Meta Platforms, Inc. is creating a new team to create products and features for its Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp platforms. According to a company spokesperson, “Any new product will be complementary to our existing ads business.” He added that it aims to expand the company’s sales and people’s purchasing ability.
This step could propel Meta to the same track as Twitter Inc., Snap Inc., TikTok, and Discord, whose paid tiers unlextrailiary features. Snapchat’s paid tier is said to be an early hit.
John Hegeman, Meta’s VP of monetization overseeing the said group, said, “I think we do see opportunities to build new types of products, features, and experiences that people would be willing to pay for and be excited to pay for.” He declined to elaborate on paid features that are being considered.
Hegeman added that the company is still committed to growing its ads business, so it had no plans to let people pay to turn off ads in its apps. He also chose to explain the paid features that Meta is considering.
Meta’s earnings almost entirely come from ads, it didn’t charge users until now, and it already has several paid features across its apps. Hegeman added, “On the flip side, I think if there are opportunities to both create new value and meaningful revenue lines and also provide some diversification, that’s obviously going to be something that will be appealing. On a five-year time horizon, I do think it can really move the needle and make a pretty significant difference.”
He de-emphasized how paid features could become a considerable part of the business in the near term.
Facebook group administrators charge for access to exclusive content, as the platform’s celebrities can be purchased to send to creators. Instagram recently declared that creators can choose to charge a subscription fee to access their exclusive content. WhatsApp also charges certain businesses for the capability to message their customers. (Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said it won’t take any cut of transactions from paid features until 2024.)
Concluding to The Verge, Hegeman said, “We’re obviously paying attention to what’s going on in the industry, and I think there are multiple companies that have done interesting things in this space that I think hopefully we can learn from and emulate over time.”
