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Linktree partners with PayPal in bid to win creators

The popular linking platform Linktree is partnering with PayPal to enable payments — a move that the company says will offer earning opportunities to millions of creators around the world.

What’s happening: The new PayPal integration will enable Linktree users to connect their PayPal account and get paid quickly by their visitors or fans via PayPal, a debit card, or a credit card. Linktree also provides users with access to data on their transactions, payment conversion rate, and other data to help them manage their approach.

"As the creator economy grows, creators want new ways to collect payments and support from their audience with as little friction as possible. We are excited to be collaborating with PayPal to further expand our solutions to our users globally and enable them to further manage and monetize their digital presence." —Linktree CEO Alex Zaccaria

The background: Linktree, which recently raised $45 million in funding, is a tool that allows users to share multiple links on their social media channels. While you can use it on many platforms, Linktree grew via its success on Instagram as users have only one place to place a link on their profile. The company — which is now hoping to grow faster through the rise of Tik-Tok creators — offers a free version as well as a premium account for $6 per month.

Why it matters: Founded in 1998, PayPal is the largest electronic payment processing company in the world with roughly 54 percent market share, followed by Stripe at about 19 percent, per Card Rates. In 2020 alone, PayPal conducted 15.4 billion transactions. The company operates in more than 200 countries and in 26 currencies, which should provide creators access to millions of more potential customers.

Linktree eyes creators: In March, Linktree launched a suite of tools dubbed Commerce Links that provide customers a quick, easy way to accept payments via Linktree. The tools specifically target creators, offering such features as tips, donations, subscriptions, analytics, and more. their fans and customers.

“Linktree offers creators – and really, anyone who is using the internet – the opportunity to not only monetize their passion (we recently launched social commerce abilities and features, and plan to add more of those in the coming weeks and months), but to allow people to connect based on what unites them.” —Linktree CEO Alex Zaccaria

Linktree spreads roots: More than 16 million people use Linktree and the platform is averaging 32,000 sign-ups per day. Its high-profile users include Selena Gomez, Red Bull, Alicia Keys, Facebook, and the Los Angeles Clippers. The Melbourne, Australia, based company maintains an 88 percent market share of the link-in-bio-tool market. Some speculate, however, that TikTok may be suppressing Linktree links as it forces users to navigate away from the app.

Music next: Linktree recently announced it acquired Songlink/Odesli, an automated music link aggregation platform. Linktree plans to integrate Songlink/Odesli into its Music Link feature that helps artists maximize their digital streaming footprint and introduces their fans to new music.

Competitors: Despite its market dominance, Linktree faces plenty of competition in the link-in-bio market. Feedlink by EmbedSocial is one popular alternative, as well as Snipfeed, which raised $5.5 million earlier in August. Beacons is another viable contender and recently raised $6 million in May.

Do you use Linktree? What do you think of Linktree’s partnership with PayPal? Share your experience below.

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    At skillcore.io, I'm doing a series of interviews in a Product Discovery process, I came across the problem of restricting only 1 link on social media profiles.

    Would you recommend some Linktree alternatives including monetization?

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