming more about community and curation.

In LTK's case, the addition of consumer profiles and messaging creates new ways for people to shop through their friends and direct interactions with creators. For ShopMy, it's putting creators at the forefront of shopping through curation.

Both approaches make sense. While algorithms have been powerful in surfacing creators and products to audiences, much of what matters when it comes to deciding to purchase something is friends and those you trust already — algorithms don't always serve that need.

Growing Competition in Creator Commerce

The creator commerce and affiliate space is an increasingly crowded battlefield. In addition to LTK and ShopMy, there are others like Mavely, bigger legacy affiliate platforms like Impact, Awin, and Rakuten, while social media platforms TikTok and YouTube have their own affiliate shopping solutions. Brands themselves are launching creator programs rooted in commission payouts.

This environment provides numerous ways for creators to expand their revenue streams, but also creates challenges around which platforms and tools to use and how to make the most of them. Do creators focus on one platform or diversify like they would with social media platforms? Diversification seems necessary, especially considering scenarios where affiliate payments platforms can shut down and pivot, which happened with Flagship recently closing its creator storefronts to focus on AI-powered creator-brand matching.

The Opportunity for Talent Agencies & Managers

Perhaps the most interesting development is how this impacts talent managers. More creators are bringing on talent managers, often to broker brand partnerships that focus on traditional sponsored content and guaranteed payouts. But as more brands seek relationships with creators focused on performance, there's an opportunity for talent managers to help creators with affiliate strategy — from choosing platforms to developing actual strategies that go beyond just a list of affiliate links.

"What is important to understand is that affiliate marketing is an art form in of itself. It is not just about posting a link to something, but there is a real strategy and it's going to be a challenge for some talent managers to intersect this revenue stream on behalf of their clients," industry vet Larry Shapiro, CEO and Co-Founder of The Creator Society, which helps creators with their affiliate marketing strategy, build their own brands, along with brand partnerships, and more, told me.

"It is very high touch and must be done right. Our managers know what types of affiliate content convert best for each talent. From collages to vulnerable conversations, these videos are programmed in a way that creates the best conversion. This means that talent managers need to adjust and understand the true data and ways these platforms work. Issues like order conversions and how many impressions and how to get there are what's important — not just that a brand has a high commission rate on an affiliate deal."

With affiliate marketing growing as a revenue stream for creators, it's going to be something to keep an eye on for creators, those who support creators, brands, the platforms enabling them, and more. So stay tuned for more on this front.

Related: Why Industry-Wide Standardization of Influencer Marketing Pricing May Never Happen

NEWS, TRENDS & INSIGHTS

Meta

Meta Reports Two-Thirds of Instagram Comments Come from Original Posts

Meta revealed in its Q3 earnings call that more than two-thirds of recommended content on Instagram in the US comes from original posts. This highlights that some of the initiatives around surfacing more original creators are working, as in Q3 2024, it reported that 60 percent of Instagram Reels in recommendations in the US were original. This should continue as Meta says it's working further on helping audiences discover original content from creators as soon as it's posted.

Instagram Shares Guide for Engaging Different Communities

Instagram shared a slightly different version of its guide for using content formats based on what communities creators are trying to reach. This version is vertical, mimicking more of a funnel with Reels and Carousels for reaching new audiences (awareness), Carousels, Single Photos, and Stories for engaging followers (engagement), and Lives and Channels for nurturing loyal fans (retention). Notes are missing from this framework, but they likely would fit best for engaging followers.

Instagram Raises Live Streaming Requirements to 1,000+ Followers

Instagram changed the requirements for going Live, now requiring creators to have a public account with 1,000 followers or more. This will frustrate smaller creators who relied on live streaming to engage their audiences, but it reflects a broader trend of platforms tightening live streaming requirements. YouTube, for example, has added minimum age restrictions.

Instagram Edits App Gets Several Updates

Instagram added several updates to its video editing app, Edits. Notable features include 150 new fonts, the ability to save drafts to Instagram, a tool to automatically cut silences, importing audio files, and previewing clips while recording. Creators get a combination of new creative tools and improved workflows, as Edits continues to become more competitive.

TikTok

TikTok Expands Out-of-Home Advertising to Physical Locations

TikTok is expanding its Out of Phone Program, its out-of-home advertising solution. With new partners including Curb, Westfield Malls, Rockbot, and Hope Hydration, advertisers will be able to bring TikTok content to screens in taxis, shopping malls, brick-and-mortar businesses, and even water stations. Advertisers can bring high-performing TikToks to more real-life experiences, reaching audiences even when they aren't on their phones, which gives them a diverse advertising ecosystem that spans digital to physical touchpoints.

TikTok Tests Automatic Parent Notifications for Teen Posts

TikTok is testing a feature that automatically notifies parents when their teen uploads public content, including videos, Stories, or Posts. The feature, part of TikTok's Family Pairing tool, helps parents stay informed about their teen's posting activity while encouraging conversations about online safety and digital boundaries without restricting their ability to create and share content.

TikTok Launches New Creator Safety and Management Tools

TikTok announced new safety tools for creators, including Creator Care Mode for filtering offensive comments, bulk muting options for words and emojis during LIVE streams, Content Check Lite to preview content eligibility for the For You Feed, Creator Inbox for inbox management, and Creator Chat Room for creators to host group conversations with up to 300 people. As TikTok pushes more into social features, these help creators in maintaining control over their interactions with fans and strengthen their relationships.

TikTok Rolls Out Footnotes Feature in the U.S.

TikTok rolled out Footnotes in the U.S., its version of X's Community Notes feature. The feature allows eligible users to add context, clarifications, or fact-checks to posts. These notes are then rated by other contributors and displayed publicly if deemed helpful. The move reflects a growing trend among social platforms to lean into crowdsourced moderation as a way to address misinformation and improve content transparency.

TikTok Adds YouTube Music Integration to Add to Music App Feature

TikTok now supports YouTube Music with its Add to Music app feature, joining Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music as save options. The feature has generated over a billion track saves since 2024, and adding YouTube Music's 125 million subscribers could significantly expand its reach. Notably, this gives YouTube access to TikTok's powerful music discovery engine, which has become a major driver of music listening.

YouTube

YouTube Relaxes Profanity Rules for First 7 Seconds of Videos

YouTube relaxed its Advertiser Friendly Guidelines, now allowing strong language in the first seven seconds of videos without losing monetization eligibility. This reverses a 2023 policy that demonetized videos with early profanity. The change reflects advertisers becoming more lenient about appearing alongside profanity, helped by improved targeting tools that let them choose their desired level of profanity exposure. Gaming creators especially benefit, as they can now monetize content without self-censoring their natural language.

YouTube Implements AI-Based Age Verification in the U.S.

YouTube will use AI to verify whether a user is over or under 18 in the US, starting August 15th. Using signals such as the types of videos users search for, the categories of videos watched, and account longevity, YouTube will automatically apply age-appropriate restrictions, disable personalized ads, and enable digital well-being tools if a user is identified as under 18. These are part of broader efforts to protect younger users from inappropriate content. As a result, YouTube creators with younger audiences could see reduced ad monetization

YouTube Launches Post Shelves on Channel Pages

YouTube launched Post shelves on Channel Pages. These appear under the Shorts shelf on desktop and mobile for creators with at least two Posts. This expands Post discovery beyond the Home Page and Shorts feed, giving creators another touchpoint for audience engagement between video uploads.

WHAT I’M READING

Samsung TV Plus Partners with Top Creators and Announces First Original Content Deal with Scripted Creator Dhar Mann (Samsung)

Samsung inked deals with a number of creators to bring dedicated FAST channels to Samsung TV Plus. It also includes its first-ever original programming deal with Dhar Mann Studios, which will produce 13 original episodes on the Dhar Mann TV channel. It's the latest, and certainly not the last, example of creators showing up on the TV screen.

Everyone is a Content Creator Now (Dazed)

"It's just the modern-day version of keeping up with the Joneses," writes James Greg in this piece that dives into how everyone has become a content creator, whether they are doing so purposely or it's just ingrained in everyday life. But while in many cases there's some financial benefit, for others there's no financial benefit; it's just a way of showing status.

AI as the Greatest Source of Empowerment for All (OpenAI)

OpenAI's new CEO of Applications Fidji Simo pens how AI can democratize access to "the keys to empowerment and opportunity": knowledge, health, creative expression, economic freedom, time, and support.

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