Instagram Marketing Just Got Real

Instagram Marketing Is Taking Off!

Instagram, the photo-sharing giant acquired by Facebook in 2012, recently opened its advertising platform to all brands. This development represents a staggering opportunity for brands positioned to take advantage and increase social media marketing efforts.

It should come as no surprise that Instagram would attempt to capitalize on its captive audience. In fact, Facebook predicts that ad revenues from the social network could reach $5 billion by 2020. The company has been working with premium brands to date, manually approving all ads. A wise approach as it ensures the company doesn’t alienate its user base. So far, ads have appeared as “buy” links at the bottom of sponsored images. These ads are quite unobtrusive and have been well received. However, it remains to be seen how followers will react to ads from brands they’re not familiar with, and Instagram risks sacrificing quality control and alienating users.

Previously, the only option open to other brands was to place links in each photo’s “description” area. These links tend to perform poorly unless seen by a highly engaged audience. However, the network recently unveiled a new advertising format: Carousel Ads. These ads will allow any brand to create an ad set consisting of multiple images. According to Instagram, Carousel Ads will empower marketers to tell “sequenced stories.”

Naturally, an individual company’s results will depend on the quality of its images. Instagram users don’t engage with the platform to consume advertisements. All ads must be visually engaging—a challenge that isn’t present to such a degree on any other social network. On the other hand, the carousel format has the potential to engage users in a way that single-image advertisements cannot.

When it comes to managing any form of social media marketing, making sure you have the time to devote to managing each platform is critical. If you need help getting your new campaign up and running or could just use an extra hand overseeing your marketing efforts, reach out to Saba, Inc, a leading San Diego online marketing company.  Give us a call today at (858) 277-1717 to request a free website audit and consultation!