Instagram Advertising
Instagram is fairly new to the social media ad game, but with a parent company like Facebook, it’s slowly been learning the ropes. Since announcing their advertising plans in 2013, Instagram has spent the last two years developing their ad program, and they have finally started to pilot their ads.
Why Use Instagram Ads?
Instagram is unlike any of the other social media tools I’ve profiled because its predominant method of communicating is via images. Images are an advertisers other best friend next to text. So keep reading because I promise what Instagram has in store for the social media ad world is unlike anything else!
Instagram Ad Types
Instagram just started piloting its ad program within the last 12 months. As of right now, they offer two types of ads: Photo Sponsored Ads & Video Sponsored Ads.
Photo Sponsored ads are photo ads that appear directly in a user’s timeline. They are designated by the label “Promoted.” Photo ads can be run in coordination with a full stream of photos in an Instagram campaign. It provides a different method of advertising because it is picture-oriented. Check out how Mercedes used Instagram to run an ad campaign for their new car in the video to the left!
Video Sponsored ads are 15-second autoplay ads that also appear in a user’s timeline with the label “Promoted” attached to them. These have been especially useful in allowing Instagram to attract clients like movies. They promoted several trailers for Big Hero 6 last year via their video sponsored ads.
Side Note: The Instagram platform allows people to not just read about what’s going on in the world, but to see it as well. For brands, it will allow users to view a brand’s image, a luxury not so common in the digital world today thanks to the power of the groundswell and people connecting with people and going around companies for information. A personal/brand image determined by the content of a social media post and the interest it generates. This is called a social tattoo. It’s how we make a lasting impression in the social media world, and Instagram’s image-oriented platform will help companies to maintain some semblance of how they want their brand-image portrayed and talked about by the masses via promoted ads. How do you make your social tattoo on social media?
Features
Instagram is currently working on adding a multi-carousel feature into its ads. This feature is basically a slideshow ad where users can swipe horizontally to see four or five photos in one ad. They are also working on adding a direct link to a brand’s website into the ads as well. Check out the video below to see how the carousel feature works!
Instagram has made it extremely clear that as their ad program develops, they will not allow in-app purchases like their parent company Facebook, but will instead direct users to a third-party site where they can make purchases. This is because they view themselves as a “look book” tool, not a shopping cart. Do you think this is a good way to maintain their values or just foolish concerning the competitive nature of the social media advertising industry?
Pricing
There is no available data for Instagram ad prices right now because the only brands currently running ads were chosen by Instagram to be advertisers based on the success of their existing following. This implies that Instagram is choosing advertisers based on what the people want (or follow), and could possibly become a part of their ad strategy, making ad spots (and most likely prices) more competitive.
Audience & Targeting
Instagram’s goal in joining social media advertising is that they can promote likable brands in the most non-intrusive way possible. They have announced that they plan to roll out their targeting tools by the end of the year (2015). These tools will allow advertisers to use their own customer data that they've obtained for targeting audiences, while also giving brands the ability to target ads based on the accounts users follow. This is similar to Twitter’s feature of targeting the user accounts that follow their competitors. Currently, Instagram has a select few companies that they’ve personally selected to run ads in their pilot program, and every ad is being approved by Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom before being published.
Closing Thoughts
Instagram knows that good things come to those who wait, and after two years of developing their ad program, they are slowly but surely letting the world see the magic they’ve created. Instagram users have been described as young and affluent, and image advertising is a great way to capture this demographic's attention. With a fast growing user base of over 200 million and a parent company like Facebook, do you think Instagram will find success in the social media ad world? Sound off in the comments below!
For more social media advertising details, check out my next post in the series: Pinterest Advertising.
Facts provided by wordstream.com, hootsuite.com, another hootsuite.com source, adage.com, another adage.com source, and adweek.com.
Videos provided by Instagram's vimeo.com channel.
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