Advertising platform connects brands with influential Instagram users

Instagrid Network gives Instagram users a way to monetize their creations, while giving brands a way to connect with key users and leverage the popular platform.

It’s only natural that the content-producing masses like to be paid for what they create. That’s why we’ve seen monetization platforms including Brandfame for YouTube content, for instance, or Kiosked and GapAd for bloggers. Next up? Instagrid Network, an advertising platform that connects brands with influential Instagram users. With more than 25 million users, Instagram is currently the fastest growing mobile social network, Instagrid says. Now the Californian company aims to give those users a way to monetize their creations while giving brands a way to connect with key users and leverage the popular platform. Influential members of the social network can get paid by brands for posting photos or using particular hashtags, for example, or they can be hired to photograph events. Users decide which brands they’re willing to work with and which projects to take on, and they always maintain creative control of their personal account. Brands, meanwhile, can pay top Instagramers to share photographs of their products or invite guest photographers to curate or manage their feed. Ultimately, the service aims to help brands grow their following and establish themselves within the mobile community. Instagrid has already worked with brands including Marc Jacobs, Lacoste, and Vizio, it says. Time to set up something similar on a regional or niche basis?