Instagram and Facebook content will soon have shopping links baked into posts, essentially cutting out third-party “link in bio”-style tools. Meta announced Tuesday that it’s adding commerce features on the two platforms, though the functionality will be slightly different for each.
On Facebook, content creators will be able to link their affiliate accounts they have with brands and tag products in Reels and photos. Typically when an influencer wants to send audiences to their affiliate link, they have to comment on a post with a link to the product, or direct audiences toward an affiliate platform like ShopMy or LTK. Now, approved products will be attached directly to content in the form of a floating bubble that viewers can click directly. Affiliate partners are limited at launch: In the US, the program will start with Amazon, with Temu and eBay being added in the coming months.
On Instagram, influencers will be able to load up to 30 shoppable products into a single Reel. Products aren’t limited like on Facebook: Creators will be able to copy and paste their own affiliate links for individual items directly. The only catch is that linked items must be registered with Meta in brands’ commerce catalog.
The new features will be convenient for anyone profiting from affiliate revenue. For everyone else, it will likely make the platforms feel even more like a shopping mall. The built-in affiliate content is similar to how TikTok Shop works, with easily accessible links for tank tops and camera mounts floating across video after video.
The new shopping features come a few weeks after a dustup in which influencers caught Instagram adding shopping links to their content without their permission. The “Shop the look” feature added links to cheap lookalike products and not the actual items, an influencer who discovered the feature said. Meta said at the time it was a limited test and that the company was “exploring various changes” to the feature.