Meta announced that they will no longer be allowing creators to earn money via Facebook or Instagram Reels. Today, I went to post a reel to my instagram, and when I scrolled down I was reminded that I can no longer earn money from my content.
What is the Reels Bonus?
Instagram Reels is similar to Tiktok. You can create short form video content to engage with your audience and attract new followers to your profile. What I liked about Reels, was the payout was a lot more enticing compared to Tiktok's Creator Rewards.
A lot of us small businesses not only make money from selling our products, but creating content is another way to bring in a little income.
I never made boku bucks posting Reels, but overall, I made close to $700 from posting here and there on the platform. Every little cent helps!
Some of my Reels payouts
The end of the Reels bonus
My last Reels bonus payout was on March 25th, and on the 26th there seems to be no option to participate in the program, so it looks like it is the end of Reels for now. This change will effect both Instagram and Facebook creators.
Here is what a Meta spokesperson reported to The Verge.
“We are evolving the test of our Reels Play bonus on Instagram and Facebook as we focus on investing in a suite of monetization solutions to help creators earn steady streams of income. We will look into ways to run the program in a more targeted form, for example in potential new markets.
Paige Cohen
Meta spokesperson
What now?
If you are a crafting content creator or any creator who was making money from Reels, you may be wondering, what now?
Even though I am bummed to be losing monetization on Instagram, I will still be posting Reels as usual on the platform. I do still think it is important to engage with my audience on the platform. I have been on Instagram since 2015, and I get pretty decent traffic to my candle site from Instagram.
YouTube is a great way to make some decent income from content. Although, YouTube prefers long form videos they have recently rolled out monetization for YouTube Shorts.
To qualify for monetization you do need to part of the YouTube Partner program. At the moment, it doesn't seem like you can make bank from shorts according to this vidIQ article. But, it doesn't hurt to repurpose your short form content on Shorts.
Conclusion
It's never fun as a self-employed creator to see a revenue stream just go POOF, but it is important to not keep all your eggs in one basket. So even though the Instagram Reels bonuses are ending I still have other revenue streams that I can focus on. Like my candle business!
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