Instagram ramps up its ads with Facebook targeting and action buttons
Instagram has revealed plans to expand its advertising offering on the social media site.
The photosharing site, which was bought by Facebook in 2012, has been largely free of ads. Moving in line with Facebook however, Instagram will rely on user likes and interests to target them with relevant ads.
A statement from Instagram read: “People come to Instagram to follow their passions, from travel and fashion to cars and entertainment.
“They want to see ads that reflect the things they care about. Advertisers also want to target their messages in more effective ways and reach people not just because of their age, location and gender, but because of the people, places and things they love.”
It concluded: “Working with Facebook, we will enable advertisers to reach people on Instagram based on demographics and interests, as well as information businesses have about their own customers.”
As part of the rollout, Instagram will introduce ‘direct response’ ads, enabling brands to attach action buttons urging viewers to do a number of things including buy, install or sign up.
As a result, the changes increase not only how well targeted ads will be, but also shapes the way viewers can interact with them.
Instagram currently boasts 300 million users - more than Twitter – time will tell whether a greater ad output will negatively impact this number.