Instagram Opens Advertising To All: What This Means for Brands
After nearly 18 months of testing, Instagram announced this week it’s ready to open paid advertising to all businesses as well as allow advertisers to use Facebook targeting to direct ads at Instagram users. Additionally, back in June, the company announced it would soon be expanding its advertising interface to include call-to-action buttons, allowing users to take actions such as Shop Now, Sign Up or Install Now directly from ads and they made good on their promise. It’s now even easier to immediately purchase that favorite pair of shoes you see in your feed, or the latest handbag your celebrity idol is carrying!
It’s been a little over a month since Instagram opened its advertising API to all brands on Instagram and already there are major brands scoring huge wins. “Taco Bell, Mercedes-Benz and Chobani were some of the earliest adopters to have experimented with sponsored posts on Instagram as its foremost brand partners. While Taco Bell used Instagram to announce its new breakfast menu in April and saw a 29 point lift in its ad recall, Mercedes-Benz used Instagram to launch its compact SUV called the “GLA” in conjunction with Facebook last fall and saw a 580 percent increase in visits to its site,” says Digiday writer Tanya Dua.
According to Instagram, brand ads are outperforming traditional digital advertising campaigns. “Ad recall from sponsored posts on the platform was 2.8 times higher than Nielsen’s norms for online advertising across nearly 500 campaigns measured globally with Nielsen Brand Effect in June. Recent data by social analytics firm Shareablee also concluded that Instagram prompted three times more customer actions than Facebook and Twitter,” reports Dua.
Additionally, in addition to Direct Response Ads such as seen with “Shop Now” campaigns, brands will be able to utilize Carousel and Video Ads. Carousel Ads will allow up to 4 images that users can swipe through. Video Ads are limited to 15 seconds and audio does not automatically play, so brands are encouraged to create content that quickly gets their point across with or with out sound.
Consumers want to connect with businesses of all sizes on Instagram, from their favorite local clothing stores and restaurants to the largest brands in the world. We at MtoM look forward to working with our clients of all sizes to create an Instagram advertising strategy that will allow the most reach and provide the right mix for your advertising and brand marketing strategy!
Contact us today to learn more!