Instagram Subscriptions rolling out to 10 more countries, including Brazil, Canada, Japan, and the UK

Instagram Subscriptions – which allow creators to monetize by offering exclusive content to paid subscribers – are now rolling out to 10 more countries.

Instagram offers five subscriber-only benefits you can offer, starting with exclusive posts, stories, reels, and live broadcasts …

Instagram Subscriptions

Instagram Subscriptions had a bit of a slow start. We first learned about them more than two years ago, when the company confirmed it was working on what was then known as Exclusive Stories.

After Twitter announced its new Super Follow feature, Instagram is taking the same path and is working on an “Exclusive Stories” function with a similar purpose […]

Instagram confirmed it’s working on the feature, although the company declined to share any specific details about its plans.

Later that year, we learned that it was being branded as Instagram Subscriptions, with a range of price tiers, from $0.99 to $4.99 per month. Testing followed early last year, and it was finally launched in the US just over a year ago.

Now rolling out to 10 more countries

Parent company Meta has now announced that Instagram Subscriptions are rolling out to the following countries:

• Australia
• Brazil
• Canada
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Japan
• Mexico
• Spain
• The United Kingdom 

The rollout will be a gradual one, across the next few weeks, with more countries promised “in the coming months.”

Instagram subscriber features

• Subscriber Posts, Stories, Reels, and Lives: You can create reels, posts, and stories just for your subscribers. Share exclusive content, use interactive story stickers, or even go live with your paying subscribers only. 
• Subscriber Highlights: Your newest exclusive stories will automatically be saved to a highlight that is only visible to subscribers so they never miss a story. 
• Subscriber Broadcast and Social Channels: You can give your subscribers special access or information in subscriber-only channels. 
• Subscriber Badges: You will see a subscriber badge next to comments and messages your subscribers send so you can easily identify and prioritize interacting with them.
• Subscriber chats. You can offer chats which are limited to subscribers.

Eligibility

The company says that the feature will be available to “eligible creators,” but there’s no word of any YouTube-style engagement metrics you need to hit. The company’s guide instead focuses on complying with monetization policies, which mostly focus on adhering to existing community guidelines – like avoiding hate speech – and refraining from using sketchy tactics to boost or inflate viewing.

There are four prohibited categories:

• Misinformation: content that has been rated false by a third-party fact checker
• Misleading medical information: content that contains medical claims that have been disproven by an expert organization
• Drugs: content ft illegal substances, nicotine, pharmaceuticals
• Unoriginal content: content that is reproduced without making meaningful enhancements.

Videos must also be, well, genuine videos – with six formats banned:

• Static videos
• Static image polls
• Slideshows of images
• Looping videos
• Text montages
• Embedded ads

Also banned is any form of engagement bait, like using giveaways to encourage subscriptions or comments/likes.

Checking for access to Instagram Subscriptions

You can check whether you have access by ensuring your Instagram app is the latest version, then looking in:

Profile > Professional Dashboard > Your tools > Subscriptions

If the option is there, tap Get Started.