Instagram’s looking to help connect its top influencers to new branded content opportunities, by providing new ways for talent agencies to integrate data from its Creator Marketplace, and action such via third-party platforms.

First off, Instagram is expanding its API access to enable talent agencies to more easily send DMs and project requests to Instagram talent.

As you can see in this example, via the new integration, talent agencies would be able to contact potential influencer marketing partners directly from their existing management platforms, as opposed to having to go through the traditional Creator Marketplace process.

The new API access would give third-party platforms access to DM functionality, as well as the capacity to share project briefs, helping to streamline the connection process.

Instagram says that it’s testing the new API updates with ‘a small cohort of leading creator marketing partners’, including Aspire, Captiv8 and CreatorIQ. Instagram says that it will expand access to the Creator Marketplace API soon.

In addition to this, Instagram’s also testing new access to Creator Marketplace for brand agencies, which will enable agencies to manage creator discovery and collaborations on behalf of their brand clients.

As you can see in this example, through the new process, brands will be able to approve agency access to manage their Creator Marketplace projects, which will make it easier for third party managers to initiate influencer campaigns.

As per Instagram:

“With this release, agencies will be able to:

• Find the best talent for their brand clients: Discover creators on the creator marketplace leveraging advanced filters, verified metrics and search capabilities directly from their business account.
• Track creator conversations with a dedicated folder: Send messages directly to creators’ dedicated partnership messages folder, where they can see messages and conveniently respond from Instagram.
• Work with creators effectively and see progress: Directly send or publish structured project briefs to select creators, on behalf of brand clients. Agencies will also be able to publish discoverable projects that eligible creators can apply to, and track progress of projects, including when creators have accepted or posted their content.”

It essentially adds another level of management oversight to the Creator Marketplace process, enabling third party agencies to take more control over collaborations on a brand’s behalf.

For big brands, this could be a significant update, making it easier to allocate more control to their assigned partners, improving the connection and collaboration process.

For smaller operators, probably not a big deal – but you can of course use Instagram’s Creator Marketplace yourself to find the right partners for your campaigns.

You can learn more about Instagram’s new third-party access program here.