Instagram New Ad Formats Soon To Be Available To All

 New Advertising Formats 

In recent months it has been well publicised that Instagram were widening the scope of which businesses could use their new ads. They have now formally announced that by the end of September all businesses will be able to access the new and improved advertising campaign services.

Obviously being a Facebook owned product, Instagram has the power to leverage all of Facebook’s resources, advertising know how and actual promotional infrastructure. As a result it will now be a simple matter for marketers to target their target audience with key core messages more effectively and reach people on the basis of what they care about. For example: Travel, home renovation, reading, movies, gardening, food, fashion or sports. 

Alignment to Stated Objectives

Importantly Instagram are also making available the new ad formats that help assist in better aligning to specific objectives (as discussed in an earlier post), providing viewers with the dual perspective of being better able to either research an idea and / or act on the research and purchase it straight out from the Instagram platform.

In recent times of course a plethora of all types of businesses have been actively testing and no doubt refining the system and the word is that the outcomes have been very beneficial to those businesses. 

Improved Business Outcomes

As is the case with Pinterest, users come to picture sharing sites like Instagram and use it as an aspiration tool to imagine what things could look like in theory.  In terms of brand effectiveness, Instagram tell us that recent research shows that their ads have driven where almost all (97%) have experienced significant lifts in advertising recall.

So early signs are that the new ad formats are working to gain better awareness and brand retention for brands. As an extension of that, subsequent flow on effects such as brand web site visitors and mobile app downloads are also being positively influenced.

Instagram have cited a recent example in their literature of Gilt Groupe who have used Instagram to generate new customers, and after running an ad campaign saw an 85% increase in app downloads. As well designer furniture retailer Made.com’s advertising produced an impressive 10% order value increase measured from baseline. Several other examples have also been highlighted, suffice to say that the new format and the existing popularity of the platform and its recent surge in growth, appear to be key determinants in making this platform a possible option for many businesses regardless of age, size or market in which they operate.

Additional Improvements

As well as the new formats mentioned above, the Instagram notice boards have also highlighted the following improvements that will be helpful which include:

·        Landscape photo and video formats that provide a more cinematic look

·        Short video ads of up to 30 seconds in length which will allow brands a greater ability to demonstrate brands

·        Marquee  a new premium service that drives increased awareness and reach quickly for specific time sensitive events like trade shows, sales and other key events.

·        Delivery and optimization tools to manage and drive the best performance of campaigns across Facebook and Instagram

Alignment to Target Market

As always the critical question with all platform selection is and will always remain which platform(s) most accurately align to you chosen target market? It is important to know this because for example in comparison to Pinterest we know that the general demographics of the two sites are somewhat different and depending on what you sell, your business may receive much better value from one than the other.

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So until next time, good luck and good marketing.
Regards,
Daniele.