Monday, October 28, 2013

Brands adopting Instagram's new in-stream ad service

Instagram announced a few weeks ago that it would be rolling out in-stream ads, following in the footsteps of Pinterest's announcement to feature sponsored advertisements on its pinning boards. In light of the announcement, Instagram introduced a "sample" ad from its own feed that would give users a sense of what the ads would look like and revealed that only a selected handful of advertisers would take part in the company's ad pilot. The confirmed brands that will advertise on Instagram so far are Adidas, Ben & Jerry's, Burberry, General Electric, Levi's, Lexus, Macy's, Michael Kors, PayPal and Starwood - no surprise as these are the brands with some of the most successful and seasoned feeds. 
This is an expected move from Instagram, particularly as its parent company Facebook derives a significant 41% of its ad revenue from the mobile channel. Also, no surprise, is the gradual nature with which Instagram is planning its in-stream ad launch. Not only is it choosing the right brands, but also the appropriately fitting ads, which align with the tone, coloring and content-type of user feeds. Finally, and probably most important, Instagram/Facebook are staying on top of the user experience, giving users the ability to both hide ads, as well as customize their feeds with more relevant, engaging ads. The working concept is for the upcoming ads to be on par with the ad quality of Vogue magazine. Learn more about Instagram's plan for the ad roll-out here.

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