Instagram ads: a new channel of conversion
iProspect’s Andy Spry looks at how Instagram is opening up a wealth of opportunities for advertisers.
Instagram, the fastest growing social network of 2014, has long been the apple of every social media marketer’s eye. As the social network of choice for teens, and with the knowledge and power of its big brother, Facebook, many brands have been eagerly watching Instagram’s every move in its advertising offering, waiting for something big to happen. Finally, the time has come.
Last month, Instagram unveiled its new API, opening a world of new opportunities for advertisers and developers alike, who have long been hoping to get their hands on the platform. The announcement revealed three main aspects:
1. A self-service, biddable platform
2. Improved targeting capabilities
3. More varied ad products
These are huge changes for Instagram, opening up the platform for use by a huge number of new advertisers. It is also a breath of fresh air for brands who have been eager to market via Instagram, but were previously restricted by the premium nature of its ad offering.
Since being bought by Facebook in April 2012, Instagram gradually developed its platform from being totally advert-free, to integrating adverts from a small number of hand-picked brands in late 2013. Learning from Facebook’s experience, no sudden movements were made, with consumers guided through each step of the journey, and when Instagram first announced the rollout of adverts in 2013, the official blog update even stated “Seeing photos and videos from brands you don’t follow will be new, so we’ll start slow.”
In their announcement on the Instagram For Business blog, the context is clear: “There are more than two million advertisers who actively use Facebook to market their business and we want to leverage the best of Facebook’s infrastructure for buying, managing and measuring the success of ads on Instagram. We will start by opening the Instagram Ads API to a select group of Facebook Marketing Partners and agencies, and we plan to expand globally throughout the year.”
The previous controlled rollout of exclusive advertising space allowed Instagram to focus on premium-cost direct buys, keeping the social network in control of its own inventory and able to monitor each and every one of Instagram’s first 475 advertising campaigns. This control has kept demand high, and therefore CPMs high too.
The game changer in Instagram’s announcements is the new self-serve biddable platform for advertisers which, in Instagram’s own words, “[makes] it easier for businesses large and small to buy ads on Instagram.”
In a similar way to Facebook, this will allow advertisers more control over the targeting and optimisation of their ads than would traditionally be the case through a direct buy. The platform is expected to be released by Q4 this year, from which point brands will be able to operate with fewer of the cost and targeting restrictions of the previous direct buy model.
While the new platform will surely bring minimum spends down on Instagram, CPMs are expected to remain high, and an advert approval process will be in place for quality control, similar to Facebook’s approval process to defend against age-restricted content, nudity, firearms, deception, gambling and alcohol, among other factors.
With this in mind, the focus for advertisers is producing high quality content that looks and feels natural in the newsfeed, and is truly representative of their brand.
It’s important to remember that each and every post (organic or sponsored) on the mobile-first network is designed to fill a whole screen on mobile, so first impressions are very important.
Just as when Sponsored Posts first launched, users will ultimately be in control: “If you see an ad you don’t like, you’ll be able to hide it and provide feedback about what didn’t feel right.”
High CPMs should not be a reason to put brands off though. Instagram have already allowed marketers to retarget viewers of Instagram ads on Facebook, so it is only a matter of time before Facebook’s plethora targeting capabilities begin to be unleashed for use in Instagram advertising, making it a highly powerful platform for reaching the right users at the right time. Expect to see demographic and interest targeting, with a roll-out of off-site conversion and retargeting capabilities, for measuring actual business results.
The first steps towards this are ‘Shop Now’, ‘Sign Up’, ‘Learn More’ and ‘Install Now’ buttons, which are currently being tested beneath some sponsored posts, answering marketers’ long-running plea for the ability to include off-site links within content.
The expanded product offering will also include other action-oriented formats, such as a carousel unit, which will allow advertisers to showcase multiple pieces of content through a horizontal swiping visual experience, culminating with a call-to-action in the final frame. It is still to be revealed whether video will become as key a focus as is currently the case on Facebook.
With Facebook’s backing, the social network has many valuable learnings and insights to use in the launch of its new platform, so it’s important for marketers to use the same approach. This is because of the large crossover in users between the two platforms.
Brands and agencies looking to use Instagram ads can therefore prepare by looking to Facebook ads for research and insights around best practices within their field, and should even consider testing different content streams within their target audiences, through those formats readily available on Facebook.
With Q4 just around the corner, some groundwork on the formats, targeting and most resonant messaging will go a long way in ensuring your Instagram ads get off to a running start.
Andy Spry is paid social media account director at iProspect UK.