Reach a Mobile Audience for More Sales with Instagram Advertising

Since its acquisition by Facebook in 2012 Instagram has quickly grown to the top spot of social networks in the world of mobile marketing. Advertising is quickly becoming lucrative for brands and businesses, and according to eMarketer the platform is expected to bring in $595 million in mobile ad sales surpassing Google and Twitter.
In June Instagram announced that it was making their advertising platform available to “businesses of all types and sizes,” not just large brands. The added use of Facebook’s Power Editor tool has made it much easier for companies to create more sales and visibility to their mobile audience.
Recently the social network announced that there are over 400 million active users, and growing, which makes this a prime place for attracting new customers. Soon Instagram users will be able to make a purchase right from a post with a buy button, which is a more recent development that is still in the works.
What makes Instagram advertising unique from other social platforms?
While Facebook is a place where social connections, news, and information is shared Instagram serves as a visual “eye candy” for consumers. The network has a more personal approach where users can discover what a brand or business is about and see actual products or work in progress. This emotion connection is what sparks interest for a potential buyer as they follow the “stories” behind a name or company.
Instagram highlights this well in a promotional video:

The company conducted a case study of big brands who benefited from advertising on Instragram, one of which was Taco Bell:

The response was tremendous, including a sizable 29-point lift in ad recall

and significant ad reach among younger males, helping Taco Bell elevate

awareness of their breakfast items with this key target audience. By managing

the frequency of the sponsored photos, Instagram ensured that users saw

Taco Bell ads only twice on average throughout the month-long campaign.

• Grab users’ attention right away – Because of it’s simple format showcasing images and videos people are drawn to Instagram’s feed more than other more cluttered social networks. This is especially important for attracting a mobile audience.
• Carousel ads – Seven months ago Instagram introduced a new way for users to view advertisements in an easy-to-swipe method. Not only can brands share more images on their posts, but they also have the ability to show a story through these images. As people move through a live link is allowed, which can drive more traffic to your website for more conversions.
• A Learn More option – It used to be that posts did not include clickable links, and these are often included in a user’s bio instead. Now with Carousel Ads a business is allow to share their link through a “Learn More” button. Users are taken to an internal browser so that they can easily return to Instagram.

As Instagram evolves into a more sales driven social network the time is now for your brand or business to build a strong community of followers. The new advertising formats provide a way to reach even more users, especially in the mobile community, who will be willing to share your brand’s story.