Instgram has seen massive spikes in influence and growth over the past couple of years. As one of the arguably most visual and media-rich social media platforms, Instagram provides brands with newfound opportunities. Though users were sensitive to sponsored content initially, Instagram has slowly but surely eased us consumers into it. Now, as you scroll through your IG feed, you see familiar content as well as sponsored posts. And this means a new window for brands to visually attract more customers. So what’s next?
Instagram recently revealed new “call-to-action” buttons on their blog which means a new step for e-commerce. The mock-ups show these buttons as being used in many ways, from ‘Shop Now’ to buttons directing users to app downloads to signing up for a service. This will be a way for brands to more powerfully dictate how they’re directing their customers.
Of course, it all comes back around to data and analytics. So you can advertise to who? Well, Instagram is rolling out more robust targeting technologies that will let advertisers target IG users based on not only demographics but also interests. This means that brands will be able to connect and target like-minded users based on “the people, places, and things they love” according to Instagram’s official statement. How? Well, they’ll be working hand in hand with Facebook to make this happen.
And to top it all off, these new ecommerce and advertising capabilities will be available to all business, both large and small. Before, Instagram was rather picky with what brands could take advantage of their “sponsored posts”. Now, Instagram will be opening it up to more brands through a more advanced ad buying infrastructure to accomodate the greater demand.
The official launch date is yet to be announced, but brands should be ready when they do. It’s a great opportunity for brands to drive sales, gain more of a fan base, and actually generate conversions directly from Instagram (with data to back it up, of course).
business, ecommerce, Instagram, marketing, public relations, sales, social media, social media marketing