Instagram Adds Advertising Options for Small Business
Instagram, which was originally designed for it’s users to share and appreciate photos amongst one another, is ramping up their money making by adding advertisements to your photo feed. Since November of 2013, the company allowed a select few large corporations to post adds on their photo feed. However, last month, the company announced that they will be opening the opportunity for any business to post ads to their feed.
Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 and has tried to preserve the user experience by keeping it as a place where people can relax and appreciate the beauty of the photos and not be overwhelmed by ads. However, Instagram plans to tread lightly by maintaining a good balance of ads to user images as not to ruin the user experience.
Once Instagram opens their photo feed to advertisers, anyone from your local Mom and Pop Shop, Forbes or Apple can place an ad to appear in your feed. The company will try to target their audience as closely as possible, based on user interests and demographics. However, the companies current targeting abilities are limited and still being worked on.
In addition to targeting specific audiences, the company wishes to include call-to-actions that allow users to click on a link to purchase their products. Currently, Instagram is still unable to perform this action but is working on improving it’s usability to increase the consmer experience.
With over 300 million users, Instagram is expected to bring in an additional $1.3 billion to $2.1 billion to Facebook this year. Don’t be surprised when you start seeing more ads appear on your photo feed.
Let us know what you think about Instagram adding more advertisements to their photo feed!