With more than 300 million active users, Instagram, our favorite photo-sharing social media platform is getting ready to follow in its parent company’s (Facebook) footsteps, which is scary for users and exciting for advertisers. Look for upcoming changes in three key areas:
- Advertising – Instagram ads will be available through a new Instagram ad manager as well as through Facebook’s interface later this summer. If you’re thinking “this is new? I’ve seen ads on Instagram before”…you’re right. Instagram has allowed a small group of companies including Ben & Jerry’s, Adidas, Macy’s & Lexus to test their advertising program over the past year, but now the floodgates are opening to allow small and large business alike to reach potential customers through Instagram.
- Call to Action – Direct response buttons will be an option for Instagram ads. This will allow users to take action directly in the post. It will eliminate the extra step of having to go into the bio to get a link or remembering to visit the website later. This will also allow businesses to run multiple promotions at one time via Instagram advertising.
New call to action link
on sponsored posts
- Targeting – Much like businesses currently do on Facebook, brands will be able to target people based on demographics, interests as well as their own customer information. Users will also gain some control over the type of ad content they see.
Like any new program, there are sure to be growing pains but a few things are evident:
- As the advertising landscape continues to get more crowded, messaging will need to be even more relevant and targeted.
- Strong imagery will be critical, copy will be less important.
- Call to action buttons must be compelling and must deliver a very mobile-friendly experience.
- Authenticity, simplicity and a clear objective will be key.
And the two key questions that we believe will be extremely important –
Is the launch of Instagram advertising is going to make it harder to organically reach followers like it is on Facebook. And will Insta be able to continue its reign as the social media of choice for millenials once their feeds start showing them ads?
What do you think?