Dive Brief:

• Facebook on Dec. 8 introduced a professional mode for profiles in the U.S., allowing creators new revenue opportunities and providing tools to help grow their audience, the social media giant shared with Marketing Dive via email. These tools previously were limited to Pages.
• Eligible creators using the new professional mode will be able to monetize their video content through the Reels Play bonus program, which lets them earn up to $35,000 a month based on their Reels' views. Creators who use Pages will also see fresh features, including a post composer that makes it easier to schedule posts and cross-post into a group, as well as a Professional Dashboard that serves as a central hub for admins to review their Page's performance and access revamped tools and insights.
• The suite of updates arrives as Facebook places a bigger emphasis on creators and wooing them to the social network with more robust tools to help them manage their social media presence. Facebook Live also saw several updates this week to help creators engage with fans during livestreams through polls, comments and a co-broadcasting feature.

Dive Insight:

Together, the slate of new features marks an upgrade to the creator experience on Meta-owned Facebook, something that has historically been more important to its sister app Instagram.

New features announced this week are designed to help creators more easily manage their presence across social media sites. Featured Links, which will let creators add website links to their livestreams, can direct audiences to creator blogs or shopping sites without forcing them off the livestream — a move that could boost engagement with creator content on Facebook and keep audiences on the social network. Meta is also debuting support for Facebook Live in the platform's Stories bar, letting creators share their livestreams in Stories to boost discoverability.

The social media behemoth's announcements this week come as it looks to place a greater priority on enticing and supporting creators, online influencers who possess large, engaged audiences and carry significant sway in consumer trends and purchases.

Both Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram have doubled down on creators, videos, messaging and shopping this year, pivoting slightly away from their original purpose of connecting users online. Doing so could help Meta diversify its bets on social media as the creator economy balloons and consumers grow increasingly attuned to emerging trends like livestreaming and social shopping.

TikTok is a clear driver of this shift toward supporting creators, with Meta CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg in October calling the video-sharing app "one of the most effective competitors we have ever faced." Facebook earlier this year introduced financial incentives for creators who could help to fortify features like Reels and livestreaming.